Hockey fans everywhere were shocked when they heard the news just days after the free agency period had begun; the Detroit Red Wings had signed Senator's captain Daniel Alfredsson to a one-year, $5.5mil deal. No one knew the two camps were even talking, experts assumed Alfie would retire or just sign back for one more year with the Senators.
Alfredsson brings a definite locker room presence to the Wings, with his years of experience as a captain. Despite his age, Alfie still maintains to be a noticeable presence on the ice with 26 points last season. He will most likely play on the Wings' second line alongside Stephen Weiss and Johan Franzen.
Weiss was also acquired by the Red Wings relatively early in free agency. He is signed to a 5-year contract with an average cap hit of $4.9mil a year. Weiss has shown decent stats the past few years as a Panther, but was injured and played in only 17 games last season.
While both of these players are two strong performers on the ice, the Red Wings did not necessarily need to sign them. Weiss' contract is lengthy for someone who is attempting to recover from an injury, and they are both taking up roster spots that the Wings' young talent could fill just as easily. Signing Weiss and Alfredsson was a gamble and it will be interesting to see if it comes out in favor for the Wings.
One of the biggest off season dramas, though, featured Daniel (Dan? Danny?) Cleary. By signing those two aforementioned veterans, the Red Wings were not left with a lot of cap space (which meant not being able to re-sign Swiss player Damien Brunner). Cleary expressed multiple times his interest in coming back to the team, and Ken Holland and coach Mike Babcock both wanted him back as well. Almost two months went by with no news on contract negotiations, Alfredsson took Cleary's #11. All signs pointed to Cleary not coming back, especially when he signed a PTO with the Philadelphia Flyers and then was rumored to have signed a contract with them. But then, the next day, he was a Red Wing again. Something had happened that allowed Holland to offer Cleary a one-year, $1.75mil contract.
Many fans where upset with this development (this put the Red Wings over $2mil over the cap ceiling and three over the roster limit), but it was reported that Cleary's teammates were ecstatic over his return. Cleary is an average forward who does perform well in the playoffs, but apparently his value truly shows in the locker room. Alfredsson was prepared to give Cleary #11 back, but because of marketing purposes, Alfredsson will keep that number and Cleary will wear #71.
With Cleary's return and the signing of Weiss and Alfredsson, this again leaves the Red Wings about $2.3mil over the cap limit, and three players over roster limit. The roster limit problem could be solved as Darren Helm may start the season on the injured reserve, along with possibly Jonas Gustavsson and Patrick Eaves. The latter two got injured during preseason games. But that unfortunately does nothing for the Red Wings' cap problem, as player on the IR still count towards the salary cap.
Expect GM Holland to make a few roster moves to trim salary in the next week, as teams must have their final rosters submitted to the league on the 30th. This may include sending some waiver-exempt players (Nyquist, DeKeyser) temporarily to the AHL, and trading others for draft picks or players with lighter contracts. The Red Wings also have a compliance buyout that they can use, but Holland has seemed wary of using it. Don't get your hopes up that you'll get to see someone like Samuelsson bought out.
Expect GM Holland to make a few roster moves to trim salary in the next week, as teams must have their final rosters submitted to the league on the 30th. This may include sending some waiver-exempt players (Nyquist, DeKeyser) temporarily to the AHL, and trading others for draft picks or players with lighter contracts. The Red Wings also have a compliance buyout that they can use, but Holland has seemed wary of using it. Don't get your hopes up that you'll get to see someone like Samuelsson bought out.
