What Should Detroit Prioritize in Free Agency this Summer?

[Run the Jewels]

So let's get a sense of what everyone thinks is the most pressing need. Obviously you may feel we have multiple needs we want to address, but I'd like to get a sense of what the group thinks is the biggest priority this summer. You may want to consider what's available via free agency if you like, but the main idea is to identify the area where you think there is the biggest need.

 

[norrisnick]

LD that pushes Chiarot to the bottom pair.

 

[schuelma24]

LD that pushes Chiarot to the bottom pair.

LD that pushes Chiarot to the bottom pair.

seconded!

 

[DanielMarois]

I would say the bottom 6 group of forwards, they have to get more offence from them.

 

[MabusIncarnate]

Other, unf*** the bottom 2 defensive pairing.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Other, unf*** the bottom 2 defensive pairing.

Added to the poll. You can update your selection if you like.

 

[RedHawkDown]

D is the most glaring issue by far. Stevie needs to back up the brinks truck to Provorov's house. I'd go up to 8M (ideally 7-7.5M x 6-7 years) for him; the cap is rising and we desperately need a partner for Seider. Then trade for Risto, and a top-4 of Prov-Seider-Ed-Ristolainen suddenly looks meaner, tougher, and far better defensively.

 

[wingerdinger]

Lots of areas to address. Big one is addressing our pk. Which can be targeted two ways. Improving the quality of goaltending and getting at least one top 4 dman that is a above average on the pk.

The other big area to address is the first line left winger. Larkin and Raymond need a guy to compliment there styles and is willing to do more of the dirty work. The puck retrievals and crashing the front of the net.

 

[AlwaysSunnyInDetroit]

i'd wait until the draft lottery. if get misa or schaefer, my offseason plans change drastically

assuming we draft at 10? top 4 ld is the most pressing need. we have multiple guys that could become top 9 difference makers (danielson, buchelnikov, brandsegg-nygard, lombardi, mazur, plante, finnie, kiiskinen) we have no one to slot in the top 4 besides sandin-pellikka

 

[Holden Caufield]

Doubt much will get addressed In Free agency this year. Insanely shallow group of UFAs and a lot of cap space available league wide.

The trade market will need to be used to improve this team.

 

[SirloinUB]

My priorities would look something like:

1) sign Marner up to 14M. Maybe more.
2) Maintain flexibility
3) Find a trade for a top 3/4 D or Top 6 forward. Open to moving any picks (lotto protected) and most prospects.
4) 1 Year extension for Kane.
5) Other UFA options: Provorov, Bennett, Nelson are some names that stand out to me. They’re all getting contracts I won’t like but are of the calibre and fit that I‘d probably take a swing on one of them anyway.

Flexibility is near the top for me because the trade market seems very dry and the UFA market feels poised for a 2016 outcome (a bunch of guys getting contracts that aged poorly).

Priorities 1, 2 and 3 are interchangeable based upon who actually becomes available. I’d be in on every available top 6 F/Top3D and be reasonably aggressive.

If I strikeout on a trade I like, I’d take another look at those UFA names. If I can’t land one of them I’d probably prefer whomever comes with a 1 or 2 year contract.

Other than marner I’m not sure I’m seeing anyone available that I’d want to “overpay” to acquire/sign.

 

[Oddbob]

No other changes will matter if we don't heavily improve our blueline. Chiarot is a 3rd pair D playing 1st pair, then we have Petry who should be a part timer at best at this point, Gus who is bottom pair, and the albatross of Holl. That is 4 regular D for all of this season and all of them suck. That also brings down Seider who has to make up for so many dumb Chiarot plays and Ed should be learning on the job so to speak, not playing 2nd pair alongside another rookie. We need 2 top 4 guys, put Ed back with Seider, and a completely new 2nd pair of actual top 4 d, then Chiarot and AlJo can play 3rd pair.

Be nice to improve the forwards too, but without the improvement to our blueline it will be another long nothing season.

 

[ShanahanMan]

There’s no good D men except Ekblad. I don’t see what moves can be made here in FA for D. Steve will need to trade but I agree we can’t go into another year with this

I honestly want us to overpay for Marner. Offer him 20 mil a season. We have no offensively creative players on this team and desperately need it.

NO MORE DEPTH PLAYERS. Our team is literally 95% depth players already. We need stars.

