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Andreas Athanasiou

Red Wings Notes: Trade Rumors, Athanasiou

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The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James writes that general manager Ken Holland is absolutely cognizant of the fact that the Red Wings are in “seller” mode. St. James quotes Holland as saying:

“I’m working the phones, I’m trying to see what the other teams in the league are thinking,” Holland said. “We are obviously not a buyer, we are not spending future assets to try to get in. We’ll see here over the next week what direction we are going, but I am aware we are eight points out and games are running out.”

The quote is nearly verbatim from last year, where Holland pulled the plug during early February and started dealing at the deadline.  Beating the Anaheim Ducks last night, in a game where the Ducks outplayed and outshot the Red Wings, isn’t anything to mistake as a game that get Detroit into a playoff spot. The issue remaining is whether or not Holland will truly begin rotating players out to stockpile as much young talent and higher draft picks that he can. Where the verbiage has changed is that on a roster that Holland usually gives the nod to a veteran, he seems to be ready to open up spots for younger players:

“I’ve talked to lots of teams over the last week and 10 days, and I’m doubling back with a number of them,” Holland said. “We’d like to get assets, open up spots for a kid or two for next season.”

Holland has been gun shy when it comes to making trades in the Cap era, and he’s still working without a contract extension. With Mike Green, Jimmy Howard, Petr Mrazek, Gustav Nyquist, and even Tomas Tatar in trade conversations, it will be interesting to see if Holland really will make the deals he seems to be hinting at.

  • Andreas Athanasiou is ready to make amends for his lackluster play that resulted in a third period benching reports the Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan. Punished for a lack of effort, Athanasiou played just one shift in yesterday’s 2-1 win during the third period. In spite of his athleticism, speed, and gamebreaker ability, Athanasiou has long been made an example by head coach Jeff Blashill when he hasn’t been at his best. Kulfan writes that consistency has been an issue for Athanasiou during his young career, but it’s an interesting take in that several players, especially higher priced ones, have been similarly inconsistent or turnover prone with the puck. Though he hasn’t scored in 11 games, Athanasiou still has more points than Darren Helm, and Justin Abdelkader, and is tied with Frans Nielsen, and Tomas Tatar, who have both played 10 more games than the 23-year-old forward. The combined cap hit for Abdelkader ($4.25MM), Nielsen ($5.25MM), Tatar ($5.3MM) and Helm ($3.85MM) is $18.65MM while Athanasiou makes a fraction of their individual salaries at $1.38MM. He’s also just a point behind Gustav Nyquist ($4.75MM), who also has ten more games to his name. Though it is fair to try and teach the young forward good habits, the larger issue in Detroit is once again giving large contracts to players who simply don’t produce the points to justify such payment.

Red Wings Notes: Howard, Larkin, Holland

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MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard is slated to return for Saturday’s contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Howard was shelved with a lower body injury but Detroit’s bye week was a fortuitous opportunity for the veteran net minder to recover. Howard told DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji that he’ll be ready for tomorrow’s game. In his last six starts, Howard has been 4-2 with a .952 save percentage, and a main reason the Red Wings have seen their fortunes trend up. Though they’re still out of the playoff hunt (and will stay that way most likely), Howard has been excellent for a team short on defense and elite talent.

  • Khan takes questions in a mailbag next, indicating that he doesn’t expect any hitches as they did when Andreas Athanasiou held out as an RFA. Khan continues, writing that the Red Wings have $10MM  with Mike Green and Petr Mrazek set to be free agents. With the cap rising as well, Khan doesn’t foresee any issues getting the important younger players, namely Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Athanasiou. Martin Frk and Tyler Bertuzzi are both in their final year of a contract but will come at a lower price than the aforementioned three.
  • In another question, Khan writes that Henrik Zetterberg might have one season left before a new captain will have to be named. He sees Justin Abdelkader being the next Red Wing to wear the C while Larkin a future captain as well. Larkin was an alternate captain while playing in the World Juniors last May, but it wouldn’t be crazy to think that Larkin could be the next in line. Steve Yzerman was named captain at the ripe old age of 21, which just happens to be Larkin’s current age.
  • The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James has a mailbag of her own, and gives her thoughts on the future of general manager Ken Holland. She believes he will still be around, either in the GM chair or as an adviser. She also believes that Larkin will be the first of the three young building blocks (Larkin-Mantha-Athanasiou) to be re-signed by Detroit.

Morning Notes: Athanasiou, Bieksa, Gaunce

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Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press has news that every Red Wings fan has been waiting to hear: Andreas Athanasiou should be in the lineup tonight. Athanasiou recently rejoined the team after holding out through all of training camp and the first few weeks of the season, but is expected to play tonight when the Red Wings take on Tampa Bay. The young forward will skate alongside Frans Nielsen and Darren Helm, and likely be part of one of the powerplay units.

