Red Wings: Lindstrom Signs, So Long Svechnikov & Bertuzzi News

There were a couple more transactions today for the Detroit Red Wings, both expected moves as the league inches closer to free agency opening up on Wednesday.

First is Gustav Lindstrom’s extension:

Once he was protected on the expansion list, it was a foregone conclusion that he would return. The two-year extension is purportedly for $1.7M, giving it an AAV of $850k via CapFriendly.

Evgeny Svechnikov Heads to Free Agency

Another decision was made to not tender Svechnikov, who now becomes a free agent. Per MLive’s Ansar Khan:

This is hardly shocking. Svechnikov battled through injuries and never seemed to find a way into the lineup. Here’s what I wrote back in April as the writing seemed on the wall when he was exposed to waivers:

"Not only does a trade seem more likely (perhaps as a throw in), but if that doesn’t happen, maybe he’s not even tendered an offer come this offseason. Barring an Adam Erne like renaissance by Svechnikov as the season winds down, we may be seeing another first round pick of the Red Wings playing his final games either with the big club or Grand Rapids."

The more jarring part of Svechnikov’s departure is that it’s yet another first round pick off of the roster. The two remaining? Dylan Larkin and Michael Rasmussen. The Hockey Writer’s Grind Line Extraordinaire Devin Little had a nice graphic for this one:

Not the best showing for Ken Holland and Tyler Wright. But on the positive side, Mantha netted Vrana, and Sebastian Cossa with the first round pick used to grab him on Friday evening. But Dennis Cholowski and Svechnikov both not reaching their potential in Detroit is certainly one of many reasons the rebuild has been as painful as it is.

Bertuzzi Trade Rumors Continue To Swirl

It’s the trade rumor that refuses to die:

Yzerman stated at his press conference on Wednesday that he wanted Bertuzzi in the fold. WXYZ’s Brad Galli had the snippet here:

There’s two schools of thought on Bertuzzi. The Red Wings are in what the Winged Wheel Podcast’s Ryan Hana called the “awkward” stage of its rebuild which is exactly correct. Everyone is ready to move forward but the 2022 Draft is absolutely loaded with talent at the top–something Detroit desperately needs to cement the foundation of this rebuild once and for all.

This puts the “contending” phase of the team back another year, and for the “older” players like Bertuzzi, he’ll be in a situation where he’s pushing 30 while the rest of the team is younger and in a similar thought, possibly beginning a decline.

Coming off an injury that cost his 2021 season all of nine games, there is certainly risk holding onto him while his stock is higher. However, coach Jeff Blashill once described him as the “bigger piece” of the contending puzzle once the team is pushing into the playoff picture. With that type of endorsement from Blashill–who is hardly one to throw out compliments like candy–it’s puzzling that Yzerman would trade him so easily.

Yzerman has already said he will listen to calls on players–which is his job. But with what appears like endorsements from both the general manager and head coach, it seems unlikely that a trade would happen right now.

But if the price is right and nets something that Yzerman truly values similar to the Mantha deal, maybe it’s not far fetched after all.

The likeliest course is that Bertuzzi re-signs. But as we’ve seen under Yzerman’s management, it’s pretty hard to predict what will actually happen.