Wings sign Draper to 3-year Extension
What has been rumored has finally come to fruition as it has been reported Kris Draper inked a new three-year deal with the Red Wings. Here are the terms as reported by TSN.
The deal will play him $1.85 million next season, $1.65 million in 2009-10, and $1.25 million in the 2010-11 campaign.
This isn’t a bad deal. It’d be nice if the Wings could have signed him to one or two year deals at this point in his career but that’s just a quibble. He’s indisputably been one of the key players in helping the team transition from the pre-cap squads led by Brendan Shanahan and Stevie Yzerman and helped the team maintain their high level of play. In terms of the leadership he provides the dollar amount for the contract is a bargain. If he somehow outlasts Nicklas Lidstrom he’d get serious consideration to become the next team captain.
Draper has an excellent work ethic and keeps himself in top shape. Here are the number of games he’s played over the past five NHL seasons.
| Season | Regular Season Games | Playoff Games | Percent |
|
2006-07 |
81 | 18 | 99% |
|
2005-06 |
80 | 6 | 97.7% |
|
2003-04 |
67 | 12 | 84% |
|
2002-03 |
82 | 4 | 100% |
|
2001-02 |
82 | 23 | 100% |
If he didn’t have a very reliable track record then I’d have serious questions about the length of this deal as Draper is currently 36 years old. Since this deal is signed by a player over 35, the final two years are on Detroit’s cap number, regardless of whether or not he can actually play. With that being the case I still think this is a reasonable risk to take to keep a guy with great leadership abilities and two excellent hockey skills.
Widely regarded as one of the best defensive forwards in the game, he’s never produced the type of offensive numbers as multiple Selke award winners like Rod Brind’Amour or Jere Lehtinen. However Lehtinen makes $4 million per season, while Brind’Amour makes $3.6 million. So Drapers average cap hit of $1.58 ain’t bad.
Draper is also one of the best players in the NHL when it comes to winning faceoffs, which is an important trait - particularly on the PK. This season he ranks 2nd in highest percentage of faceoff wins for guys with a minimum of at least 100 draws. He’s currently winning 61% of his draws and 60% of the ones he’s taking in the defensive zone, where ceding the puck could result in a scoring chance for the opposition.
It’s also one of those skills that isn’t likely to diminish much with age. At the very end of Steve Yzerman’s career when his contributions were limited during the Edmonton playoff series, he was still able to trot out onto the ice, win a draw, then skate back to the bench. Now if that’s all Draper is doing in the final year of this contract then it’s a gross overpayment. But given he hasn’t had the health issues Yzerman had at the end of his career I think the odds of that being the case are pretty low.
There have been reports that general manager Ken Holland is currently making efforts to re-sign Nicklas Lidstrom and Dan Cleary. He’s also going to try and lock up Henrik Zetterberg to a long-term deal this summer at the first opportunity he’ll have to sign him before Z starts the final year of his contract next season. Assuming he gets those deals done he’ll have solidified the core of his squad for the next 2-5 years. The top line, the third line and the top three d-men would all be signed for at least two more seasons depending on the length of Lidstrom’s contract.
The GameDay thread is up over at Red Wings Central. Dominik Hasek has a sore hip so the Red Wings have recalled Jimmy Howard from Grand Rapids. Howard will back up Chris Osgood, who’s gotten off to a fine start this season.
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