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Update - Detroit has acquired Marc Staal and a 2nd round pick! Discuss. At 33 the left shot Dman (former alternate captain) has 1 year left at 5.75.
Detroit is working on a new deal with Mantha. while we wait for those particulars, it looks like Sam Gagner is back in the fold.
according to Mlive the pact is for 1 year 850,000. I’d said at the “end” of the season that I wouldn’t mind seeing Gagner back. He actually tries to push the pace and make creative plays. Hard stops inside the offensive zone with a quick pass. It was refreshing to see someone trying. The club looked fairly burned out by mid March.
The question becomes, how many bottom 6 centers is too many? Filppula, Helm, Glendening, Nielsen and as a center, Fabbri. (I like him on the wing 2nd line). Rasmussen(?) is supposed to be auditioning for third line center at some point. Veleno? He still hasn’t been assigned and that seems strange. With all of those players, that’s 8 centers looking for a job. Of course, centers can often play wing. Unless someone (or multiple someones) are heading out, this log jam is unfortunate. (Depending on development, Detroit could opt to let Rasmussen finish the year in Austria. Not sure if that’s even on the table)
With Tampa Bay one win from winning their second Stanley Cup in franchise history, I’d honestly hoped Tyler Johnson could be on the way. That may be in the works, but at some point we need to deal some centers. Helm, Filppula and Glendening all expire after this year. More $ coming of the books. It’s not worth giving away picks to drop them a season early. It’s not impossible that a team would want one of the three, but Nielsen seems (to me) immovable with two more seasons of 5.25 million. He could retire (or be bought out) but neither is a guarantee.
For the past few seasons it seems like Detroit just has a glut of bottom 6 forwards and 3-4 top 6. That seems to be more filler than a pound of generic bologna, and leaves about the same feeling upon consumption. Bloating, swelling, crying (sometimes pleading with God) for the pain to stop. I feel fairly confident that this year’s draft pick will develop elsewhere. Seider should be coming over, McIsaac won’t be. Ericsson and Howard are off the book (Howard insists he’s not done playing but knows it won’t be in Detroit). Daley and Green are both gone as well. Addition by subtraction may be the feeling going forward. Still, I’d like to see a small “purge” of the bottom 6 at some point.
Turner Elson has signed with Grand Rapids for a 1 year 750,000 contract. Yzerman is slowly looking toward building that roster as well. With no certainly on the AHL season at this point, it is still up in the air as to whether any of those players will report. I hope they can figure it out and make a go of it.
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