Make sure to follow Mark on Twitter!
The Detroit Red Wings continue to contemplate the future identity of their club next season. Over the course of the summer, often times there are minor league re-signings within an organization that do not receive significant attention but could prove to be important signings at some point in the future. On Thursday of this past week, the Red Wings announced the following:
The Detroit Red Wings today announced that they have re-signed right wings Mitch Callahan and Andrej Nestrasil to one-year contracts. In accordance with club policy, additional details will not be disclosed.
Callahan, 22, paced Grand Rapids with a plus-23 rating last season and also finished among the Griffins’ leaders with 26 goals (2nd), 44 points (4th), seven power-play goals (T2nd) and 194 shots on goal (3rd). Originally drafted by the Red Wings in the sixth round (180th overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Callahan made his NHL debut last season on March 25 at Columbus and logged 9:01 of ice time. The Whittier, Calif., native has skated in 189 games with Grand Rapids since 2011-12 and has tallied 73 points (43-30-73) and 247 penalty minutes. Callahan also helped the Griffins to a Calder Cup championship in 2012-13, notching 20 points (11-9-20) in 71 regular-season games and 11 points (6-5-11) in 24 postseason contests.
Callahan appears to be the type of player the Wings could utilize to provide greater depth and variation to their lineup. His style of play (good net presence, gritty play along the boards and corners) is something the club does not have in abundance. In reality, his style may not get an opportunity this season in Detroit barring injuries during training camp.
However, that opportunity might come elsewhere. With
Daniel Cleary receiving a one-way contract, the Red Wings may have to expose more players than they had originally hoped to the waiver wire. Instead of promoting players from within and providing them with an opportunity, the Red Wings still seem to prefer offering veterans spots on the roster as evidenced with the recent Cleary re-signing and many instances in past seasons. Without a doubt the only reason the likes of
Riley Sheahan,
Tomas Jurco and even
Gustav Nyquist eventually got the call last season in Detroit was due to the multitude of injuries last season to Detroit's forwards.
On many teams in this day and age of the salary cap era, the likes of Callahan,
Teemu Pulkkinen and highly touted
Anthony Mantha would be heading into the season as legitimate contenders to win a roster spot at training camp. Maybe one of them will in fact do so. However, the Red Wings continue with an identity crisis of sorts in preferring to rely on veteran depth players. As a result, someone like Callahan may end up being another
Kyle Quincey. The Red Wings drafted Quincey, lost him to the waiver wire in 2008 (Los Angeles Kings) and then spent a 1st round pick in the 2012 Entry Draft to re-acquire the 2003 4th round selection of the Red Wings.
It might be time to adjust their thinking and lean to the new NHL where young, cheap forwards often times do a better job of rounding out a team's roster then more costly veterans nearing (or in some instances overstaying) the end of their careers. After witnessing firsthand the minimal impact the likes of Cleary,
Mikael Samuelsson and to a lesser extent
Todd Bertuzzi had on the club last season, the time appears to be now to change the hockey club's mentality and identity.
[email protected]
***
Previous Posts
One assistant down; one to go.
Loyalty? The summer of "Ken" continues...
Mike Green a fit for the Red Wings...
Finally a small dose of some good news in Detroit
Will Jurco get the "Nyquist" treatment
Trying to find the positive in the return of Kyle Quincey
Calm before the free agency storm
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»