Detroit Red Wings: GM Steve Yzerman is up to his old tricks again

The Detroit Red Wings settled on a two-year extension with forward Adam Erne over the weekend.  The deal is worth a reported $4.2 million, with a very affordable $2.1 million per season.

As I filtered through the social media platforms to gauge the fan base’s initial reaction, I found that many fans did not feel exactly the way I did upon seeing the news.  Shocking, I know (snickers).

I can’t imagine many Detroit Red Wings fans being too upset with this deal, although plenty of fans held out hope that the deal’s average annual value would be a bit cheaper.  We need to recognize one thing; the organization risked paying more than $2.1 million if the two sides were unable to settle during the scheduled August. 26th arbitration hearing.

Adam Erne’s new deal is a great settlement for the Detroit Red Wings.

The Red Wings have lacked secondary scoring for quite some time; in fact, they’ve struggled to find consistent primary scoring over the past few seasons, so adding a utility forward in Erne that is just 26-years old for a touch-over two-million per season is not the worst thing.

Last season Erne scored 11 goals which tied Anthony Mantha for the team lead in 2020-21. Erne also finished fourth in the team scoring behind Filip Hronek, Dylan Larkin, and Anthony Mantha with 20 points over 45 games while averaging a mere 13:55 of total ice-time per game.

It is clear the Detroit Red Wings fans have more issues to be concerned about than bickering about Erne’s contract.  Erne should not outperform the likes of Filip Zadina, Robby Fabbri, and Vladislav Namestikov.

Erne is a solid bottom-six winger who adds secondary scoring and is also a capable penalty killer.

Yzerman has nearly shored up all of the teams’ restricted free agents; last on the docket is Hronek, who is not arbitration-eligible, so surely a deal will be made before training camp.

Per Cap Friendly, the Red Wings only have two players under contract past the 2023-24 season, Jakub Vrana and Michael Rasmussen.  It seems Yzerman will continue challenging his young roster in the coming years.