The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses the “to-do list” of the Red Wings’ next general manager this afternoon, and as I’m not certain whether the Wings will have much of a say in Dylan Larkin or Patrick Kane’s respective playing destinations, I’d suggest that Kulfan’s third item is likely the most important task over which the Wings have full control:
What will Simon Edvinsson’s new contract look like?
The restricted free-agent defenseman is due a new contract, and judging by some of the deals around the NHL, it’s likely to be a doozy. Likely more than Yzerman had wanted it to be.
Moritz Seider is the Wings’ highest-paid defenseman, at an $8.5 million annual average value, and Edvinsson likely could eclipse that. A thing to watch, also, is the possibility of another team offering Edvinsson an offer sheet, with a particularly high salary, and the Wings being forced to match.
Yzerman continues to run the day-to-day operations, for now, but with the Wings’ front office in a state of flux, it wouldn’t be shocking to see another team possibly try to take advantage.
Continued at length (paywall); at this point, trying to keep the line on Edvinsson at around $8.5 million per season will be hard enough to keep the next GM occupied until the start of this upcoming campaign.
