It’s August, and Joe Veleno remains an unsigned restricted free agent. In my opinion, it’s just not something to worry about–Veleno was issued a qualifying offer, so the Red Wings have already chosen to not walk away from him, and he didn’t have arbitration rights, so…
These things tend to take time. Veleno may very well be in a prove-you’re-worth-it-or-lose-your-job scenario at 23 years of age, but I’m just assuming that his representatives and the Red Wings will hammer out a contract closer to training camp.
Daily Faceoff’s Colton Davies seems to think a little differently while offering a list of 10 important unsigned restricted free agents:
Joe Veleno, C, 23 (Detroit Red Wings)
2022-23 salary cap hit: $894,167
Joe Veleno has become a regular in the Red Wings’ lineup over the past two campaigns. During the 2022-23 season, Veleno tallied nine goals and 11 assists for a career-high 20 points in 81 games. Consistency has been an issue – Veleno went pointless for a 20-game stretch this past season from mid-February to the end of March. There is also the whole ‘stomping incident’ that unfolded at the World Championship. GM Steve Yzerman already inked J.T. Compher, Daniel Sprong, Klim Kostin, and Christian Fischer to deals while also acquiring Alex DeBrincat from the Senators. With spots dwindling down, it seems like Veleno will once again be situated in the bottom six, assuming the Red Wings keep him around.
- The “Stomping Incident” shouldn’t affect the Red Wings’ perspective as to Veleno’s worth as a player or human being, because the dang kid apologized. There’s a stigma against him for sure, but he’s got to make sure that it’s not the biggest moment of his career;
- There’s very little doubt that Veleno will be a 3rd or 4th line forward this upcoming season, but I don’t see the Red Wings trying to waive him to send him to Grand Rapids, at least not yet.
This strikes me as “much ado about nothing,” and while there are many questions as to Veleno’s future place in the larger scheme of things, I expect him to find himself in a Filip Zadina-style “prove it or lose your job” campaign, not a, “You’re going to Grand Rapids and you’re going to like the career reset” situation. The leash is certainly short for Veleno, but it isn’t out of slack just yet.