Remember, Athanasiou signed for just one year after all the summer negotiating, meaning this season is huge for him as he heads into arbitration. A repeat of his 18-goal performance would help go a long way to secure the type of contract he was after this time around. Athanasiou has potential for even more, but will have to avoid a sort of sophomore slump in his second full season. It looks like he’ll be given every chance to do it, after missing just 10 games to start the year.

Snapshots: Athanasiou, Sateri, Blackhawks

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Andreas Athanasiou is back. The 23-year old forward that has spent the last few weeks holding out for a new contract, was on the ice for the Detroit Red Wings today, practicing with Frans Nielsen and Darren Helm. While there’s no clear indication when Athanasiou will get back into the lineup, it was a promising sign to have him working with the team.

After a summer that was filled with speculation, rumor and intrigue, the Red Wings will welcome back their talented young sniper. Athanasiou has excellent speed and skill, and had just scratched the surface of his offensive potential last season, scoring 18 goals and 29 points. That number could increase this year even with the lost time, especially if given plenty of powerplay opportunities. The Red Wings, now losers of five straight, could use some offensive punch. They’ve scored just one goal in their last two games.

  • Harri Sateri has been sent back to the AHL by the Florida Panthers, after the team claimed Antti Niemi off waivers yesterday. The 27-year old Sateri didn’t get into a game, and has a slow start in his return to North America. Originally a draft pick of the San Jose Sharks, Sateri left for the KHL in 2014 where he found immediate success. Earlier this summer he turned down an extension with his KHL club in order to try and secure and NHL job, and eventually signed a two-way deal with Florida to essentially be their #3. With a .859 save percentage in the AHL, and now Niemi in the fold, he’ll have to play better if he wants to get a crack at a full-time NHL role (even as a backup) down the road.
  • Shane Doan has found the next chapter in his NHL career, as Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the former Arizona Coyotes’ captain will join the league’s Hockey Operations group. Working with Colin Campbell, Doan will follow the path set out by other former players like Brendan Shanahan and Rob Blake. Shanahan and Blake of course are now running franchises in Toronto and Los Angeles.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have made quite a few moves over the years to get their core group under the salary cap, but perhaps never so many as this offseason. The team saw Artemi Panarin, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Marcus Kruger, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Scott Darling all leave through trade, Brian Campbell retire and of course Marian Hossa kept out with a chronic skin condition. That’s a lot of talent to have leave in one offseason, but as GM Stan Bowman tells Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times, he’s pretty happy with how it’s turned out. Chicago is 5-3-2 so far this season, but on most nights still look like a team that could compete for the Stanley Cup. In terms of improvement, Chicago doesn’t have to make a deal, as they have talented players sitting in the press box or AHL most nights. Or, as Bowman puts it: “I’m not, like, itching to make a trade.”

5 Key Stories: 10/16/17 – 10/22/17

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It wasn’t as busy during the beginning of the week, but the end certainly had its fair share of big news. Injuries to key players dominated the week’s notes.

  1. Red Wings finally come to terms with Andreas Athanasiou, trade Riley Sheahan and Ryan Sproul –  The Andreas Athanasiou-Red Wings stalemate came to an end after a phone conference with Wings brass thawed the tension. In order to make room, general manager Ken Holland dealt Riley Sheahan to Pittsburgh and flipped defenseman Ryan Sproul to the Rangers.

2.  Bobby Ryan shelved for one month with a broken finger – As one commenter wrote, the snake bitten Ryan broke his right index finger during the Senators’ 6-3 win over rival Toronto.  This yet another finger injury for the forward, who fought through a number of injuries last season.

3. Brian Boyle is cleared for full practice: Expected to be a critical piece for the Devils this season, Boyle was out due to a form of bone cancer, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.  Though there is no timetable for his return, this is another large step for Boyle in his battle back to the ice.

4. A number of goalies suffer injuries: Tuukka Rask, Roberto Luongo, and Malcolm Subban were some of the netminders hit by injury this week. Both Subban and Marc-Andre Fleury sit on Vegas’ LTIR after it was reported that Subban would miss four weeks. Rask was diagnosed with a concussion and because of the nature of concussions, it’s unclear just how long Rask will be out. Luongo injured his right hand during the Panthers’ 4-3 loss last night.

5. Jeff Carter Out Indefinitely: The Kings lost one of their best players to a cut on his left leg, speculated to be a six-to-eight week recovery time.

Detroit Trades Sheahan To Pittsburgh

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The Detroit Red Wings completed a trade that will send center Riley Sheahan and a 2018 fifth-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for wing Scott Wilson and a 2018 third-round pick, according to Cap Friendly. The deal was originally reported by TSN’s Bob McKenzie.

