John Gaudreau shockingly signed with Columbus. Colorful Brent Burns ended up in Carolina. Claude Giroux joins the Ottawa Senators. Nazem Kadri is slow-playing his hand.
Plenty of entertaining storylines on the first day of free agency. And yet somehow the Detroit Red Wings, a team with 50 losses last season and a -82 goal differential, managed to grab a share of the news cycle.
"The moment you get a call from Steve Yzerman, it catches your attention right away," veteran forward David Perron said after he signed with the Red Wings.
Perron was one of five free agents Yzerman acquired Wednesday in an effort to attach a booster rocket to the team's rebuilding effort. With the Yzerman's draft picks starting to come to Detroit now -- Simon Edvinsson will join Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond next season -- it seems like the right time to give this rebuild a big push.
Yzerman used $19.9 million of his cap space to sign center Andrew Copp (five years, $5.65 million average salary), wings David Perron (two years, $4.75 million) and Dominik Kubalik (two years, $2.5 million) and defensemen Ben Chiarot (four years, $4.75 million) and Olli Maatta ($2.25 million).
"I think that’s a sign to the whole fanbase and to the team that the team is ready to take that next step," Chiarot said.
New coach Derek Lalonde wants the team to be harder to play against and 235-pound Chiarot and feisty Perron check the box. Maatta will help the team be better defensively, and Copp is the second-line center they really needed last season.
The Red Wings have missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons. If you were watching the team in the final two months of the season, you would swear a seventh season out of the playoffs was likely.
The new Red Wings are not sure about that at all.
"After the experience I lived through in Vegas (in its first year), I’m not sure how long it takes to just turn a team around," Perron said.
Perron played for expansion Golden Knights team that advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. He believes his Vegas experience can be a help for the Red Wings. Nobody expected that team to be as good as it was.
The Yzerman factor is real. The team lost 50 games last year and players still wanted to come here because of the general manage.
"I have a lot of faith in where this team is headed," Copp said. "And the young talent that's come up through the last couple years. "
Added Chiarot: “It’s Steve Yzerman. For a guy who grew up in the 90s, Steve Yzerman was an icon and one of the best players. Just getting to speak with him, it’s flattering hearing that he wants you on his team. It’s exciting that Steve wants me to come be a Red Wing."
Yzerman doesn't have a timetable for his rebuild. He has made that clear. But he has picked-up the pace. He's on a double-time march. This started at the draft when traded and signed for goalie Ville Husson to play in tandem with Alex Nedeljkovic.
And Yzerman may not be done: He has more than $11 million remaining on his salary cap. Plus, he me be interested in making a trade or two.
Join the Discussion:
»