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Via the Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa on Twitter:

#LAKings have agreed to terms with D Joakim Ryan and F Martin Frk.— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) July 1, 2019

Frk, who turns 26 the night of the season opener, was selected in the second round in 2012. 6’1, 205, right-shot. 227 career AHL games; 12-19=31 in 100 career NHL games. Career-high 25 points in 2017-18. Former Moosehead had a big 2011 WJC with the Czech Republic.— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) July 1, 2019

Martin Frk has agreed to terms on a 1 year deal with the @LAKings. Martin had 11 goals with Detroit in 2017-18. He has a lethal weapon of a shot and is tenacious, hard working forward. #FrkNGood— Allan Walsh (@walsha) July 1, 2019

The Detroit Red Wings held a conference call in which GM Steve Yzerman spoke with the Wings’ media corps regarding the team’s free agent signings. Valtteri Filppula joined the call as well.

Here are some highlights of the conference call, per the Red Wings’ media members:

Continue reading Conference call Tweets: On the Filppula/Nemeth/Pickard signings; AA heading to wing again, more UFA signings might happen, no front office moves to announce

FYI From RWHockeyJohn on Twitter: Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell let this slip at the end of his press conference discussing the Sebastian Aho offer sheet:

According to Hurricanes GM Don Waddell, the #RedWings have hired Hurricanes video coach LJ Scarpace.— John (@RWHockeyJohn) July 1, 2019

Welcome to Detroit, @ljscarpace!

Via DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji on Twitter:

The @TBLightning have signed defenseman Luke Witkowski to a two-year, two-way contract.https://t.co/IG0zGAxIpY— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) July 1, 2019

Welcome back, Luke!! ?

We have signed Luke Witkowski to a two-year, two-way contract.

?: https://t.co/ItjKOVKDtP pic.twitter.com/GFIrO4JhBv— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) July 1, 2019

For reasons beyond our knowledge, Olympia Development of Michigan has yet to develop the parcel of land immediately adjacent to the south side of Little Caesars Arena, leaving construction fencing and an empty lot sitting between LCA, Woodward Avenue and I-75. According to Crain’s Detroit Business’s Kirk Pinho, no news as to whether or if that parcel of land is developed is not good news:

The Ilitch family may have missed another deadline as part of its District Detroit project.

However, neither the family’s real estate company nor the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., the taxpayer-funded quasi-governmental city development agency, will say whether Olympia Development of Michigan has submitted a plan for the northwest corner of Woodward Avenue and I-75 as required.

“We are continuing to work with ODM to identify the next steps in the development of this parcel,” said Charlotte Fisher, spokeswoman for the DEGC, which staffs city economic development agencies like the Downtown Development Authority, Economic Development Corp., Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and others. The DEGC is taxpayer funded in part through a contract with the city.

Similarly, Olympia Development wouldn’t say whether a plan was submitted.

“We continue to be in discussions with the city on this matter,” the company said in an emailed statement.

Subsequent questions to both Olympia and the DEGC were not answered Friday and Monday.

A development plan was due on Friday. It’s not known what, if any, consequences there would be be for Olympia if it wasn’t submitted, but the company has been granted extensions to submit it in the past.

Continued

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Monday signed forwards Tyler Spezia and Josh Kestner to one-year contracts.

Continue reading Grand Rapids Griffins sign Tyler Spezia, Josh Kestner

From the Detroit Red Wings:

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed center Valtteri Filppula, defenseman Patrik Nemeth and goaltender Calvin Pickard to two-year contracts.

Continue reading Here’s the Red Wings’ press release regarding their free agent signings (Filppula, Nemeth and Pickard):

Per the Toledo Walleye:

The Toledo Walleye announced today its list of players that have received qualifying offers for the 2019-20 season. 

Forwards Tyler Spezia and Ben Storm along with defenseman Kevin Tansey have received qualifying offers.

Each team was entitled to reserve the rights to a maximum of eight qualified players. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four could be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the upcoming 2019-20 season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. 

The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until July 16 at which time the qualifying offer becomes null and void and the team may sign the qualified player to any salary or may elect to take no further action. Teams that extend a valid qualifying offer to a non-veteran player shall retain the rights to that qualified player for one playing season. 

A team that extends a valid qualifying offer to a veteran player will retain the rights to that veteran until July 16. After July 16, if the veteran player is not signed to a contract by the team, the veteran shall be deemed a restricted free agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other ECHL teams. Restricted free agents may not be traded. When a restricted free agent receives a contract offer from a team other than the team with the player’s rights and the restricted free agent wishes to accept the contract offer, the restricted free agent and the offering member must, within 24 hours, notify the ECHL, the team with the player’s rights and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association. The member with the player’s rights shall have seven days after the date it is notified to exercise its right to match the contract offer. 

If a restricted free agent is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by an ECHL team by Aug. 1, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

The #RedWings today signed goaltender Calvin Pickard to a 2-year contract. pic.twitter.com/BefLkn6rzU

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 1, 2019

Here’s Helene St. James on Pickard:

Pickard is slated to play with the Grand Rapids Griffins in tandem with Filip Larsson. Pickard, 27, has appeared in 104 NHL games, posting a 2.93 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. He spent last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Arizona Coyotes.

The Wings are set in their own net, with Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier under contract. Larsson, 20, is starting his pro career in the fall, after a standout freshman year at University of Denver. Larsson spent half a year recovering from a gruesome groin injury, debuting for the Pioneers in November and going on to post a .932 save percentage and 1.94 goals-against average in 22 games. 

Pickard and Larsson should provide some stability for the Griffins. Last season’s goaltenders, Harri Sateri (2.84 GAA, .899 save percentage in 40 games) and Patrik Rybar (2.49 GAA, .908 save percentage in 37 games) have both signed with European teams.

MLive’s Ansar Khan also confirms:

The Detroit Red Wings signed goaltender Calvin Pickard to a two-year contract on Monday.

Pickard will be given an opportunity to compete with Jonathan Bernier for the back-up job in Detroit but likely will wind up with the Grand Rapids Griffins, sharing duties with top goalie prospect Filip Larsson.

Pickard, 27, was 4-6-2, with a 3.86 goals-against average and .875 save percentage last season with Philadelphia and Arizona. He has a career record of 32-50-9, with a 2.93 GAA, .908 save percentage and four shutouts. The 49th overall pick for Colorado in 2010 also played for the Avalanche and Toronto.

The Hockey News’s Matt Larkin believes that the Red Wings signed Valtteri Filppula to a 2-year, $6 million contract at 35 years of age for a very specific reason:

We know who Filppula is at this point. He can play center or the wing, he’s respectable on faceoffs, he kills penalties, and he can handle some second-unit power play duty. He’s still capable of chipping in a double-digit goal total, too.

Filppula essentially becomes insurance to keep the Wings from rushing their forward prospects such as Filip Zadina and Joe Veleno to the NHL. Instead, they’ll have to earn their way onto the team with their performances in camp. Once they’re up, a Filppula, a seasoned two-way forward who won a Cup in 2008 with Detroit, can offer some mentorship. During the second year of his contract, should the Wings not yet be playoff contenders, they’ll likely be able to move Filppula to a contender as a trade-deadline piece, as he doesn’t need to score to be useful.

Continued