Detroit Red Wings: Grading the 2023 offseason moves

The “Great” moves from the Detroit Red Wings offseason.

Daniel Sprong was signed to a one-year, two-million-dollar deal by the Red Wings after playing with the Seattle Kraken last season. Sprong is a consistent player who can slide up and down the lineup if need be and fill any role possibly that is asked of him.

The 26-year-old Sprong averaged only eleven and a half minutes of ice time last season with Seattle and put up a respectable 21 goals, 25 assists, and 46 total points. This signing has all the makings of being the most underrated signing for the Red Wings based on Sprong’s production throughout his career and the only two million dollars he cost the team in salary for the 2023-24 season.

The weeks of rumors finally came to an end on July 10th, when Yzerman pulled the trigger on acquiring the potential elite goal scorer that has been much needed and missing in the Red Wings lineup in Alex DeBrincat, acquiring DeBrincat from Ottawa for Dominik Kubalik (pending 2024 UFA), prospect defenseman Donovan Sebrango, a conditional 2024 first-round pick, and a 2024 fourth-round pick, in itself, is a win in the sense that the Red Wings were able to avoid parting ways with any of their top tier prospects.

Granted, Kubalik had a solid season for Detroit, putting up 20 goals, 25 assists for a total of 45 points, but it does not add up to what DeBrincat can bring to the lineup, who has twice been a 40-plus goal scorer in his career.

In Sebrango, the Wings are giving up a defenseman who was a third-round pick in 2020 but was most likely going to be buried behind the defenseman depth that the Wings have prospect-wise.

On top of trading for DeBrincat, Yzerman was able to extend him as well. Rumors were circulating that DeBrincat was hoping for a deal in the range of seven to eight years, but Yzerman was able to get him signed to a four-year extension.

Yzerman has been known to be hesitant to give out extensions or contracts to the length of six or more years, so being able to negotiate down to four years is a big win for the Wings as well as DeBrincat.

The “Good” moves from the Detroit Red Wings offseason.

Yzerman pulled off a draft day trade with old friend and former Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland. The Red Wings acquired forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin from Edmonton for future considerations.

Yzerman subsequently put Kailer Yamamoto on waivers, who has underperformed as a former first-round pick. But in Klim Kostin, the Red Wings get a young player (24 years old) who is a big body with a touch of scoring as well (11 goals in 57 games in 2022-23).

Kostin signed a two-year contract worth four million dollars total with the Red Wings once traded to the team and is expected to compete for a spot in the bottom six of the forwards this year.

Only giving up “future considerations” makes this deal even sweeter for the Red Wings.

The Red Wings signed seven-year veteran JT Compher to a five-year, $25.5 million contract, looking for him to give the bottom six forwards an anchor at center. Compher comes to Detroit off a career year in Colorado, putting up 17 goals and 35 assists for a total of 52 points while also playing all 82 regular season games.

Signing a player that is 28 years old adds a certain level of veteran leadership and winning mentality (Compher won the 2022 Stanley Cup with Colorado) while also fitting into the timeframe of a “rebuilding” Red Wings team.

Alex Lyon signed a two-year, $1.8 million contract with the Red Wings. Being younger than fellow free agent signee James Reimer makes him a more reasonable option in the backup role. Along with having a better 2022-23 season, albeit a smaller sample size.

The worst-case scenario is that Lyon ends up in the AHL for the season (he played 23 games in the AHL last season), and the best-case scenario is that he pushes Reimer for the backup job and eventually takes it over.

The Red Wings add a defenseman in Shayne Gostisbehere, that can carve out a role on one of the power play units and is an offensive defenseman (put up a total of 41 points in 2022-23) on a one-year contract worth $4.125 million. This signing could have the potential to be another underrated signing if Gostisbehere can help out the Red Wings’ power play this season.

The former desert dog, Christian Fischer, signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract this offseason. Seen as a gritty, edgy player, Fischer could fill the role that Adam Erne had with the Wings the past few seasons on the penalty kill as well. He can also put the puck in the back of the net when needed too, scoring 13 times last season. Fischer is expected to compete for a bottom-six spot in the lineup.

The “head-scratcher” moves of the Detroit Red Wings.

This deal is a head-scratcher mainly based on Justin Holl’s money, at just a touch over $10 million over three years. Holl had been an up-and-down player throughout his time with Toronto, which spanned six seasons.

Holl is an upgrade over Gustav Lindstrom, though, and solidifies the right side of the Detroit defense.

This move is the most head-scratching this offseason due to the fact that the Wings let Alex Nedeljkovic walk, who had a similar season number-wise to James Reimer while being eight years younger. Reimer had a down season this past year with San Jose, going 12-21-8 with a 3.48 GAA and a .890 save percentage.

The Red Wings might have been better suited to try and bring back Nedeljkovic, who signed the exact deal that Reimer did at one year, $1.5 million, in Pittsburgh.

The Detroit Red Wings did well overall this offseason.

General Manager Steve Yzerman has added valuable pieces to the Red Wings this offseason. Whether it be the numerous players that are signed to one-year deals or the long-term move to get the elite goal scorer that Detroit has needed since Marian Hossa was wearing the winged wheel, the team on paper looks better than it did in 2022-23.

The one-year deals are given out to help the Red Wings build a hopeful contending team for 2023 while also not mortgaging the future of the team with possible prospects making the jump to the NHL in the next couple of years (i.e., Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper, Sebastian Cossa).

The head-scratching signings could very easily work themselves out and be viewed as beneficial moves for the season as well. Yzerman is the man in charge for a reason, and hopefully, these deals further prove the thought process and “Yzerplan” are on the right track.

Next up, the Red Wings will be getting ready for training camp as they look to get the team back on the ice and try to set up some competition. But, given the moves the Red Wings made, they are looking like they want to fight and battle in 2023-24, climbing out of the depths of the division.

Overall Grade: A-