Archive for the 'Roster Moves' Category

Abdelkader signs entry-level contract

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 4, 2008
in Justin Abdelkader and Roster Moves
. 1 Comment

Bruce MacLeod reports that the Wings have signed 21-year-old Justin Abdelkader to a three-year entry-level contract.

No financial details have been release yet, of course, but there is a limited range for these types of contracts. As a “Group 1 Player” drafted in 2005, though, Abdelkader can receive no more than $850,000 a year and no less than $62,500 under the current CBA (PDF). It’s a good bet Abdelkader is in the upper half of that range.

He’ll be staying with the team throughout the playoffs.

No surprise here. Abdelkader had until tomorrow to sign in order to be eligible to play in the post-season and you know he wasn’t going to miss the chance to suit up for the Wings before next year. He is a homegrown Michigan boy, after all.

Ansar Khan quotes Ken Holland as saying, “Now it’s up to Mike (coach Babcock) to decide if he wants to use him.” You can bet “Abs” will make a good case for himself.

Brad Stuart now a Red Wing

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 26, 2008
in Brad Stuart and Roster Moves
. 10 Comments

Update (6:44 PM): For those fluent in Portuguese, Flávio de Moura reacts to the trade at temporarily renamed “Griffins Brasil” (formerly Red Wings Brasil).

Flávio, Humberto Fernandes, and a guy named Marcelo Constatino spent the day buoying up an otherwise pessimistic and down-on-the-Wings email list to which I belong. It’s sad, really, how negative we North American Wings fans can be in contrast to our Brazilian counterparts. - Matt

Update (4:58 PM): George Malik has more on the trade here. - Matt

Update (4:52 PM): Stuart wore  #6 in LA and though that number is not hanging from the rafters, he’s going to have to get a new one as it was retired by James Norris in 1939. He has also worn #7 in his career, but that won’t work either, as it is currently hanging from the rafters at JLA in honor of Ted Lindsay. - Matt

Update (4:27 PM): Lyle Richardson a.k.a. Spector has more on Stuart:

Stuart was once considered a promising young defenseman with all the tools to be a star in the NHL during his years with the San Jose Sharks, but he’s never been the same since the Sharks dealt him to the Boston Bruins in the Joe Thornton trade in the 2005-06 season. …

… He’d struggled in the first half of the season but seemed to show improvement in recent weeks.

… It remains to be seen how Stuart will adjust but playing on a deeper club like the Wings despite their recent struggles could take some pressure off his shoulders and help him regain some confidence. If so he could become a good depth addition for the Wings down the stretch and into the playoffs.

- Matt

Update (4:16 PM): HockeyTownTodd comments on the trade here and George Malik does so here. - Matt

Update (4:09 PM): The commenters at Abel to Yzerman aren’t exactly thrilled with the trade. - Matt

Update (3:50 PM): I should point out that a more immediate answer to the question of who sits depends on who returns for what I assume will be Stuart’s first game with the Wings, the meeting with the Sharks on Saturday Friday. If none of the injured regular defensemen return, Garrett Stafford is the odd man out.

If one of Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, or Chris Chelios returns, my guess is Kyle Quincey will get demoted. If two of those three make it back, both Quincey and Ericsson will return to Grand Rapids. If all three do (which is unlikely), the two Griffins get demoted and Meech is a likely healthy scratch. - Matt

Update (3:41 PM): Khan reports that the 2nd rounder is a 2008 pick and the 4th rounder is a 2009 pick. -Sarah

Update (3:34 PM): This obviously isn’t a bad deal as it did not cost the Wings a roster player or an established prospect. The added depth and experience is a good thing, though going into the post-season with Meech as the 7th man would not have been the end of the world by any means. Personally, I’d rather have seen a scoring forward come this way in a trade rather than a defenseman, but I’m not going to complain too much.

The question now is, who sits when everyone is healthy? - Matt

Update (3:29 PM): Some more detail on Stuart: he’s a 28-year-old potential UFA making $3.5 million this season. He’s got 5 goals and 16 assists this season. His career high is 39 points - 9 goals, 30 assists - over 77 games in 2003-2004. - Matt

According to Kukla’s Korner, the LA Kings have traded Brad Stuart to Detroit for a second and fourth round pick. More to come.

McCarty accepts offer

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 25, 2008
in Darren McCarty, Links and Roster Moves
. 2 Comments

Ryan Doherty reports that Darren McCarty has accepted the Wings’ contract offer.  The official site reports that he’ll stay in Grand Rapids for two weeks on a conditioning stint, after which “he’ll likely rejoin the Red Wings with the hopes of winning a roster spot.”  So, it looks like earlier reports that had Mac in GR for the rest of the regular season were wrong.

Kings claim Ellis

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 21, 2008
in Kings, Matt Ellis and Roster Moves
. 3 Comments

Update (3:19 PM): The official site has more, including quotes from Babcock and Ellis’ former teammates, here.

Also, IwoCPO suggests this is evidence that Ken Holland is up to something. - Matt

Ryan Doherty reports that the LA Kings claimed Matt Ellis off the waivers today.

