Tweet of note: The Fourth Period’s Pagnotta talks DeBrincat

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta spoke with the NHL Network regarding the Red Wings and “at least one other team’s” statuses are regarding one Alex DeBrincat:

DetroitRedWings.com’s Mills on Kris Draper’s comments regarding his promotion to AGM

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills wrote an article which focuses on Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper’s promotion to the team’s second assistant GM (alongside Shawn Horcoff):

“In talking with Steve about it, I want the opportunity to sit in on meetings like last week with free agency, the negotiations of contracts and entry-level deals,” Draper said. “I’d love to sit in and learn how to do those.”

Draper is entering his 12th season in the Red Wings’ front office. He was named the organization’s director of amateur scouting before the 2019-20 campaign after working the previous eight seasons as assistant to former GM Ken Holland.

“It was a great opportunity for me to be around Ken and learn everything in all areas of the game,” Draper said. “It was obviously special. I appreciate being able to walk out of the Detroit Red Wings’ dressing room into the front office. Ken gave me that opportunity and that’s a big reason why I’m sitting here.”

Draper is fortunate to be part of Detroit’s front office, which includes his “friends for life” and former Red Wings teammates in Yzerman, (Vice President of Hockey Operations) Nicklas Lidstrom, (Pro Scout) Kirk Maltby, (Associate Director of Player Personnel) Jiri Fischer, (European Player Development) Niklas Kronwall and (Assistant Director of Player Development) Dan Cleary.

“We’re all in this for the same thing,” said Draper, who played 17 of his 20 NHL seasons and won four Stanley Cups with Detroit. “We want to be good again and we want to be great. We all take a lot of pride in what the Detroit Red Wings organization meant to all of us. We played arguably in the greatest era of the Detroit Red Wings organization, and we want to bring that back. We all understand how hard it’s going to be but we’re all in this together.”

Continued

Red Wings officially place Filip Zadina on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract

It happened:

TSN’s Yost examines whether Filip Zadina can redeem himself elsewhere

The Red Wings are going to place Filip Zadina on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract today, and TSN’s Travis Yost wonders whether Zadina can find his professional form with another team:

What does the future hold for Detroit Red Wings forward Filip Zadina?

For starters, he may not be playing in Hockeytown much longer – the sixth-overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft has sorely disappointed the Red Wings front office over 190 regular-season games, so much so that the team is seriously considering a buyout of the remainder of his contract.

Whether it’s by way of a buyout or the organization convincing the player he needs more time in the American Hockey League (which at present time, appears unlikely), Zadina’s days in Detroit are numbered. That means it’s open season for every other NHL team. But can the player be salvaged? Can the right organization illuminate what made Zadina such a success with the Halifax Mooseheads, or is that merely a pipedream at this point?

It’s something teams are chewing on as I write this. It made me wonder about the likelihood of being able to salvage a player with Zadina’s background and profile – while organizations can be notoriously patient with blue-chip prospects (as opposed to your typical third-round skater, anyway), successful reclamation projects seem few and far between. That’s exactly what a team needs to be prepared to do if they dip their toe in Lake Zadina.

I do want to emphasize one piece: This is certifiably a reclamation project. Zadina has not only been a below-replacement level player over the course of his career, but his production also just painstakingly pales to his peers.

Continued

Tweet of note: Daily Faceoff’s Seravalli confirms that the Red Wings will waive Zadina again today

Per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli:

Shapiro discusses the Griffins’ revisions

Sean Shapiro digs into the Grand Rapids Griffins’ coaching changes, and the results thereof, on his Substack today:

With [Dan] Watson now at the helm in Grand Rapids, the Red Wings and Griffins are expected to better sync schematically. Watson and [Red Wings coach Derek] Lalonde have similar views of the game, and while Lalonde isn’t going to give a mandate on how the Griffins play — like some organizations do — there will be an understanding that organizational tactics take precedence.

Which brings us to Carter Mazur and Marco Kasper. Before July 1, there was a chance that Mazur and Kasper could start the season with the Red Wings. But after some veteran signings by Steve Yzerman, even with the potential contract buyout for Filip Zadina, it seems more likely that both will start the season in Grand Rapids.

Mazur turned pro this spring and played six AHL games for the Griffins, scoring six points, and then played for Team USA at the IIHF World Championships, where Lalonde was on staff as an assistant coach.

He’s already an organizational favorite who played for Little Caesars growing up, was coached by current Red Wings assistant GM Kris Draper, and from both a hockey and marketing perspective, could be a key cog to the future of the rebuild.

