Kudos to Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen for stirring things up on a hot and sticky July evening.
I’m a little hesitant to issue grades to Steve Yzerman’s most significant offseason moves as of yet, because I am hoping that the Wings’ offseason moves aren’t yet finished, but Allen offers some nuanced grades this evening, and it’s an interesting way to start a discussion of the Red Wings’ offseason–thus far–as a whole:
Trading Jake Walman/Re-Signing Patrick Kane—Grade: A-
This feels more like landing a new player than re-signing an old one because many believed Kane would leave for a higher salary or more term that Yzerman could offer.
Yzerman didn’t really have the salary cap room to to support re-signing Kane. Projections had Kane able to get offers in the $5 to $6 million range. It seemed as if teams might give him term as well.
Give Yzerman credit being creative enough to keep Kane in a Detroit jersey. First, he traded Walman and his $3.4 million salary to the San Jose Sharks. Walman fell out of favor in Detroit last season, but the reason they traded him was to clear up the cap space. The price for doing that was giving the Sharks a second-round pick. It was the pick they got for Gibson.
The second-round pick was going rate to move that much salary. The St. Louis Blues a second-round in 2025 to take center Kevin Hayes and his $3.4 million.
Yzerman had more work to do to land Kane. He used the over-35 bonus option to give himself more buying power. He offered Kane a $4 million base salary, plus $2.5 in bonus opportunities. Some of those bonuses are easily makeable, like $1.5 million for playing 10 games. Those bonuses will be paid out of next season’s camp.
Continued; Allen sticks with the cause-and-effect theory regarding all of the salary cap-shedding moves that the Red Wings’ management group made this offseason.
I cannot deny that sending Walman to San Jose opened up cap space, but the trade in itself still makes me cringe.
Anyway, give Allen’s article a read, and weigh in if you wish in the comments session.
For the most part I agree with Kevin and a B grade is reasonable. But, I agree with you on the Walman trade, there’s just no way to spin it. It was a bad trade even with Kane coming back. I could see if Yzerman traded Holl and had to give up a 2nd round pick to get rid of him, but not for Walman. We might over value him here, but no doubt someone would’ve picked him up if he was put on waivers if you absolutely couldn’t find a trade partner. I will not give Yzerman a pass for that trade at all. Plus, we were in that situation because he signed Holl the previous year so lose/lose any way you see it.
Well, Teddy, I’m glad that we agree on something! I really can’t see the Walman trade as equivalent to signing a free agent. Walman at least skated well and had that booming shot; I think that Holl would have been a better trade chip as well, and it’s just unfortunate that Walman was caught up in the salary-clearing mess…
Hockey can be a messy business, though, and we’ll have to move on without him.
Great breakdown of Yzerman’s offseason moves! It’s impressive how he managed to keep Kane despite the cap constraints, and the trade for Walman shows his strategic thinking, even if it was a tough pill to swallow.