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It feels like "Mission Impossible", but my hope with today's blog is to attempt to find the silver lining to Detroit's re-signing of rearguard Kyle Quincey to a two-year contract with a total annual average value (AAV) of $4.25 million.
Consider me among those shocked last night to see Ken Holland shell out that kind of money to retain Quincey. At first glance, it seems like an overreaction to having had a half-dozen rearguards essentially reject the Red Wings as a destination yesterday. One thing that you cannot fault the Red Wings when it comes to free agency is leaving money on the table. Two years ago, the Wings offered Ryan Suter more money than any other team, yet he ended up in Minnesota.
Yesterday, the Wings lose out on Christian Ehrhoff, despite offering him a multi-year deal in comparison to the one-year deal he signed with Pittsburgh. Dan Boyle becomes a Ranger (2 years, $9 million), leaving an extra year and $3.5 million totaql on the table from Detroit. Matt Niskanen heads to Washington (7 years, $40.2 million), despite the Red Wings offering a reported $42 million over 7 years.
Throw in Stephane Robidas (Toronto), Anton Stralman (Tampa) and Tom Gilbert (Montreal) and you could see why Detroit's level of desperation was at an all-time high by the early evening hours on Day 1 of the signing period.
Plenty can change in two months time when the Red Wings head to training camp. The Red Wings appear to still be interested in bringing in a right-handed shooting defenseman. However, the maddening part of the Quincey signing is that it resembles another previous "panic move" by Holland and his staff from earlier this season when they decided to trade for David Legwand and part with a solid prospect in Calle Jarnkrok, along with a 2nd round draft pick in this year's entry draft (#45 overall).
What the Red Wings didn't really need is two more years of Kyle Quincey......especially at $4.25 million per season. Furthermore, it begs the question to be asked why they bothered giving Jakub Kindl that four-year deal worth $2.4 million per season last summer when he was a restricted free agent. If they don't have faith in Kindl after his struggles last season, move him! Because of their lack of faith, they decide to re-sign their own free agent who a week ago they had no problem indicating publicly they had no intention of retaining.
Although it's too late to erase the Quincey signing, ultimately what the Red Wings needed after getting shut out in free agency was a bold, dynamic acquisition via trade to bolster the group on the blueline. That is not to say that such a deal still can't happen. Although some of the names listed as possible targets such as right-handed shooting rearguards like Tyler Myers, Dustin Byfuglien, Jeff Petry or Mike Green could be the cure that is needed to round out Detroit's top four, Ken Holland need only look towards his former "protege" Jim Nill when it comes to making a bold trade to attempt to improve his hockey club. The new goal for Holland should be to trade for a top-four D and make Quincey a grossly overpaid 3rd pair defenseman.
In less than a calendar year, Nill acquired two top 2 centers to lead his hockey club down the middle in Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza. There is no guarantee these moves will work for Dallas, although the early returns appear positive based on Seguin's debut campaign for the Stars. The point is Nill knew the easiest way to control the asset he would acquire was via the trade route. As Holland himself has stated, money is no longer the ultimate deciding factor for the highly sought after free agents given the fact, in most instances, the offers from several teams are usually in the same ballpark and players use other factors to determine their ultimate place of work.
A decade ago, Detroit had become accustomed to feasting on free agents in the summer or pending UFA's at the trade deadline because they had the budget to overwhelm prospective players. Once the salary cap came into play, Detroit was still a destination because they were viewed as a legitimate Cup contender. However, with no Conference Final appearances in the past five seasons, the Red Wings are no longer currently seen by players as a top echelon contender.
Thus, if Ken Holland wants to bring back his club to the promised land, he will undoubtedly have to follow Nill's lead and take some calculated risks to acquire the type of talent the Red Wings have been missing out on in recent summers. Given the lack of risk-taking by Holland in recent years, it's understandable why many Wing fans are referring to yesterday as "Black Tuesday".
As for the silver lining in the Quincey return, at least the contract was only for two years.....although it would have been even better if only for one year with the likes of Ouellet, Sproul and Marchenko patiently biding their time in Grand Rapids. In addition, it should not be forgotten that with the introduction of teams being able to retain salary in trades, it is possible that although Holland re-signed Quincey as a last resort to at least maintain the status quo for the time being, a trade can easily be facilitated at a later date if another blueliner is brought in or if one of the youngsters emerge during the early portion of the 2014-15 regular season.
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mark.spizzirri@hockeybuzz.com