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DeKeyser avoids arbitration; Mrazek looking forward to it |
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One down, one to go.
The Detroit Red Wings avoided arbitration with Danny DeKeyser, signing the 26-year-old defenseman to a six-year, $30-million contract Tuesday.
“It’s a big deal for me and for my family just to get some stability here and be playing in Detroit for the next six years at least,” Michigan native DeKeyser said. “It’s just a place I like to play, like I mentioned my family’s here.
“I don’t want to go anywhere else and I was pretty happy that we were able to work with (Detroit GM) Kenny (Holland) and get a deal done.”
If a picture is indeed worth a thousands words, then Detroit getting a pact signed with the other arbitration-bound Red Wing – goaltender Petr Mrazek - would appear unlikely.
Mrazek posted a photo on his Instagram account @pmraza34 sitting at a table with Czech tennis player Radek Stepanek. They were on the phone and the caption suggested that Mrazek was plotting his strategy for Wednesday’s arbitration hearing with Holland and the Wings.
The photo was later removed from Mrazek’s account but it’s clear that the two sides are far apart in terms of what they feel is a fair contract.
The Wings will table a two-year offer worth $2.75 million the first season and $3.15 million the second year. Mrazek’s camp is countering with a two-year deal, each year worth $5 million.
Mrazek earned $737,500 last season and would be the first player to go to arbitration with the Wings since Ray Sheppard in 1995. There was the unique case of Jiri Hudler in 2009, who the Wings ended up going to arbitration with after he signed to play for Dynamo Moscow in the KHL. The settlement reached between the Wings and Hudler’s agent was later thrown out.
DeKeyser was slated for a Thursday arbitration hearing and until recently figured that he would be requiring the process to get a contract.
“It was kind of up in the air for a little bit,” DeKeyser admitted. “I would say the last week or so is when I kind of figured out that it wasn’t going to be going to arbitration, so as time was kind of winding down toward that date I wasn’t really too concerned about it actually going there.”
Locking himself up with the Red Wings through his 32nd birthday, DeKeyser is the latest young NHLer to surrender potential years of unrestricted free agency in order to garner security and remain with the team where he launched his NHL career.
“I think it’s such a good fit for both the player and the team,” DeKeyser said. “That’s what you see happening in some of these cases because when a player gets comfortable in one spot, guys don’t like to be bouncing around from team to team and that kind of thing.
“They like to have some stability, so as long as it matches well with the team and the team is happy with how the player has produced and how he has done for the team then if it makes sense for both sides that’s why you see some of these deals happening more often and guys not getting to unrestricted free agency too much.”
With a hard salary cap in place, DeKeyser looks around and sees so many veteran NHL free agents still out of work and thinks that there’s common sense involved when it comes to taking security if a team offers it.
“Like I mentioned, players like to be in a place where they know they’re going to be for a long time and know that they have that stability for their family, know that they’re not going to have to worry about bouncing around to some other team,” DeKeyser said. “Definitely being a player, I feel the same way.
“You get a little more comfortable once you know you know you’re going to be in one spot for a long time. You don’t have to worry about anything other than just playing well.”
The new deal is also an early wedding present for DeKeyser, who is marrying Melissa Beurmann, who he met when both were students at Western Michigan.
“I’m getting married in September before training camp – early September,” DeKeyser said. “Yeah, it’s nice to get this done and just to know that I’ll be around for a while.
“For me and my fiancée, she’s also from Michigan, so it’s just a good spot for us to be in, with family all around the state and that kind of thing. It’s a big event coming up for us, so it’s really cool how this has worked out before the wedding, to get that done and be comfortable and not have to worry about it.”
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