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Wings dump Datsyuk contract; jump into Stamkos sweepstakes |
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It isn’t often that a team’s first-round pick is an afterthought on draft night, but after the Detroit Red Wings were able to relieve themselves of the albatross around their neck that was the $7.5-million salary cap hit of the contract of recently-retired center Pavel Datsyuk, talk switched from who they got in Friday’s first round of the NHL entry draft in Buffalo to who they might be able to get next week when NHL the free-agent signing period begins July 1.
That person of interest being Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos.
Slated to pick 16th overall in the first round, the Wings swing a deal with the Arizona Coyotes to swap first-round picks, Detroit dropping to No. 20, while also getting the 53rd overall pick and minor-league forward Joe Vitale from the Coyotes in exchange for pick No. 16 and the last year of the contract of Datsyuk, who has returned to Russia and intends to play in the KHL next season.
“It’s huge,” Detroit general manager Ken Holland said of dumping Datsyuk’s cap hit. “It’s $7.5 million that every day we were looking at.”
That the Wings were able to rid themselves of such a bad economic situation without surrendering any of their top prospects or a roster player was frankly amazing.
“Obviously, a deal has to be a win-win,” Holland said. “(Arizona) got a player rated in the top 10 a year ago (in Sarnia Sting defenseman Jakob Chychrun) and they have cap space for Pav’s (contract).
“We’re getting Joe Vitale and we got an extra second-round pick for moving back four spots.
“It was a deal that both sides are happy with.”
Needing money to get up to the salary cap floor, the Coyotes were long rumored to be the team most likely to take Datsyuk’s contract off Detroit’s hands.
“It's something we talked about for a long time,” Arizona GM John Chayka admitted. “There's very few teams that could take that contract on, so I talked to Kenny about it.
“When Chychrun started to fall, we started making calls, looking at what we could do. I called Kenny, I thought he was going to keep the pick; I thought he was going to take it and I thought that was a good kind of leverage point to utilize.
“So I made the call on the floor and got the player that I wanted, and Kenny got the space he needed.
“That's how it went down.”
It’s who the Wings might get next that most excites Detroit fans. With over $19 million in cap space now available, the Wings are equipped with the type of room to make a serious run at two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner Stamkos, the top available unrestricted free agent.
“I think for the most part, we’re looking at forward,” Holland said of his plans in free agency. “Pavel Datsyuk’s gone, so obviously we’ll be looking at forwards.”
He’s The Man
When the Wings did make their pick at No. 20, they went off the board a bit in selecting defenseman Dennis Cholowski from the Chilliwack Chiefs of the B.C. Hockey League.
Cholowski jumped from a C prospect with NHL Central Scouting at the start of the season up to a potential first rounder.
“I only saw him play one time,” Holland said. “Our scouts love him. He’s a great skater.”
The late-blossoming Cholowski played for Canada at last season’s World Junior A Challenge and finished fifth in the BCHL in scoring with 40 points.
“My WHL bantam draft, I was pretty small and got selected in the 10th round,” said Cholowski, who’s grown to 6-1 and 176 pounds. “The BCHL and the college route kind of presented itself to me.
“It’s worked out from there.”
Cholowski intends to play at St. Cloud State, the same NCAA school that provided the Wings with defensive prospect Nick Jensen.
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