Rarely do the Wings make personnel moves that deserve overt criticism, but this is one such instance. Yesterday, I attempted to keep a positive outlook on the move, assuming Ellis would clear waivers and would be able to return to Grand Rapids. The risk of his being claimed seemed small. I should have known better.

I have to wonder what the Wings were thinking by not taking another strategy to get Ellis to Grand Rapids. Say a two-week conditioning stint. It worked for Meech and certainly would have been justifiable for Ellis given the fact that he’s cracked the lineup just four times over the past 19 games.

Ellis was a real asset to this organization, much more so than Hartigan, and I’m sorry to see him go.  The guy built a reputation as one of the hardest-working players in the system and the reward he gets is being cast off. If the Wings did this as a favor to help him get to a team that could use him more, that’s nice, I suppose. You still hate to see the guy have to uproot his young family and move 3/4 the way across the country.

Good luck with LA, Matt.

Detroit re-signs Osgood to three-year deal

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 9, 2008
in Chris Osgood and Roster Moves
. 0 Comments

The Wings announced today that they have signed Chris Osgood to a three-year contract extension. Red Wings GM Ken Holland told the media,

“Chris has a tremendous career record as an NHL goaltender and his performance this season places him as one of the top goalies in the game today. He’s been a big part of our success in every season he has been with the Wings and we’re very happy to have him signed for an additional three seasons.”

The terms of the deal were not part of the announcement, but TSN reports that Osgood will earn “close to $1.5 million a season.”  TSN also points out that he is 50-11-12 since returning to the Wings for the 05-06 season.

This is a great deal for the Wings, who are getting a bargain price for one of the game’s top goalies. Even if Osgood can’t keep up this pace over the next three seasons, his presence in the locker room will be invaluable, particularly  when the time finally comes for Jimmy Howard to make the leap to the NHL.

Ansar Khan asks the obvious question: “where does this leave Dominik Hasek?” Well, all Dom would say is he’s focused on his game now and that he’ll decide after the season. Now that the Wings have Osgood locked up, whatever Dom choses to do, they’ll be okay.

Meech sent to Grand Rapids

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 3, 2008
in Chris Osgood, Derek Meech, Dominik Hasek, Roster Moves and Tomas Holmstrom
. 0 Comments

Update (8:01 PM): George Malik has some observations well worth reading. - Matt

Update (7:03 PM): Red Wings TV has added an interview of Meech before the media. Derek mostly talks about getting back into a groove as far as his game goes. - Matt

Update (2:40 PM): Helene St. James has more, including quotes from Meech as well as Mike Babcock, and an alternate return date: January 17th.  - Matt

Ansar Khan reports that the Wings have re-assigned Derek Meech to the AHL on a conditioning stint.

As per Article 13.8 of the CBA (large PDF), Meech does not have to clear waivers to go down to Grand Rapids for conditioning and therefore is not in danger of being claimed by another team, though the League will review this move to ensure the Wings’ aren’t merely circumventing the waivers. The fact that Meech is little more than a 7th wheel on the Wings’ defensive bus, and that the team has no need to clear up roster space, has to mean there won’t be a problem.

He can only stay with the Griffins for 14 days, which will put him in six games and bring him back to Detroit just in time to accompany the Wings on their three-game California trip beginning January 19th.

This is a class move by the Wings. Meech has no doubt picked up a lot in practice watching guys like Nick Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, and Brian Rafalski, but there’s no substitute for actually playing. As a promising young defenseman, his career has in many ways been put on hold this year, so anything the Wings can do to get him playing time is a good thing.

Khan also reports that Tomas Holmstrom is looking at returning  either Sunday in Chicago or Tuesday versus Colorado.

Also, predictably, Dominik Hasek will start Saturday and will back up Chris Osgood on Sunday.

Lidstrom re-signs through 2010

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 26, 2007
in Links, Nick Lidstrom and Roster Moves
. 0 Comments

Update (9:21 PM): Dave Waddell explains the significance of Lidstrom’s pay cut:

By agreeing to take a slight pay cut, Lidstrom gives the Wings more cap space with Henrik Zetterberg due for renewal after next season.

That’s not just Waddell’s analysis, as Ken Holland indicates cap space was part of Nick’s thinking. As George Malik says, $150,000 may not seem like much of a discount, but every bit of space will help the Wings re-sign Hank and maintain their depth. - Matt

Update (4:47 PM): Red Wings TV has added a video clip consisting of interviews  with Lidstrom, Kris Draper, and Mike Babcock. - Matt

Update (3:10 PM): TSN is reporting that Nick will make $7.45 million a year. (via Kukla’s) - Matt

Update (3:08 PM): Ansar Khan’s piece on the signing is here. He does not know the terms of the deal, but reports that, “Lidstrom agreed to take a slight paycut from his current $7.6 million salary.” Cool.

Khan also provides updates on some other potential free agents. He’s had “preliminary discussions” with Dan Cleary, Andreas Lilja, and Chris Osgood, but has been told by Valtteri Filppula’s agent to wait until after the season for negotiations since Fil is in the process of establishing his market value. - Matt

The Freep reports that Nick Lidstrom has signed a two-year contract extension.

