*Photo from Cardiac Cane*
The Detroit Red Wings have had an impressive offseason, making moves to accelerate their rebuild, it's a smart strategy for GM Steve Yzerman and the team going forward. Last season was still bad though. The Red Wings finished in 7th place in the Discover Central Division, with a 19-27-10 record, missing the playoffs once again.
The Red Wings did lose a lot of bodies this offseason. Jonthan Bernier, a veteran goalie coming off a strong season, had his rights traded to the Hurricanes, only to sign with the Devils in free agency. They lost first round pick in 2016 Dennis Cholowski to the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft before free agency began.
They did not issue a qualifying offer to LW Evgeny Svechnikov, so he became a UFA, and signed with the Winnipeg Jets AHL team. They lost a lot more bodies at forward too. C Luke Glendening is off to Dallas, LW Darren Helm to Colorado, RW Richard Panik to the Islanders, and Bobby Ryan and Valtteri Filppula are currently UFA's.
Despite the subtractions, Detroit also made some acquisitions, ones that will no doubt make their team better. The big fish is Alex Nedeljkovic, brought in from the Hurricanes in a trade. He's a very good goalie. He finished as a finalist for the Calder trophy for rookie of the year, had a 1.90 GAA, and was the Hurricanes playoff starter. He'll form what should be a good tandem with veteran Thomas Greiss.
They also traded for accomplished left shot D Nick Leddy from the Islanders, who has one more year and $5.5 million left on his current contract. He'll aid the back end, and can be re-signed if they so desire. Left shot D Jordan Oesterle is also in town, coming back to his home state on a two year deal at a reasonable cap hit. Forward Pius Suter is also in town after signing as a UFA.
The Red Wings have made some good moves this offseason. Nedeljkovic is a number one goalie for the future, as he's young, and is a much better option than Bernier and Calvin Pickard. Leddy is a good presence for the D core, and Suter can bring more young talent to the team after the Blackhawks let him go.
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