A move was expected after the Red Wings reached an agreement with winger Andreas Athanasiou yesterday. The team needed to make a corresponding roster move to get under the cap before the deal with Athanasiou becomes official and this trade accomplishes that. Sheahan is making $2.075MM this year, and will be a restricted free agent next year. However, by swapping Sheahan for Wilson, who makes just $650K, it will clear enough room for Athanasiou. According to CapFriendly, the trade gives Detroit $1,470,220 in LTIR salary relief.

As for Pittsburgh, the team finally gets its long coveted center it needs for its line. The Penguins, who have been rumored to be looking for a center to fill a hole on their third line, have been mentioned in multiple rumors since the team lost Nick Bonino to Nashville and Matt Cullen to Minnesota in the offseason, including earlier talks with Detroit about Sheahan, but the team finally got their center. In the meantime, the Penguins have been using Greg McKegg and Carter Rowney on the back two lines, but Sheahan should be an upgrade. McKegg has a goal and two assists in eight games, while Rowney has a goal and one assist.

Sheahan, a former 2010 first-round pick, has been in the league for many years, but at 25, has never been able to break out like Detroit had expected. In his third full season last year, Sheahan managed just two goals and 11 assists in 80 games. His best season was in 2014-15, when he put up 13 goals and 36 points. Sheahan has zero points in eight games this season. The young center has struggled with the speed of the game, but the general belief is that the center just needs to continue to develop his offensive game.

Wilson, a fan favorite, hasn’t cracked the lineup in Pittsburgh much as he’s played in just three games so far this year with the Penguins, but is coming off a 2016-17 season in which he scored eight goals and 18 assists. As he was often a healthy scratch, the general belief is that he would eventually have to be placed on waivers with the eventual promotion of prospect Daniel Sprong.

 

 

 

Atlantic Notes: Athanasiou, Canadiens, Kronwall, Marner

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Often when you have lengthy holdouts, fans have to wonder whether one of the big obstacles (besides money) is that the player doesn’t really want to play for the team he’s on, only creating a longer bridge towards finding a happy stalemate. Even after the holdout ends, often the player finds himself resenting the organization, which only creates more problems. Not so, however, with the Detroit Red Wings and recently signed forward Andreas Athanasiou, according to Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required).

The scribe writes that a conference call held earlier this week between Athanasiou, his agent Darren Ferris and Red Wings brass changed everything and was not just the critical step that helped end the stalemate, but helped show the 23-year-old center that the team really wanted him to return to the team, while the Red Wings understood Athanasiou’s reasons for asking for a trade.

“The philosophical stuff that was causing the desire to be traded was addressed,” Athanasiou’s agent Darren Ferris said. “I really think that call turned the bus around.”

After that phone call, the wheels of progress began to churn and a deal began to be chiseled out. Custance writes that Ferris said while only a one-year deal was struck, Athanasiou plans to prove himself to the Red Wings in hopes of getting a long-term deal with them for next year — in Detroit. Ferris says he wants to stay there.

  • Mitch Melnick of The Athletic writes his Good, Bad and Ugly column about the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks last night, pointing fingers to Paul Byron and Victor Mete as the team’s top players lately. While that was the good, Melnick points out how bad that is too if those two are your best players. The 19-year-old Mete, who no one expected to make the Canadiens’ roster this year, has thrived on the team’s defense in his rookie campaign, while Byron is a 28-year old, whose best season saw him score 22 goals last year. Neither was expected to make a major impact. Catch all of Melnick’s commentary as it’s a good read.
  • Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press writes that veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall tried stem-cell treatment for his bad knee. The 36-year-old blueliner revealed the information today after having played in his 800th career NHL game yesterday. He has been playing on a permanently damaged knee for the past two years and has been told that surgery would not help him. St. James writes that Kronwall wouldn’t go into specifics about what procedure he had undergone. “It’s a long process,” he said. “It is for another time to discuss.”
  • Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, recently downgraded to the team’s fourth line, was quite positive about his demotion and has learned a lot from veteran Matt Martin, tweets Kristen Shilton of TSN. “You just want to go out there and help the team win,” Marner said. “If you don’t, then just be the guy on the bench that’s staying positive and helping the guys out. That’s what I’ve learned from Marty.”
  • CapFriendly tweets that the site has confirmed that Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid has gone on LITR. The move gives the Bruins a $2.75MM salary relief pool. Boston can now exceed the cap by $2,654,209.

Snapshots: Athanasiou, Dubois, Lindholm, Vatanen

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Although Andreas Athanasiou has now agreed to terms on a new deal with Detroit, it’s still going to take some time before he rejoins the team.  GM Ken Holland told reporters, including Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, that the team will apply for a work visa for the winger on Monday morning.  As we’ve seen in recent weeks, it can take a few days if not longer for that to be approved.  Once that happens, he’ll need some practices before being game-ready; while Holland wouldn’t definitively rule out an AHL conditioning stint for Athanasiou, he did note that it’s an unlikely scenario.

