Very few, if any, teams are having a better offseason than the Detroit Red Wings.
After coming off the worst season of the salary cap era, the Detroit Red Wings needed to make some huge improvements this offseason. That’s precisely what they have done. Yes, the Red Wings are still a very far way from being Stanley Cup contenders, but with their strong offseason, there’s finally a light at the end of the tunnel of their rebuild.
Their offseason started when they weaponized their cap space to pick up an extra second-round pick from the New York Rangers in return for defenseman Marc Staal. The Red Wings blueline needed warm bodies and they managed to get a second-round pick for taking one.
Detroit’s only paying him $3.2 million despite his $5.7 million cap hit. They could flip him at the deadline to acquire even more assets.
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2020 NHL Draft
It continued at the 2020 draft, where the Red Wings came away with arguably one of the three best players in the draft in Lucas Raymond. They picked up some other very interesting prospects as well and added a lot of talent to their prospect pool, which is now among the league’s deepest.
Free Agency
Even after acquiring Staal, the Red Wings defense needed more warm bodies, so they signed defenseman Jon Merrill to a one-year deal. He’s a perfectly capable third-pairing defenseman who should help stabilize things.
And since Merrill only signed a one-year deal worth $900,000, he’s someone teams will be interested at the trade deadline as a depth defenseman. That’s another draft pick. Did I mention the Red Wings already have nine picks in the 2021 draft?
Jon Merrill, signed by DET, is an excellent third-pairing all-defence defenceman. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/odXyBHGNri
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 9, 2020
Next, the Detroit Red Wings won the bidding war for 2019-20 Masterton Trophy candidate Bobby Ryan. What a perfect leader for their young players to learn from. Ryan signed a one-year deal, so you can bet he’ll be traded at the deadline for even more assets. Hopefully, fans will get to see him score a hat trick against the Ottawa Senators.
The Red Wings needed a goalie to replace Jimmy Howard, so they signed Thomas Greiss to a two-year deal worth $3.6 million annually. He’s a perfectly capable goaltender who should form a nice tandem with Jonathan Bernier (who could be trade bait at the deadline because he’ll be a UFA after the 2020-21 season).
Their best signing, though, has been defenseman Troy Stecher. For some odd reason, the Vancouver Canucks didn’t even give him a qualifying offer. He’s a perfectly fine top-four defenseman and the Red Wings signed him to a two-year deal worth $1.7 million annually.
On Sunday, the Red Wings further improved their forward depth by signing Vladislav Namestnikov to a two-year deal worth $2 million annually. Yet another player the Red Wings could shop in the next two seasons.
The Red Wings are deliberately targeting useful veterans who will sign for reasonable prices. Not only will they help the Red Wings’ young players learn how to be professionals, they’ll also fetch their team some assets if they trade them.
Steve Yzerman knows what a losing culture can do to a player. He’s doing everything he can to install his winning culture. All these veteran players should help him do that.