Red Wings Summer 2020 Report

The Detroit Red Wings managed to break their playoff drought in 2020 but were unable to follow that up with a significant playoff run and were knocked out in round 1 of the playoffs. GM Evans was left to build on the gains of 2019-20 while avoiding the temptation to over-do it with trades and major moves. The Wings had an enviable core in place with McDavid, Couturier, Heiskanen, Lehner, and Hart, but could use an infusion of youth for the farm, and a few veterans to fill out the pro roster. The organization had pretty much gutted the Griffins in their quest to add depth in anticipation of a playoff run, and had traded most of their depth prospects, leaving only Kakko, Cozens, and a handful of others. 

Coaching Change:

The first splash of the summer was the firing of Jim Montgomery after just 1 season. Jim managed to bring the team to a playoff spot but agreed to "mutually part ways" with the organization after a tough playoff showing and to work on some personal challenges. We at the Detroit Free Press hope to see Jim land on his feet and hope he gets another shot as a head coach.

Bruce Cassidy was brought in to replace Jim Montgomery, and is expected to bring a strong balance of offense, defense, and structure to the Red Wings.

Pre-Draft:

GM Evans certainly had assets to toss around in his quest to upgrade the roster: 6 picks in round 1 of the 2020 draft, 3 picks in round 1 of 2021, and a plethora of 4th and 5th round picks for 2020. Before draft day had even rolled around the Wings had added Alex Killorn, Travis Zajac, David Kampf, and the UFA rights to Ian Cole, and had traded up from 6th to 2nd overall.

The Wings were able to turn the UFA rights of Danny Dekeyser and Alex Chiasson into 3rd and 5th round picks, respectively, but were unable to get anything for the rights to Carl Soderberg, one of their best players in 2019-20

Draft:

On draft day, the Wings used their 2nd overall pick on Quinton Byfield. GM Evans: "I can't say enough about this kid, I really think he's going to be a special player that can make a big impact for our organization."

After taking the obvious pick at #2, GM Evans went off the board with picks 5 and 15 and took... Andrei Svechnikov! Some last minute calls with the Bruins with pick #5 on the clock led to this shocker of a deal. GM Evans: "Andrei had a truly impressive sophomore season this year with the 1st and 2nd lacrosse goals in NHL history and a 30-goal 70-point pace. He has ridiculous hands, an elite shot, and he's willing to throw his weight around. This is a core player, and at 20 years old, he's going to be in Hockeytown for a long time."

The Wings followed up this blockbuster deal with another pair of significant deals. Sasha Chmelevski and 19 overall were shipped off to the Habs for Luke Kunin and a 2021 4th, and the Wings traded a 2020 3rd and 2020 4th to Arizona for a 2020 2nd. The pick acquired from Arizona was used to select Ridly Greig, a 1st round talent who had somehow fallen. With this pair of deals the Wings had turned four solid assets with some risk into 2 pretty safe bets. GM Evans "Kunin can play up or down the lineup, brings some grit, and seemed to take a step this year, and Greig is a very determined player with some skill and a late birthday."

Despite dealing five 1st round picks during the offseason, the Wings managed to draft 11 players:
Byfield - C
Greig - C/W
Robins - C
Coe - RW
Diliberatore - D
Gawanke - D
Kovalenko - LW
Heineman - LW
Pajuniemi - RW
Hentges - C
Nickl - D

RFA/UFA Re-Signing:

The Red Wings RFA period was always going to be defined by one player: Connor McDavid. The face of the franchise had completed his ELC and was due for a bigtime raise. He was destined to set a new bar for highest MRFHL salary, but by how much? In the end, he signed for 4 years 12M. With McDavid locked up the Wings were done with significant RFA's and shifted focus to their UFA's: Robin Lehner and recently acquired Ian Cole. After some tough negotiations the Wings locked up Lehner for 3 years 6M and were unable to reach terms with Ian Cole.

UFA Period:

Never one to give up without a fight, GM Evans made a new offer to Ian Cole in UFA and was eventually able to agree to a 1 year 6M deal with the veteran defender. Next up the Wings managed to land veteran C Mikko Koivu for 1 year 2.5M to complete their forward group. The remaining UFA signings were mostly low-key additions, but there were a lot of them!

Rodrigo Abols - C
Ross Colton - C
Shane Gersich - C
Matt Luff - RW
Luke Philp - C
David Kase - RW
Jeffrey Viel - LW
Josh Wilkins - C
Matiss Kivlenieks
Gilles Senn - G
Jake Kielly - G
Jani Hakanpaa - D
Teemu Kivihalme - D
Austin Strand - D
Emil Djuse - D
Joel Persson - D

Waiver Draft:

Ahead of the the first ever MRFHL waiver draft, the Wings decided to waive Curtis McKenzie and Stefan Noesen to clear a pair of roster spots and join in on the fun. With their first pick of that draft the Wings were able to swipe back Collin Delia from the Predators after trading him there along with Mason Appleton and Emil Pettersson for Blake Coleman and a 2020 5th back in March 2019. GM Evans: "I was excited to see Collin there when our selection came up, and even more excited to hear the exasperated sighs from Chicago and Buffalo when they missed out. Collin has a good opportunity this year to cement himself as an NHL player after proving himself to be a top AHLer, and I think he has what it takes to be a strong backup or #1b type goalie.

With their second pick of the waiver draft, the Wings landed a player who was arguably even more exciting than Delia, Jonas Johansson. GM Evans "Like Delia, Johansson has an opportunity to cement himself as an NHL player this year after a strong AHL showing. Jonas is a hulking goalie with a strong track record of success in the SHL, Allsvenskan, and AHL. He just turned 25 last month. I see a potential starting goalie here if he continues to develop, or at least a strong backup."

Loose Ends:

There were a few other minor moves this offseason. Not long after the draft, the Wings send a 2021 6th to Buffalo for Alan Quine. Not long after that, David Kampf was flipped to St Louis for a 2021 3rd, 2022 6th, and former 2016 1st round pick German Rubtsov before ever having suited up with the Wings.

In the days leading up to the start of the MRFHL season, the Wings made another pair of deals. First, the Red Wings re-acquired Hampus Lindholm and paid handsomely to do so. Lindholm and a 2021 6th were acquired in exchange for Ryan Pulock, Ridly Greig, and Detroit's 2021 1st round pick (with lotto protection). GM Evans: "I have to admit I paid a bit much here. Ryan is a great young player in his prime, Ridly projects to be a gritty middle 6 forward, and 1st round picks are worth their weight in gold in this league. Hampus gives us a clear top 3 defenseman with a strong defensive game that can play big minutes in any situation, and completes our Lindholm collection :) I feel this was the last hole left to fill on the roster and gives us our best shot at winning a championship in 2020-21."

Lastly, recent UFA-signing Matiss Kivlenieks was shipped off to Arizona for a 2021 3rd round pick and prospect Kasper Kotkansalo. With Robin Lehner and Carter Hart locking down the NHL jobs, Matiss had been signed to be a #3 goalie, but once Collin Delia and Jonas Johansson were claimed in the waiver draft, it was tough to envision a path to playing time. 

All in all, the Wings were very active this summer and managed to add A Svechnikov, Killorn, H Lindholm, Cole, Zajac, Kunin, Koivu, and Quine to the pro roster to replace the departed Soderberg and Dekeyser, add a top notch head coach and farm coach, fill Grand Rapids with viable AHL players with some level of NHL potential, and replenish a shallow prospect pool from 7 prospects to 18, highlighted by the addition of 2nd overall pick Quinton Byfield. It appears GM Evans put his best foot forward, let's see if it pays dividends.

-Detroit Free Press