In the meantime, Holland will likely be busy working the phones as he looks to make a roster move or two to free up the cap space required to add Athanasiou to the active roster.  A trade seems likely but if there is a significant injury between now and then, the Red Wings could use LTIR to get back into cap compliance in the short-term and give them more time to work out a trade.

More from around the league:

  • While Blue Jackets winger Pierre-Luc Dubois isn’t lighting it up (just one goal through seven games), Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that there are no indications that the team is planning on sending him back to junior before he plays his tenth game next week. The 19-year-old isn’t eligible to play in the AHL yet and the fact that he is playing a regular shift (he’s averaging nearly 13 minutes per game) is a good sign for him to officially burn the first season of his entry-level contract.  The focus will then shift to 40 games on the active roster when he will accrue a year towards UFA eligibility.
  • Although Ducks defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen have started skating with the team, both are out for tonight’s game against Montreal, the team announced (Twitter link). Both players had been targeting November 1st as a return date and while they’ll miss at least one more game, they still appear to be ahead of schedule in their recoveries from offseason shoulder surgeries.

Detroit Red Wings Agree To Terms With Andreas Athanasiou

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The Detroit Red Wings have finally come to an agreement with forward Andreas Athanasiou on a one-year contract worth $1.39MM. The team is currently right at the cap, and will need to move salary of some sort out before officially signing the contract and putting Athanasiou on the roster. Whether that comes through trade, long-term injured reserve or waivers is still to be seen.

Andreas AthanasiouThe final restricted free agent to sign this year, Athanasiou has been skating in Switzerland to stay in shape while the NHL season began. While the Red Wings had made one-year $1.25MM, and two-year $3.8MM offers there was still apparently in a divide in what Detroit, Athanasiou and agent Darren Ferris believed he was worth. After an 18-goal campaign, the speedster was poised to be given even more responsibility this season as an integral part of the offense.

Athanasiou was selected in the fourth round in 2012, but exploded offensively for the Barrie Colts before showing he could reproduce that skill at the professional level. In parts of three seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Athanasiou scored 51 points in 83 games before making the jump to the NHL. His 43 points in 101 NHL contests don’t jump off the page, but for a team like Detroit who is looking for youth and speed, Athanasiou was a shining star.

That shine was dulled a bit this summer when his holdout began, with many fans criticizing him for his decision to turn down several offers. Even as the latest restricted free agents started to sign, there was little word on why Athanasiou’s deal couldn’t get done. Last year we waited until early November on a Jacob Trouba holdout, before the Winnipeg Jets defenseman decided playing was the most important thing for his future. The 23-year old forward seems to have come to the same conclusion.

At $1.39MM, Athanasiou will slide in just below Luke Glendening in terms of salary on the Red Wings. While it is a relatively low number, the holdout could pay off next summer when heading to arbitration. Athanasiou will still be a a restricted free agent, but armed with the bigger cap number from this year. Interestingly, every day he remains unsigned he is losing out on a prorated portion of the contract. That will make the difference between the $1.25MM offer and what he eventually ends up with minimal in terms of actual salary paid, or even end up costing him some. The benefit will be felt down the road.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the deal, while Bob McKenzie of TSN gave us the exact financial info.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Detroit Red Wings Increase Offer To Andreas Athanasiou

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According to Craig Custance of The Athletic, who has been all over this story from the beginning, the Detroit Red Wings have slightly increased their one-year $1.25MM offer for Andreas Athanasiou to try and entice a return to the team (though the new total is not clear). Detroit also has a two-year, $3.8MM contract on the table for the talented forward. Custance expertly outlines the situation for both sides, coming to the conclusion that Athanasiou will have to start playing somewhere soon.

Still, Detroit has problems when it comes to fitting Athanasiou into their salary structure. Even on the one-year deal, the team would need to make another move to slide his contract in as they’re already right up against the cap. The team is already carrying only 22 players on the roster to try and stay cap compliant, but would likely have to move someone out to put Athanasiou back in. Right now, Luke Witkowski is giving them a bit of versatility with his ability to play both forward and defense, but injuries could easily put them in a very difficult situation.

Detroit got off to a very strong start this season, but ran into red-hot Tampa Bay and Toronto teams this week to drop their record to 4-3. Those Atlantic division leaders will be tough to catch this season even with Athanasiou in the fold, but getting him back as soon as possible will give them the best chance. With Anthony Mantha and Henrik Zetterberg providing solid results up front, adding a top-9 forward will only help lengthen their lineup.

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