Kasper is coming to North America for his first full season after playing for Rogle in the SHL. He had a one-game NHL cameo, where he got hurt, which was indicative of how highly Detroit thinks of the 2022 first-round pick.

For both players, this season, where they will likely play in both the NHL and the AHL, is vital to the long-term and short-term build in Detroit.

Continued (paywall)

A Holl lot of disdain for the Red Wings’ free agent ‘Comph’-ensation

Daily Faceoff’s Scott Maxwell is not a fan of two of the Red Wings’ free agency contracts, suggesting that the signings of J.T. Compher and Justin Holl will age poorly:

J.T. Compher, Detroit Red Wings

Five years, $5.1 million AAV, 10-team no-trade clause

Look, I understand why this contract is what it is. I addressed it last month in my article predicting which players might get overpaid on the market. There weren’t a lot of quality centers in this year’s free agency class. It slightly improved from when I wrote that piece due to some of the buyouts, but even then it was still slim pickings. That alone was going to see Compher get an overpayment, nevermind the fact that he put up a career year and positioned himself as one of the best centers in that weak market. He’s a fine player, and if he can stay at the level he played at this past season, this contract won’t be that bad, although it’s still a big bet.

That almost convinced me to not include this contract, but what keeps it on the list is the fact that it just doesn’t make sense for Detroit. They made a similar signing last season with Andrew Copp, so while that gives them a reliable 1-2-3 punch down the middle with those two behind Dylan Larkin, neither is a strong No. 2 option. The back-and-forth decisions from the Red Wings also have me questioning the Yzerplan, as GM Steve Yzerman jumped the gun signing veterans who weren’t gamebreakers last season for a team not ready to take that next step, backtracked later in the year when it failed, and is now doing it again this season.

Compher is a solid player, but the Wings now have eight forwards who are 26 or older, and only one is a high-end talent in Larkin. The rest are solid players who would help surround a playoff team, not a rebuilding team, and all they do now is just block the young talent they’ve assembled from developing in the NHL and actually getting playing time.

And Justin Holl’s contract earned a (dis)honorable mention:

Credit: Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports

Free agency has always been looked at as the time for teams to make some adds without having to give up assets in a trade or use the draft picks and in-house resources required to develop prospects. It’s like someone else put all the work into that player for you, and you just have to open the wallet to have them on your team.

Except in a salary cap world, spending money can also cost you. All the trades we’ve seen where a third team is involved to retain some salary for a draft pick, or a team takes on a bad contract along with assets for nothing in return, have proven that cap space is just as big of an asset. That makes it all the more important to spend it wisely, and there are plenty of opportunities for a team to do the exact opposite.

Today I’m looking at those opportunities, listing off some of the worst contracts handed out so far in free agency. Some come at absurdly high cap hits, some come much longer than they should, but all of them are easy to see aging poorly. I did a prediction of which players would get bad contracts this year before free agency started, and four of them ended up on this list, which just goes to show how easy it is to see coming, and how easy it should have been to avoid them.

To start, here’s a few honorable mentions, deals that aren’t quite as bad as other contracts given out but could still cause problems for their teams.

Justin Holl, Detroit Red Wings ($3.4 million x 3 years) – I don’t hate Holl as much as a lot of other people who’ve watched him regularly seem to, but I was surprised to see him get this much considering the playoff performance he was coming off of. He’s a solid defender that can play in a shutdown role with a good defenseman in a pinch, but it just feels like way too much for him at age 31. And as I’ll get into with another Red Wing contract, it feels like it will just get in the way of their incoming young talent.

Allen: Suter still looking for work

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen filed an article in which he discusses the strange fact that former Red Wings forward Pius Suter can’t seem to land a job as an unrestricted free agent:

Suter is a reliable NHL player. He’s responsible, versatile and you can count on him for 13 or 14 goals per season. He’s a desirable bottom six forward who can move into a scoring line when injuries mount. The Red Wings liked him and were interested in keeping him, but he was looking for a two-year deal and they were only willing to give him one year.

Perhaps that is holding Suter back in the free agent market. At this point, teams are looking for bargains. They want players making $1 million or less on one-year deals. Suter had an AAV of $3.25 on his last Red Wings’ two-year deal. Doubtful he will get that in today’s market.

Oskar Sundqvist is another ex-Red Wing that remains out-of-work. The Red Wings appreciated his efforts last season as well. He was a plus in the locker room as well.

Now that Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg (Pittsburgh), plus Robert Hagg (Anaheim) and Jordan Oesterle (Calgary), have signed, Suter, Sundqvist, Alex Chiasson and Adam Erne are the remaining unsigned Red Wings from last season.

Continued; Suter had a solid run in Detroit, but I do hope that he finds success elsewhere.