Re: Detroit Red Wings (NHL 09)
Wings get Sweder
Wings follow their plan, passing up the big fish to add quality depth
July 3, 2009
DETROIT, - If you're Mikael Samuelsson, you've got to be a bit conflicted. The Red Wings traded the winger before this past season's trade deadline in the deal that brought young defenseman Tobias Enstrom to Detroit. And then they went on to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, with Enstrom playing a pivotal role while Samuelsson watched the postseason from home after the Atlanta Thrashers failed to make the playoffs.
And now Samuelsson is back in Detroit.
The 32-year old right winger jumped at the chance when the Wings came calling after the Thrashers passed on re-signing him. Harboring no ill feelings toward the organization that traded him and a close kinship with his fellow Swedes already on the team, Samuelsson agreed to return to the Red Wings, signing a three-year deal with $1.8 million per year.
And then the Wings "Sweden'd" the deal later in the day, with a move that will cause many Red Wings fans to shift uncomfortably - they contacted, negotiated with, and signed...a former Duck.
One of the key pieces of Anaheim's Stanley Cup championship in 06-07, Sammy Pahlsson has never been a dynamic goal scorer, or even a consistent threat offensively at all. He has 55 career goals in 574 career games. His career high for a single season is 11. And yet he garnered serious Conn Symthe consideration after the Ducks won the Stanley Cup because he is one of the best defensive forwards in hockey. He played a huge role in putting the clamps down on Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk in the 2007 Western Conference Finals, but at the same time did not indulge in some of the questionable tactics many of his Duck teammates did.
Ever since then, he'd been on Ken Holland's radar. And when Chicago did not re-sign him, the first man to call when free agency started was Holland.
Citing a feeling of comfort among fellow Swedes Zetterberg, Samuelsson, Johan Franzen, Tobias Enstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson (along with Nick Lidstrom, who will remain with the organization in the front office), the 31-year old Pahlsson lasted on the free agent market merely a few hours before agreeing to a five-year deal worth $1.950 million per season.
Notable signings to open the free agency period:
-Canadiens sign D Derek Morris, 3 years, $2.600M
-Lightning sign D Steve Eminger, 5 years, $2.725M
-Red Wings sign C Samuel Pahlsson, 5 years, $1.950M
-Devils sign D Mike Komisarek, 3 years, $2.650M
-Red Wings sign RW Mikael Samuelsson, 3 years, $1.800M
-Senators sign D Mark Fistric, 4 years, $2.500M
-Thrashers sign RW Kris Versteeg, 4 years, $2.550M
-Sabres sign LW Ryane Clowe, 3 years, $2.200M
-Avalanche sign LW Jussi Jokinen, 3 years, $2.200M
-Blackhawks sign RW Guillaume Latendresse, 4 years, $2.075M
-Capitals sign RW Scottie Upshall, 5 years, $2.250M
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