The Detroit Red Wings have already taken care of an important matter of offseason work, bringing aboard former Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Derek Lalonde as the 28th bench boss in team history. And now, GM Steve Yzerman and his staff will be turning their attention to the 2022 NHL Draft, which will be beginning this week on Thursday.
Of course, following the Draft, the NHL free agency period opens up, and there are several big fish available on the market. And with ample cap space with which to work, Yzerman could have his eyes set on bringing one or more new faces to the Motor City.
“We want to try to use it wisely,” he said earlier today regarding the team’s cap space. “Because it can disappear in a hurry.”
Red Wings fans know all about cap space disappearing quickly with several regrettable deals signed by former GM Ken Holland, who is now in Edmonton.
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Among the top players that will be available this summer include Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau, who registered 115 points last season. Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg will also be a hot commodity.
Steve Yzerman has plenty of cap space with which to work
“If there’s a player that we feel can make a very significant impact, we’re not afraid to do that in free agency,” he said. “Some of the things we weigh are, how much does that player help us today, tomorrow and three, four years down the road? What’s the cost of acquiring that player? And does the cost of acquiring that player make sense for where we hope to be in three or four years? Or are we just spending a whole lot of money and not going to be much different in three or four years, whether that player is here or helps get us there, and is there a more efficient way to get there at the end of the day?
“So we weigh it all out, and that’s for short-term contracts and long-term contracts.”
The free agency period officially begins on July 13.
