Red Wings: Options Aplenty for Yzerman This Offseason
By Nate Brown
Who will Stay and Who will Go?
The Red Wings have a number of contracts expiring–both unrestricted and restricted. Some names seem inevitable in terms of seeing a new destination be it a city or retirement: Darren Helm and Valtteri Filppula seem like they’re on their way out. But there are some who could be brought back to “ice a team” like Bobby Ryan, Marc Staal, Luke Glendening, and Sam Gagner. Jonathan Bernier could go either way–but it seems likely that he’ll be back as Yzerman would have most likely dealt him at the deadline instead of losing him for nothing.
As for RFAs, Tyler Bertuzzi will be due a slight raise in spite of his injury this season while players like Evgeny Svechnikov and Dennis Cholowski could be tendered a deal or possibly allowed to walk if Yzerman doesn’t see them fitting into the long term plans. Jakub Vrana, Rasmussen, and Adam Erne should also see raises from their current deals.
The real question is if Yzerman will buy out Frans Nielsen‘s contract. The Wings save money on the deal by a million and then only have $500k on the books a season later. Open up a roster spot by cutting him loose, or maybe just ride out the deal next season?