Jiri Hudler still a RFA?
Hudler could really light the lamp with increased ice time
The next day or two should give us a good idea about Jiri Hudler’s future in Detroit. The Wings have extended a qualifying offer to him so they have retained his rights as far as the NHL goes. However Restricted free agents have until tomorrow to file for arbitration. Since Hudler hasn’t signed with the Red Wings yet and there was one report that he might consider playing in Russia, it will be interesting to see if he files for arbitration.
Helene St. James reported on July 1st about the interest in Hudler overseas.
The Wings have extended Hudler, a 23-year-old restricted free agent, a qualifying offer, but Hudler is drawing considerable interest from teams abroad, and the Wings aren’t going to warp their payroll to retain him.
Hudler does have arbitration rights, and given that he scored 15 goals last season despite rarely playing more than seven minutes per game, he has a case to push his salary to around $900,000 (up from $525,000 last season). But Russian teams might throw millions at him, in which case, the Wings would let him go and look for a replacement.
If he files for arbitration it likely indicates he has an interest in returning to Detroit. If he does not file he could still sign with the Wings, but if the top end of his arbitration award would be $900,000 it might be well below what he could earn in Russia. So if he is strongly considering leaving the NHL there might be no point in filing for arbitration. So we might have a better idea of what Hudler is thinking within the next day.
If Hudler stays in Detroit he should see increased ice time with Todd Bertuzzi, Robert Lang and Kyle Calder no longer in the lineup. That would include time on Detroit’s second power play unit. With that being the case there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t be able to surpass the 20 goal mark. If Dan Cleary can equal his offensive production from last season and both Val Filppula and Jiri Hudler can hit the 20 goal mark, that would likely give the Red Wings six 20 goal scorers amongst their forwards.
It appears the Red Wings have made a couple minor deals to sign players. Defenseman Brad Ference and goaltender Adam Berkhoel are listed on Detroit’s roster over at NHL.com. I’d be willing to bet these are two-way contracts and both players are penciled in for playing in Grand Rapids next season. Berkhoel will likely back up Jimmy Howard and Ference might be able to fill one of the defensive slots if Kyle Quincey and either Derek Meech or Jakub Kindl make the Red Wings roster.
Ference is a solid, physical d-man which is something Detroit needs, but he hasn’t gotten more than the proverbial cup of coffee in the NHL since playing for Phoenix during the 2003-04 campaign. So I don’t really see him cracking Detroit’s lineup. But he’s a d-man with size so it will be interesting to see what he does for the Griffins. Berkhoel hasn’t even played a full season in the NHL but he was the Frozen Four tournament MVP for Denver in the 2004 NCAA ice hockey tournament so he’s performed very well at the college level.
Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News mentions that the Stanley Cup will be making a stop in East Lansing as Anaheim Duck Drew Miller, who was a captain for MSU’s hockey team, has the Cup for a day on Thursday, July 5. The Cup will be on display at Munn Ice Arena from 3pm to 4:30pm. Coupled with the Spartans’ ice hockey national championship there will be lots of hardware on display.
UPDATE
The NHLPA website lists Jiri Hudler’s compensation for 07/08 as $880,000. So that might mean he’s signed a new contract in Detroit. We’ll have to wait to get an official announcement. If this is true it’s good news for the Red Wings.
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