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Pius Suter highlighted the opening day of free agency. Once Danault made his decision to go to L.A., it was nice to see Yzerman grab a center. There’s a bit of deja vu on this one. When Fabbri came to Detroit, it was a reunion with Tyler Bertuzzi. Pius Suter was also a “musketeer” with those two in Juniors. There were early “requests” after the Suter acquisition to see a line of those three playing together.
Here is a list of players currently under contract:
Dylan Larkin, Frans Nielsen, Pius Suter, Robby Fabbri, Vladislav Namestnikov, Michael Rasmussen, Filip Zadina, Sam Gagner (still listed as UFA on cap friendly) - that’s your forward group
Waiting to be signed are Tyler Bertuzzi, Jacub Vrana, and Adam Erne
Defense:
Nick Leddy, Danny Dekeyser, Marc Staal, Troy Stecher, Jordan Oesterle, Gustav Lindstrom, Wyatt Newpower. Unsigned - Filip Hronek
(Seider is signed for 3 years, but currently listed as “non roster”)
Goalies:
Thomas Greiss, Alex Nedeljkovic
Ok, take it in. The deals for Hronek, Bertuzzi and Vrana feel like important ones, and they may take some time. Erne, I think, will be easier to sign. Detroit still has 30million in cap space, and only 1 player signed past next season (Rasmussen is on a new 3 year). Even with this week’s new additions, Yzerman hasn’t taken on anything more than this and next season. That’s fairly impressive.
Assuming we re sign all 4 RFAs (and Seider comes up), you can put together some reasonably good lines. If you do a Guelph reunion:
Zadina/Larkin/Vrana
Bertuzzi/Suter/Fabbri
Then you have Rasmussen on the third line with Erne (?)
Nielsen/Gagner/Namestnikov
Leddy/Hronek
Staal/Seider
Oesterle/Stecher
Dekeyser/Lindstrom
The defense is a bit odd. Leddy could well be paired with Seider, but who then do you put with Hronek? It would be a significant jump for Oesterle or Staal to be on that top pairing. At this point, Leddy makes a bit more sense up there, but that’s just my opinion.
All in all, very happy with the look of the top 2 lines with Suter in the mix. If Ryan is re signed he can join Rasmussen and Erne on the third. It would be up to Veleno or Berggren to unseat someone. That could move Fabbri down to the third line (assuming Veleno or Berggren would be better playing top 6 minutes in GR than bottom 6 in Detroit).
So, the news we’re waiting on is signings. Glenny is gone. I’m still assuming Helm and Fil are gone. Nielsen/Gagner and Namestnikov are entering their final year. The team keeps getting younger.
It does feel like an improvement. Another step in the right direction. There’s been a lot of discussion about Bertuzzi being traded, but I don’t know if that’s in the cards. At some point, someone will get a decent extension. I would assume Hronek will be the first deal finished. Vrana and Bert both have a lot to go back and forth on with management. I think it would be in Bertuzzi’s interest to do another short term deal in hopes of a healthy year.
So that’s where we are now. Are you satisfied with the comings and goings? Let me know how it looks to you.
Check out some of my previous posts:
Pius Suter highlighted the opening day of free agency.
Yesterday was a free agency “primer”
Svechnikov was not qualified by Wings, and Lindstrom signed for 2 years.
Marc Staal returns for 1 year, 2M
I posted my final thoughts about the 2021 draft
Day 2 of the 2021 draft can be found here
You can take a look at Detroit’s first round results here.
Yzerman extended Rasmussen and acquired Alex Nedeljkovic yesterday.
Seattle has selected Dennis Cholowski.
While we wait on RFA contract status for Detroit
RedWings TV did a quick hit on centers MacTavish and Lusius as possible draft targets
Detroit acquired Leddy for Panik, 52nd pick
The market for Zack Hyman is blowing up.
Yzerman has kept contracts short and sweet. 
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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