Red Wings Free Agent Frenzy

The NHL free agency period started on July 5^th this year, and the Red Wings did not waste any time in making their moves. Within minutes of the clock striking 12, news swirled in the hockey world that the Red Wings had acquired Daniel Alfredsson, the long-time captain of the Ottawa Senators. Not more than an hour later, more rumors started spreading about Stephen Weiss from the Florida Panthers possibly becoming a Red Wing. Within a half hour, that was a done deal.

So far, those are the two big additions the Red Wings have made during free agency. They are likely not finished either. There is a lot of talk about Dan Cleary re-signing here, and Damien Brunner is another one of our players who may be back. There are also three restricted free agents who will likely be back in Gustav Nyquist, Brendan Smith, and Joakim Andersson.  

Since the Red Wings made these moves to bring in these players, I have heard both praises and criticisms of the moves they made. A lot of people are upset that Damien Brunner has not been resigned yet. Other people do not want Cleary back and are frustrated with the fact that talks continue with him about a new contract. More people are saying that Alfredsson is too old and has nothing left in the tank at 40 years of age. However, I have heard people say that they like the Alfredsson signing as well. And I have not heard a negative to the Stephen Weiss signing yet except for the fact that not everyone is wowed by it.

Here’s what I think about the moves we have made so far, and I’ll start with the Weiss signing. He is signed for 5 years with a cap hit of $4.9 million. Weiss to me is a very good addition, and because he is a center he fills a hole on our team. Weiss consistently can score at least 20 goals, and add even more assists. He will  be an upgrade over Valtteri Filppula who signed a 5 year deal with Tampa Bay for $5 million per season. Weiss plays a lot like Filppula in the sense that he is a good skater who is responsible in the defensive zone, but Weiss brings more to the table with his point production and his leadership ability. He was an assistant captain in Florida, and he was relied on heavily there because he was one of their top two or three players. The only worry I have right now is that Weiss was injured for a lot of last season and never really got going in terms of production. However, I’m hopeful because he will now be playing on a team where he is surrounded with more talent than he had in Florida, and he will not be matched up against the other teams’ top defensive units. On a side note, he played his junior hockey for the Plymouth Whalers, so he already has some familiarity with the area. This signing is a good fit that will help this team offensively.

Analyzing the Weiss signing was easy, because there are not too many people who have a problem with that pick. However, the Daniel Alfredsson signing has come under much more scrutiny. And to those people who do not like the signing, let me see if I can change your mind. As you might be able to tell by now, this is another addition I really like. Alfredsson is a veteran right winger who has been the captain in Ottawa for the past 14 years. Right away, it is obvious that with this signing comes a player who knows how to play the game, and can lead others well. The contract he signed is a one year deal with a cap hit of $3.5 million. There are performance bonuses within the contract worth $2 million as well. So the cap hit is relatively low and it is a one year deal, a very low risk signing. Last season, Alfredsson scored 10 goals and had 16 assists for 26 points during the regular season. During the playoffs last year, he had 4 goals and 6 assists for 10 points in 10 games. His regular season totals would put him tied for 5^th on the Red Wings in both goal scoring and point production last season, and his production in the playoffs would have him tied for 2^nd on the team in both playoff goal scoring and point production even though Alfredsson played in 4 less playoff games than Red Wings players. The season before last, he put up 27 goals and 32 assists.

Alfredsson has been one of the better goal scorers in the league throughout his 18 year career, and he can still get the job done. Let’s face it, almost everyone wanted Nicklas Lidstrom back when he was going to be 43 years old, and although Alfredsson is not Lidstrom, he’s not your average 40 year old player either. With this signing, the Red Wings gain an excellent character player who has played in the Eastern Conference his entire career, and can still get the job done offensively. With the Red Wings moving to the Eastern Conference next year, Alfredsson (and Weiss) will be valuable when it comes to knowledge of the teams the Red Wings will now be playing against frequently. The other thing I really like about this signing is that it is a one year deal. It will be a good way to fill a hole until our prospects like Calle Jarnkrok, Tomas Jurco, Landon Ferraro, Teemu Pulkkinen, and Riley Sheahan are ready in the 2014-2015 season and one of them will likely fill that spot in the lineup. Then again, if Alfredsson does well we can sign him to another one year deal next summer and find other places for the prospects to fit into the lineup. He has stated publicly that wanting to win a Stanley Cup influenced his decision to leave Ottawa, and it should mean a lot that he chose the Red Wings to try and achieve this goal.

As far as our losses, Filppula can go to Tampa for $5 million, and I do not care at all. The Red Wings got a better player with a lower cap hit in Weiss, and I don’t think Filppula is worth more than $4 million per year.

This whole situation about Cleary and Brunner is strange though. Nearly every fan wants Brunner back while they want Cleary gone. However, management seems to be talking to Cleary much more than Brunner. Reports say that Brunner wants about $3-$3.5 million per year for a few years and Cleary wants $2.5-$3 million for 3 years. Those numbers are very similar, and it doesn’t make sense why a declining player in Cleary would be favored over a player in his prime who can score like Brunner. It leads me to believe there may be some friction between the team and Brunner. He was never known as a two way player, and maybe he refused to work on getting better defensively? Maybe Brunner did not like the way he was being coached here? Maybe there’s just simply no room for his type of player in this lineup anymore? I’m just speculating, but obviously there are things between Brunner and the team we don’t know for sure.

