So just past midnight Eastern time on Friday morning, let's take a quick examination of what likely lies ahead for the Detroit Red Wings when it comes to the opening of the free agent market beginning at 12 noon later today:
Despite their interest in players such as
Nathan Horton and
David Clarkson to add some much needed grit and goal-scoring ability to their top-six, Detroit will refrain from getting involved in the bidding war to retain their services. Speculation is rampant that Clarkson may garner a 6 or 7 year contract at an annual average value of $6 million per season (possibly from my beloved Oilers). Absolutely insane in my opinion.
With the apparent defection of
Valtteri Filppula to Columbus (or elsewhere), the likely scenario is Detroit attempts to attract a top-six forward capable of playing as a #2 center or flexible enough to occasionally play on the wing. The primary target appears to be
Stephen Weiss from the Florida Panthers. I'm hesitant to provide him with the rumored 5 year contract at a total of $25 million, considering he is coming off a wrist injury that limited him to 17 games this past season.
Nevertheless, when healthy, the 30 year-old is a strong candidate as a second-line center, having garnered an average of 57 points over the course of each of his past four full seasons as a member of the Florida Panthers. Weiss could fill the role quite well for the Red Wings. However, Detroit will have their hands full attaining his signature, as the hometown Toronto Maple Leafs are also hot in pursuit.
Other possibilities for the Red Wings to fill the gap down the middle include the likes of
Mike Ribeiro,
Derek Roy and
Matt Cullen. Less expensive options to add some grit and goal-scoring down the wing could arrive from veterans
Jarome Iginla and
Brendan Morrow.
The Red Wings appear to be set on the blueline despite Detroit having made contact with the agents for veteran defensemen
Marek Zidlicky or
Andrew Ference. After having bought out the final year of
Carlo Colaiacovo's contract by way of a compliance buyout, the Red Wings may look to upgrade their top four on the blueline via free agency, although I believe the more effective route would be by way of trade.
Meanwhile, the Red Wings have their own UFA's-to-be that will hit the market later today.
Daniel Cleary appears to be asking for a 3-year deal worth $3 million annually. The Red Wings' issue has to do specifically with the term. Ken Holland must remain firm on this. Despite the fact many readers here have made Cleary their new whipping boy, he remains beloved by
Coach Mike Babcock and displayed tremendous grit and leadership for this club during the postseason run. If Cleary is willing to accept a two-year term, I would have no issue with Detroit bringing him back given his flexibility in playing in any type of role as needed by his hockey club.
In addition, 27 year-old
Damien Brunner appears to be also set to hit the market despite the fact he has publicly stated he would like to remain in Detroit. Perhaps Ken Holland's uncertainty in whether Brunner will remain explains the reasoning behind their supposed interest in possibly adding veteran
Daniel Alfredsson. Although I would be shocked to see "Alfie" leave Ottawa at this stage of his career, I think Detroit would be better served to keep Brunner, who had the same number of points last season as Alfredssson despite playing 3 fewer games and going through a major slump during the second portion of the regular season.
The sentiment from the beat writers is that Brunner is asking for a multi-year deal at around $2.5 million. If so, I don't understand what the hold up is in getting him signed at that number. Seems extremely reasonable to me for a guy who likely hit the wall toward the latter portion of the season after having played during the lockout in Europe and isn't accustomed to playing 70+ games per season. In his six professional seasons prior to this year, the most games Brunner played in a season was 53. This year, between Europe, the NHL regular season and the playoffs, he played in 91.
However, the biggest news in my opinion came on Thursday when the Toronto Maple Leafs placed
Mikhail Grabovski on unconditional waivers with the intention of buying his contract out. Grabovski had four years remaining, scheduled to pay him $21 million with an average cap hit of $5.5 million.
There are many reasons why this should be considered significant news for the Detroit Red Wings:
a) Able to play both center and the wing
b) Might come at a slightly discounted price in comparison to other free agents due to the fact Toronto will pay him $1.8 million each season for the next 8 years.
c) Close friend of
Pavel Datsyuk, who he played alongside during the lockout in the KHL
d) Happens to be getting married today to a woman from the Windsor area (across from Detroit)
e) Extremely motivated to prove to the NHL and in particular the Toronto Maple Leafs, that buying him out was an error on their part. Might be no better way to do that than within the division.
At 29 years of age, he is in the midst of his prime playing years. It just appears to be a tailor-made situation for the Red Wings to step in and take on a buy-low candidate, who struggled playing under Toronto coach
Randy Carlyle after having scored 82 goals in his four previous seasons in Toronto. The main target might remain to be Weiss, but the availability of Grabovski might provide Detroit with a more enticing salary cap wise option by comparison.
If all else fails, and the free agency frenzy goes as expected, I think more and more Red Wing fans will begin to buy into Holland's new motto of strictly focusing on "Drafting and Developing". The opening of free agency every year has become a time where clubs often ruin their franchises going forward, instead of enhancing their chances for prosperity.
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