Financial terms have not been released and I’m not sure what to expect there. He’s making $7.6 million now and could command that much or more, but may have taken a pay cut in order to give the Wings’ more cap room in the future. We’ll find out soon enough, I’m sure.

Also, check out this NHLPA piece on Lidstrom and the Wings.

Downey back on waivers?

Published
by
Matt Saler
on November 8, 2007
in Aaron Downey and Roster Moves
. 1 Comment

Update (8:37 PM): Just got an email back from mLive’s Ansar Khan. He says it is true and that, more than anything else, it’s to allow the team the room to bring up Jimmy Howard if Dominik Hasek gets hurt again. Hadn’t thought of it that way, but it makes more sense than what I said below doesn’t rule out the scenario I outlined below in the 8:06 update. He suggests the Wings may waive him every month, as long as everyone is healthy, as insurance in case of an injury.

Also, according to him, it’s by noon tomorrow, not noon Saturday, that another team has to claim him. So, evidently I was wrong about that. It’s been a long day… - Matt

Update (8:06 PM): Also, I should explain what I mean by “breathing room” a little better. If, heaven forbid, over the next 30 days or 10 games, one of the team’s top players gets hurt, they’ll probably want to call someone up from Grand Rapids who could fill in better than the four guys on rotation (Downey, Matt Ellis, Dallas Drake, and Tomas Kopecky). Waiving Downey now allows them to do that right away without having to wait two days to clear a spot. - Matt

Update (8:00 PM): I should mention that, if Downey has in fact been waived (still haven’t seen confirmation), he’s available to other teams until noon on Saturday. - Matt

According to Habs Inside/Out, Aaron Downey has been placed on waivers (via Kukla’s). I haven’t been able to find confirmation on that, but if it’s true, it’s not the first time this season. You may remember he was waived back in October in order to allow the Wings room to make roster moves quickly, though they obviously kept him around when he wasn’t claimed. His waived status was good for 30 days or 10 games, which would explain why they’d waive him now, a month later, to give them some breathing room with a 23-man roster.

If the RDS report is true, let’s hope he doesn’t get claimed. If you’re not a believer in Downey, check this out:

Grigorenko absent from practice

Published
by
Matt Saler
on October 1, 2007
in Igor Grigorenko and Roster Moves
. 0 Comments

Update (11:45 PM): Kevin Allen of USA Today quotes Ken Holland as saying,

“He’s going down for three weeks, and when we get back from the California trip, we are looking to bring him back.”

So, we’re looking at a possible NHL regular season debut for Grigorenko on October 24th versus Vancouver. (via Snapshots) - Matt

Update (1:50 PM): It’s been confirmed: Grigorenko will start the season in Grand Rapids. The team views it as a chance for Grigorenko to get acclimated to North American hockey, not as a permanent demotion, so it’s pretty likely that he’ll be with the team in a month or so.

Also, Matt Ellis has earned the 13th spot, and Aaron Downey has been offered a two-way contract, which he apparently is expected to accept. If he does, he’ll be the 14th forward. Mark Hartigen was also sent down, but has to clear waivers. Kyle Quincey will not go back to Grand Rapids until his hand is healed, because of a clause in the CBA. - Matt

Ansar Khan reports that Igor Grigorenko was one of three players not on the ice today in practice. Chris Chelios and Mark Hartigen were the other players. Given that Igor’s only remaining competition for a spot, Matt Ellis and Aaron Downey, both practiced, the speculation is that he has been sent down to Grand Rapids, though there is no confirmation that I’ve been able to find. The only other explanations is that Grigorenko is injured, but he looked fine at the end of Saturday’s game.

If he was, in fact, sent down, how this will all play out remains to be seen. I suspect Matt Ellis’ spot on the team is pretty safe, but Aaron Downey’s is not. Downey may be this year’s Brad Norton and end up being replaced by this year’s Valtteri Filppula, Igor Grigorenko. Although Igor was not as impressive as Fil was last year, the Wings risk losing him if they keep in the minors for too long. So, his demotion is probably nothing more than a conditioning stint. Hopefully he takes full advantage of it.

Wings officially announce Ellis, depth signings

Published
by
Matt Saler
on July 16, 2007
in Griffins and Roster Moves
. 2 Comments

Update (9:24 PM): This comment by James Mirtle prompted me to Google Garrett Stafford’s name to find out more about him. The first thing that comes up is his connection with an infamous incident in the AHL three years ago: Alexander Perezhogin’s vicious slash to Stafford’s face.

Anyway, his statistics are solid, and if Mirtle says he’s “not bad either,” it sounds like he’s a good signing for the organization. Good to see the Wings taking care of their AHL affiliate. - Matt

After conflicting reports a week and a half ago, the Wings have announced some minor free agent signings. The most important: Matt Ellis’ two-year extension.

The other signings: forwards Randall Gelech (two years), Carl Corazzini, Mark Cullen, and Mark Hartigan, defensemen Brad Ference and Garrett Stafford, and goalie Adam Berkhoel (one year each).

All of these guys should be Griffins next year, with the exception of Ellis, who has a shot at making the Wings.