With the free agency period just a bit over 48 hours old, the wait continues on what the two biggest unrestricted free agents in
Ryan Suter and
Zach Parise will do and where they will choose to sign going forward.
Most of the speculation surrounding Parise seems to indicate that the Pittsburgh Penguins remain the front-runners, with the New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild still in pursuit. Although the Detroit Red Wings did make an offer for Parise's services, it does not appear likely he is headed to the Motor City.
As for Suter, he still appears to be headed to Detroit in most people’s opinion. Minnesota and Pittsburgh appear to be contenders still for his services. However, this afternoon’s development which has
tracked a plane owned by
Mike Ilitch in Madison, Wisconsin this morning and heading back to Detroit this afternoon has to be seen as a positive development for Red Wing fans. In all likelihood, a Red Wing contingent headed to visit Suter and had a face-to-face discussion on their proposal. In addition,
Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press
reports the Red Wings have increased their offer to 13 years, $90 million to Suter. Stay tuned!
Nevertheless, until something is finalized one way or the other, plenty of other free agents and/or trade options will remain in limbo. What is certain is that the Red Wings signed four players on Day 1 of free agency. Let’s examine these signings and what they will mean for the 2012-13 version of your Detroit Red Wings:
Goaltender Jonas Gustavsson signed to 2 year, $3 million contract ($1.5 million AAV):
My take: I feel this is a solid signing by the Red Wings to stabilize their back-up goaltending. It’s unfortunate that this acquisition could spell the end of
Joey MacDonald in Detroit, as he has asked for a trade to a team looking for an NHL back-up goaltender. MacDonald truly deserved better in Detroit and based on his play, I do believe he would have been their back-up goaltender this season, if he did not experience issues with his back and the bulging disc that plagued him towards the tail end of the season.
Nevertheless, Gustavsson is a typical Ken Holland signing. Low-risk, but the Wings staff feels the “Monster” has huge upside. Still only 27 year of age, the Red Wings were heavily interested in acquiring Gustavsson when he came over to North America from Sweden three seasons ago.
Having watched a substantial amount of Toronto Maple Leaf hockey the past three seasons, Gustavsson was a frustrating player to watch as he suffered from a significant amount of inconsistency during his time as a Maple Leaf. Nevertheless, he did show stretches of brilliance in Toronto and to acquire a netminder that the Wings scouts feel has only scratched the surface of his talents to back-up and “push”
Jimmy Howard can only be seen as a positive development. Of all the UFA goalies that were available in this year’s crop, Gustavsson had the highest ceiling in my opinion.
Detroit is hopeful that a fresh start with a new team and a goaltender coach in
Jim Bedard with a different philosophy than that of Toronto’s goaltender coach
Francois Allaire. Bedard prefers seeing his goaltenders challenge shooters, whereas Allaire is renowned for his preference of having goaltenders sit deeper in their net.
Right Winger Mikael Samuelsson signed to a 2 year, $6 million contract ($3 million AAV):
My take: My original thought on the Samuelsson signing was “Why?” After thinking it over a bit more, I understand the rationale behind the signing, even if I am still not enamored with it. The Red Wings knew
Jiri Hudler was not likely to return and after seeing Hudler sign a 4-year, $16 million contract with the Calgary Flames yesterday, it makes this signing slightly more palatable given Samuelsson's production has been relatively in line with what Hudler produced in his time as a Red Wing.
In Samuelsson, you are likely to get a guy guaranteed to score 15-20 goals and the flexibility to play anywhere in your lineup whether it be on the top two scoring lines or in the bottom six. Much to the dismay of several loyal Red Wing Hockeybuzz readers, Holland has already suggested that Samuelsson could see some time on the power play on the right point due to his heavy shot (which rarely hits the net), despite having Ian White, Niklas Kronwall, Brendan Smith and possibly Ryan Suter ahead of him on the depth chart for power-play point time.
Not a fan of the no-trade clause, but I understand why Holland had to do it, as Samuelsson was looking for some security at the end of his career. They basically got a more versatile version of Hudler, at $1 million less per season. Hudler likely has more offensive upside, but I believe the Red Wings feel Samuelsson can still contribute to the Wings regardless of which line he is playing on. In contrast, Hudler offered minimal value to the Red Wings unless he was playing amongst the top-six forwards.
Right Winger Jordin Tootoo signed to a 3 year, $5.7 million contract ($1.9 million AAV):
This signing likely has created the most buzz amongst Red Wing fans given the differing opinions on this signing by Detroit. When it is all said and done, I believe Tootoo will turn out to be a good signing for the Red Wings. The reason for that belief is the substantial role
Mike Babcock played in landing Tootoo as a Red Wing.
Whether I’m comfortable paying Tootoo $5.7 million over 3 years is a different story. Then again, you are never going to get a bargain on July 1st. And with the salary cap going up to $70.2 million for the 2012-13 season (if all goes well), perhaps the deal isn’t as bad as I initially thought.
From a purely hockey perspective, I believe Tootoo will provide what Babcock is looking for from his 4th line. Energy, physical play and an ability to provide a strong forecheck. As Holland mentioned, this signing represented the Red Wings “stepping outside their comfort zone”. However, the Red Wing braintrust has concluded that players in the mold of Tootoo are necessary to help this team become more difficult to play against, especially during the post-season.
The fact Tootoo’s stay in Nashville ended so poorly with him being a healthy scratch throughout the majority of the 2012 NHL playoffs certainly provides an element of risk to this signing by the Red Wings. Will the change of scenery re-ignite Tootoo’s play?
In addition to the signings above, the
Damien Brunner signing that I
discussed last week was also made official. As a result, Detroit now has a boatload of forwards on the current roster, sixteen to be exact:
Filppula – Datsyuk – Cleary
Franzen – Zetterberg – Samuelsson
Miller – Helm – Eaves
Bertuzzi – Abdelkader – Tootoo
Nyquist – Emmerton – Mursak
Brunner
You have to believe unless Brunner truly blows away the coaching staff with his performance at training camp, he will likely begin the season in Grand Rapids due to his two-way contract.
After that, you have to believe Detroit may be looking to move a few of these forwards to obtain an additional defenseman or perhaps a significant package to acquire a goal-scorer.
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