The Detroit Red Wings are trying to reinvent themselves as they enter a new era post-Pavel Datsyuk. It’s been a tricky ride, as Ken Holland has worked hard and aggressively to re-sign and bring in new talent to bridge the loss and get the Red Wings back into the playoffs.
Detroit announced on Thursday a four-year extension for forward Luke Glendening worth $7 million.
UPDATE: The #RedWings today signed C Luke Glendening to a four-year contract extension: https://t.co/ymwjTJivwg 👍🏻🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/BhjjuJH1iN
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 14, 2016
The contract might seem like a small price to pay to lock up a depth piece like Glendening, but the move is the latest example of Holland spinning his wheels in the mud in a failed attempt to rework the Red Wings.
Glendening is small potatoes in the grand scheme of Detroit’s turnaround, which is why it’s surprising to see Holland commit so much term to a player who at best is a fourth-liner.
Glendening’s numbers looked respectable at first glance. In a bottom-six role, he scored eight goals and 21 points. But, the bottom line is that Glendening is 27 and among the worst forwards in the league. He ranked 324th out of 352 forwards with an abysmal 45.1 Corsi For rating. Glendening does nothing to drive possession. Considering his age, he’s not going to get any better, so there was no need for the Wings to lock him up especially on a deal that will keep his $1.8 million AAV on the books until 2020-21. The extension might seem like a small one, but in a league where every dollar matters, it could come back to haunt Detroit.
Ken Holland has taken the approach to keeping his depth players around for better or worse. Perhaps the worst contract he handed out was giving bottom-six forward Darren Helm a five-year deal worth just under $20 million. That’s insane money to give to a player who’s topped out at 15 goals in a single season. Helm’s a decent player, but not worth nearly that much cash. Holland also made sure to re-sign Drew Miller, who’s got AHL talent, to a one-year deal. The Red Wings are looking for continuity in all the wrong places. Was it worth it to clear Datsyuk’s cap hit to make those kind of moves? Detroit will be lucky to get 30 goals combined from all three players. That’s all without even mentioning Justin Abdelkader’s silly seven-year extension last season.
Not every deal was comedic. Even though Frans Nielsen’s six-year deal worth $31.5 million was both two years too long and a lot of cash to spend on a 32-year-old center, Nielsen can at least be an effective two-way player who will get a chance to play a bigger role with the Red Wings. Taking a one-year $2.6 million flier on Thomas Vanek also isn’t an awful gamble, as Holland isn’t paying him to be an elite scorer. Steve Ott at $800,000 isn’t amazing, but for a fourth-line depth piece, it’s a cheap deal.
Detroit will challenge for a playoff spot because there is talent on the roster. Dylan Larkin is a star, Henrik Zetterberg is still around and Petr Mrazek appears to be the real deal between the pipes. With that said, Holland is dangerously throwing around his money to depth pieces. You can find another Glendening on the free agent market on a one-year minimum deal. To commit $7 million to him is bad cap management. The more Holland is afraid to let his depth pieces go, the more trouble Detroit is going to be in the future. Spending money just to spend it is a strategy that rarely works out.
