Wings re-sign Drew Miller

[hf101]

WingNut722 made the first post

The Detroit Free Press reports this afternoon that Drew Miller has signed a three-year extension with Detroit for a total salary of $4.05 MM. This was completely expected given Miller's stellar play on the bottom two lines as well as helping to anchor the penalty kill unit. The article goes on to say that, being deep in forwards, the Red Wings are looking to extend the contracts of perennial workhorse Dan Cleary and young hotshot Damien Brunner. It is stated that "Valtteri Filp...

(sorry - The original topic created a database error. Was only able to recover part of the post) -HF

[hf101]

So that leaves 10.6M to sign?

Andersson RFA --

Nyquist RFA ---

Filppula FA -- likely gone

Cleary FA -- ??

Brunner FA -- ??

Kindl RFA --

Smith RFA

I White FA -- likely gone

Possible buyouts Quincy or Colaiacovo to free up more cap space?

[yave1964]

Drew Miller is the type of quiet player who plays his role to perfection and never complains. Glad to see him sticking around.

[WingNut722]

After the cutoff from the original post, I only added that I was a bit shocked to see Valterri Filppula being allowed to look for work elsewhere. Although I do have to admit @yave1964 has been saying it all season. Toward that end I would like to see a younger, more aggressive forward come up. This would give Nyquist a "semi-permanent" spot while we await the prognosis on Darren Helm. Even Tomas Tatar is ready to see some more NHL time. I would hate to see a kid that talented spend his better years in Grand Rapids. As for FIlppula, I imagine he could grab a good slot in a younger market as a more experienced play-maker. That brings clubs like Edmonton and NYI to the forefront. They certainly have the cap space, and could use the lessons he would bring from spending so much time in Detroit.

[WingNut722]

@hf101 I agree that Filppula is gone and so is Ian White. As for a buyout, I don't know that Kyle Quincy or Carlo Colaiacovo would be the targets. Both of the stepped up their game quite well late in the season and in the playoffs. Colaiacovo has only one year left on his contract so there's no point in letting him go. Quincy has the better chance (out of the two), but with Defenseman at a premium this season, the risk might be too great for the reward. I'd certainly rather have Quincy than Brian Lashoff at this point. Lashoff still needs some development, but can certainly step in for injuries at any point.

[jammer2]

I love seeing guys like Miller getting security. Had to work his tail off for everything he ever did in the game. Nothing came easy, but he is so damn dependable in his role, it was obviously worth going past the mill mark instead of a younger kid doing his role at half price. That says a lot. I have to wonder though, does signing 4th liners like Miller block the way for the long list of kids the Wings have? I always hope teams leave a few roster spots for kids with amazing camps, but in this cap era, it seems like teams fill out the entire roster....you would think they would allow more wiggle room. For every kid that makes the team, you get a huge cap break. Flyers are one of the worst teams for this line of thinking. It usually takes an injury to see what the kids can do.

[SpikeDDS]

Flyers are one of the worst teams for this line of thinking. It usually takes an injury to see what the kids can do.

Hope you are not giving us too much credit. The ONLY reason we had so much development of our young talent this season was injury. Granted, our talent pool isn't the lowest in the league for sure, but the Wings have had a penchant for sticking with experienced players at the expense of opportunity for young players to have a serious chance to make the regular roster. Brunner's start really opened some eyes to the potential of what could happen when young players are given a chance, but injury really played a major role in how many young players got a serious shot this year, and is the main reason for Coliacovo's buyout that was just announced yesterday.

[jammer2]

@SpikeDDS "but the Wings have had a penchant for sticking with experienced players at the expense of opportunity for young players to have a serious chance to make the regular roster."

Perhaps this is why Kindle spent 5 years in the AHL...LOL!

[SpikeDDS]

@jammer2

Well, even think along the opposite lines: if Darren Helm had been healthy, do you honestly think we would ever have seen Joakim Andsersson play and understand his potential the way we do now? No way. And would we have seen anything close to the development of Gus Nyquist? Absolutely not.

What is really interesting to me is that excepting Brunner's fantastic start, it wasn't until they had enough injuries where they were pretty much forced to use Andersson, Brunner and Nyquist on a line together before they could really see what they could do. Putting them together made all 3 of them better. Gus didn't really blossom until he was paired with those guys. Brunner didn't return to better form until then either. But it took 2 major injuries to make that happen; nothing less. Babs would not have done that on his own. He was forced to do it.

With all the respect in the world due to Scotty Bowman, it is practically impossible to coach like he did for more than a partial season now, because you cannot assemble the talent anymore like you could before the cap. Those days are over. The game has changed, and those who can find the balance of BOTH using veteran players while ALSO developing young talent will be the successful teams in the long run. What saved the Red Wings from the usual drop-off in performance over the years has been very cunning drafting.

But now, coaching is what is needed, and for sure this was Babcock's best coaching season with the Red Wings. I hope that he remembers the lessons learned this year--that if established veterans stop playing--whether by injury or by lack of effort or continuing ability--that giving young players opportunities AND making sure both the kids and the vets know that these opportunities are more than just symbolic threats needs to happen. The kids need to know that they have a legitimate chance of making the lineup, and the vets need to be reminded that NO ONE is irreplaceable, and if they stop playing like we need them to, their days are numbered, and their roles may change significantly.

Edited July 4, 2013 by SpikeDDS

[yave1964]

If you are drafted by the Wings you know you will spend a few seasons down at Grand Rapids learning the Wings system before getting your break. Kindl, Brendan Smith, Tatar, Nyquist and Jimmy Howard all come to mind as valuable members of the team who were not rushed and now are true Red Wings.

Dekeyser did fine in his first shot straight out of college but I am not convinced he wont wind up a Griffin next season learning our system. Hoping we sign a couple of grizzled vets so we don't have to rush him.

[jammer2]

If you are drafted by the Wings you know you will spend a few seasons down at Grand Rapids learning the Wings system before getting your break. Kindl, Brendan Smith, Tatar, Nyquist and Jimmy Howard all come to mind as valuable members of the team who were not rushed and now are true Red Wings.

Dekeyser did fine in his first shot straight out of college but I am not convinced he wont wind up a Griffin next season learning our system. Hoping we sign a couple of grizzled vets so we don't have to rush him.

That's one of the reasons why I respect the Wings approach so much. The kids have a through understanding of the game before ever taking the NHL ice....others let their kids learn on the fly at the NHL level, and in many cases, it hurts their development.

It will be interesting to see how the Wings handle DeKeyser for the coming season. His skaing is so elite, he may just bypass the whole Grand Rapids thing, which is very rare for the Wings. The thing that tells me he is ready is his poise, with and without the puck. He's a special talent.