Even if Brunner is not back, I would still rather not have Cleary back. Especially for another 3 years  at such a large cap hit for the production he brings. Not to mention Cleary’s injury potential is too high for such a long commitment. If we really need another forward, (and I’m not convinced we do) I would look to pick up Brendan Morrow. Morrow is similar to Cleary, but Morrow has more leadership and offensive production since Morrow was the captain of the Dallas Stars for years. Cleary’s career high in points is 46 points, whereas Morrow has had 46 points or more 5 times in his career. Morrow is one month younger than Cleary too, so it’s not like one has more youth than the other realistically. Although Morrow has had his injury struggles too, he would be a better risk because he’s a better player.

So here are the important changes that have been made so far this offseason:

Additions:

Daniel Alfredsson (Free Agency)

Stephen Weiss (Free Agency)

Tomas Tatar (Prospect)

Subtractions:

Valtteri Filppula (Free Agency)

Carlo Colaiacovo (Bought Out)

Still Waiting:
Dan Cleary

Damien Brunner (Likely gone)

Gustav Nyquist (Restricted Free Agent)

Brendan Smith (Restricted Free Agent)

Joakim Andersson (Restricted Free Agent)

Restricted free agents (RFA) are younger players whose rights are still owned by their team even though they’re free agents. Any team can offer them a contract, but the team that owns their rights has a chance to match what other teams offer them. As a result, it’s very rare to see a restricted free agent move to another team.

So looking at the moves we made, Weiss is an upgrade over Filppula, Tatar is a player who was the MVP of the AHL playoffs this past year, and has a good chance to make up for the production we might lose if Brunner doesn’t resign. Alfredsson is a pure addition unless we lose Cleary, and he will likely produce more offense than Cleary. With Nyquist likely being back and playing a full season, he has a chance to put up at least 40 points this year. We may have lost Colaiacovo, but he was an extra piece who didn’t play much. He doesn’t need to be replaced. Looking at our moves as a whole, it is hard to say anything but this team has significantly improved from last season.

Expect more to happen before the season starts as well. Teams need to fill out a 23 person roster, and right now the Red Wings have 22. If they are entertaining bringing back Cleary, Nyquist, Andersson, and Smith, that would put them at 26 players. Also, that would put them over the salary cap. Money needs to be moved and players need to be moved. Look for a trade to be made that might include players like Cory Emmerton, Patrick Eaves, Jordin Tootoo, and maybe even Kyle Quincey or Mikael Samuelsson. Do not expect big time players in return either because we will need to cut salary. I’m expecting trades for draft picks, prospects, and maybe a decent defenseman if Quincey is included.

I’m going to assume for a moment that Smith, Nyquist, and Andersson are all back since they are RFAs. With the additions the Red Wings made,  there are some very interesting line combinations that can be made. The defense will likely look similar to last year, but the forward depth is much better. Here are a few line combinations that I think look pretty good.

Alfredsson – Datsyuk – Abdelkader

Franzen – Zetterberg – Nyquist

Tatar – Weiss – Samuelsson

Miller – Helm – Andersson

Or

Franzen – Datsyuk – Samuelsson

Alfredsson – Weiss – Zetterberg

Tatar – Helm – Nyquist

Miller – Andersson – Abdelkader

Or even

Zetterberg – Datsyuk – Abdelkader

Alfredsson – Weiss – Franzen

Tatar – Andersson – Nyquist

Miller – Helm – Samuelsson

The extras are Eaves, Emmerton, Bertuzzi, and Tootoo, and they can be slotted into the lineup if necessary, but I’m also not expecting all these players to be here. If Bertuzzi is healthy, he will be in the lineup, but I left him out because he has been injured a lot lately. Also, I’m hopeful we will see Helm back next year so I did include him in those lineups. If he is still hurt though, Emmerton can slide in and play center.

It is pretty fun to mix up these lines, and I’m sure Mike Babcock is thinking the same thing right now. By the looks of it, we will have 3 lines who can legitimately score some goals and a 4^th line that will wear the other team down, and play responsibly defensively.

The defense should look something like this unless a trade to acquire another quality defenseman arises.

Kronwall – Ericsson

Kindl – DeKeyser

Quincey – Smith

Extra: Lashoff

I personally think that is a strong lineup on defense. Although there are some young players there, I would have to believe that 5 if not all 6 would be top 4 defenseman on most teams. Smith is still developing, and I look for him to surprise some people this year with an improvement. Also, do not forget that Quincey has the ability to put up some points, and he played very well defensively last year in the playoffs.

Right now, Ken Holland has options. His money is much tighter than at the beginning of free agency, but moves will have to be made. There’s no guarantee anything will happen very soon, but it has to before the season starts. Overall, I give the Red Wings an A- so far during free agency. I really like the pickups of Alfredsson and Weiss, but I would’ve liked to see Brunner back and I do not want them to sign Cleary to a contract anywhere near what he is asking. Those small flaws are why the minus was included.  Even though there are some flaws, the pickups are excellent for the team now, and looking toward the team’s future.

What would you like to see the Red Wings do during the rest of the summer via free agency, trades, or buyouts?  What would your ideal line combination look like? What grade would you give the Red Wings offseason at this point?