The Red Wings have been relatively quiet Wednesday during an otherwise busy first day of free agency in the NHL, much like Steve Yzerman predicted.
The team's most noteworthy move may have been parting ways with alternate captain Luke Glendening, who reportedly signed a two-year, $3 million deal with the Stars. Glendening spent the first eight years of his career in Detroit and was one of the Red Wings' longest-tenured players.
Glendening's departure creates a hole down the middle in Detroit's bottom six. It also leaves the Wings without a top penalty killer and one of the best face-off men in the NHL. We'll see how Yzerman makes up for it.
For starters, Detroit re-signed center Sam Gagner to a one-year deal. Gagner, 31, has been a steady veteran presence for the Wings since arriving from Edmonton in the Andreas Athanasiou trade at the 2020 deadline. He helps fill Detroit's need for a right-shot forward, and he has the talent to play in the team's top six. He scored seven goals and 15 points in 42 games last season.
As Yzerman said Monday on 97.1 The Ticket, the Wings weren't expecting to make any splash moves in free agency, especially up front.
"We’re looking more to fill some holes," he said. "We’re still looking to add another defenseman after re-signing (Marc) Staal, we’re looking for potentially two or three more forwards. In all likelihood it’s going to be guys on a shorter-term contract that can plug a hole for us. I’d like to get a right-shot forward or two. I don’t think there’s going to be any mega deals coming our way."
To address the blueline, Yzerman has added Jordan Oesterle on a two-year deal. The 29-year-old Dearborn native and former Western Michigan teammate of Danny DeKeyser spent the last three seasons with the Coyotes. He posted 44 points in 172 games while playing mostly on the left side of Arizona's bottom D pair. He figures to battle DeKeyser for a similar role in Detroit, behind Staal and Nick Leddy.
The Red Wings have also reportedly agreed to a two-way deal with right-shot defenseman Ryan Murphy, a former first-round pick who's bounced between the NHL and AHL, and more recently the KHL, for the past eight seasons.