 

[Austrianwing]

This is hard! Thinking out loud...
On the one hand, it would be good to sign an actually good player to push others down the lineup into more sensible roles, but I am a little leery of signing a big-name UFA. I fear (expect?) we would either trash our salary structure for upcoming prospects, or end up locked into over-payment for someone that washes out in their declining years. If a good deal is out there, we should pull the trigger.
On the other, I think there are so many places (dead weight) where we could improve, that smaller signings could measurably improve the team. Signing someone that is really good at their role would be great. I fear it would not play out that way. Roughly speaking, having a 2/3rd line tweener on the third is great for depth and makes the team better. When that player inevitably ends up on the second?
I'd be happy to replace Holl with a good 3rd pair+ defenseman to temporarily plug a gaping hole. But, if we are going to buy a plug, can we at least buy from Home Depot instead of Temu?

 

[Spitfire11]

They need to add 2 quality defensemen. Exact same thing as last offseason. Maybe now they can get away with 1 with the emergence of Johansson and ASP getting closer to arriving.

 

[lilidk]

I would say the bottom 6 group of forwards, they have to get more offence from them.

Next season Mazur and Danielson should provide that

 

[lilidk]

They need to add 2 quality defensemen. Exact same thing as last offseason. Maybe now they can get away with 1 with the emergence of Johansson and ASP getting closer to arriving.

ASP could be third pair and pp second unit.
Ed Seider
Chiarot ?
AJo ASP .
I don't like ASP playing with Chiarot p

 

[RedHawkDown]

There’s no good D men except Ekblad. I don’t see what moves can be made here in FA for D. Steve will need to trade but I agree we can’t go into another year with this

I honestly want us to overpay for Marner. Offer him 20 mil a season. We have no offensively creative players on this team and desperately need it.

NO MORE DEPTH PLAYERS. Our team is literally 95% depth players already. We need stars.

Provorov is a lot better than Ekblad and Gavrikov is better than both.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Top 4 D seems to be running away with the voting thus far. Along those lines, what do people think of Ryan Lindgren? He'll be a UFA this summer and signed a 1 year deal for $4.5m. He's played over 4,200 minutes from 2021-22 through 2023-24, on ice save percentage is 92.9%, and he has 45.5% d-zone starts. Seems like he could be a good value pick up. Averaged close to 20 mins per night since 2020-21, so could be a middle pairing option.

He's not massive, but his underlying numbers look pretty good over a fairly long stretch of play.

 

[WingsToPick4th]

petrys gone, Holl to be sent to GR, waived or bought out, Gustafsson sent to whoever for future considerations

Trade for Nic Hague and Mario Ferraro
Bring up ASP and MBN
Sign Marner, resign Kane and boom we are a playoff team

Debrincat - Larkin - Kane
Raymond - Kasper - Marner
Tarasenko - Compher - Nygard
Rasmussen - Copp - Berggren/Watson

Hague - Seider
Edvinsson - ASP
Ferraro - Chiarot

 

[Retire91]

just fill gaps. Only choice really are middle of the road or commit the whole franchise to someone forever would like to see how the next crop of prospects play before locking in the huge contracts.

 

[wingerdinger]

There’s no good D men except Ekblad. I don’t see what moves can be made here in FA for D. Steve will need to trade but I agree we can’t go into another year with this

I honestly want us to overpay for Marner. Offer him 20 mil a season. We have no offensively creative players on this team and desperately need it.

NO MORE DEPTH PLAYERS. Our team is literally 95% depth players already. We need stars.

Ekblad cant skate he's going to be a trap for whoever signs him.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

1 quality top 4 defenseman (Grzelcyk? this pushes Chiarot to bottom pair in theory)
2 top 6 wingers (Boeser or Marchand, and re-sign Kane
1 3rd line winger with skill and a little grit (Beauvillier, Mangiapane, Tanev, Ioffalo, Armia)
1 bottom pair/6th defenseman type that’s a steady vet. (Fabbro or Rutta would be ok here.)

In order of importance.

 

[lidstromiscool]

Based on his track record, I hope Yzerman sits out free agency other than some one year deals. Not only has he handed out some terrible contracts (Chiarot, Holl, Compher, Copp, Tarasenko). The free agent class is pretty weak overall so there will be plenty of overpayments. Sure we'd all love Marner, but he's not gonna sign in Detroit without a crippling overpayment and he's not an Yzerman type player. Does anyone actually trust the pro scouting staff at this point?

 

[Pavels Dog]

Top 4 LHD.

I think going into next season with

FA Add - Seider
Edvinsson - Johansson/ASP/Chiarot

Is what we want to target.