ESPN’s Ryan Clark gives the Red Wings a solid “B” grade for the team’s re-signing of one Patrick Kane, and in discussing the re-signing, Clark also discusses the Wings’ likely free agency plans:
The greatest value the Red Wings have in re-signing Kane might be the layers associated with that value.
Trading away Vladimir Tarasenko earlier Monday spoke to the Red Wings’ faith in re-signing Kane. But now they appear to have an opening next to J.T. Compher and Jonatan Berggren on the Red Wings’ third line.
Shedding Tarasenko’s $4.75 million contract — while signing Kane to a deal that is $1 million less than what he was making last season — gives Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman $17.211 million in salary cap space entering free agency Tuesday, per PuckPedia. He has some options:
They have the space now to target forwards such as Brock Boeser and Nikolaj Ehlers, but could possibly find a stronger fit for their top nine with players like Evgenii Dadonov, Jonathan Drouin or Jack Roslovic.
Detroit could also be active in a top-four defenseman market that includes Vladislav Gavrikov, Ryan Lindgren and Dmitry Orlov.
Finally, there’s the trade route — and again, Kane’s contract being lower than last season’s gives Yzerman extra wiggle room if he wants to add salary in that fashion.
Continued; I’m going to be honest here–I’m expecting the Wings to sign some depth players if they are unable to sign the Ehlers or Boesers of the free agent world, and, from there on out, the team’s probably going to utilize a trade or two to address their need for another top-six scorer and a second-pair defenseman.
I’m not expecting any fireworks today. It’s going to be more like sparklers, and if the Wings can land a Connor Brown to bolster the fourth line (because Tyler Motte and Craig Smith just didn’t quite get the grinding job done) and/or a Nate Schmidt (to stabilize the 3rd defensive pairing), I’ll be very happy.
Mostly, I expect a surprise trade to happen sometime after the free agency period cools down a bit, and I don’t know if it’s going to be overwhelming in scope. The reality of the situation is that GM SY may have to wait until sometime during the NHL’s 2025-2026 regular season to add a meaningful addition to the top six and/or defense, and, in the interim–as he told us all last weekend–the team will have to lean on its younger players for growth.
I’m okay with that.
Update: As DetroitHockey.net’s Clark Rasmussen suggests, Detroit’s biggest signings of the day might be Grand Rapids Griffins players:
They’re losing Austin Watson, Tim Gettinger, and Joe Snively up front and Brogan Rafferty on the blue line, in addition to having already lost Eemil Viro, who bolted for Europe, and having a few more pending free agents who were on AHL deals.
Detroit will probably also want a veteran goalie at the AHL level so that Grand Rapids doesn’t have to rely on Sebastian Cossa and Michal Postava.
As such, we’ll probably see the Wings sign some guys who will be bound for the Griffins. Lagesson was the seventh defenseman on my roster above but he could easily be in GR instead, especially if Detroit brings in Gavrikov or Miller or someone else, bumping Justin Holl to the press box.
Hi George.
I thought Watson signed a two way contract for next season.
You’re correct, he was re-signed!