Yzerman Can’t Guarantee He’ll Re-Sign Any of His UFAs

Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is talking to all of his unrestricted free agents, even though he knows he can’t re-sign them all.

“I can’t guarantee we’ll sign any of them, but we have interest in signing them,” Yzerman said Friday in a pre-draft session with the media.

The Red Wings are now entering the phase of their rebuild where their salary cap position is heavily influencing on their buying power.

“I think it’s safe to say Lucas (Raymond) and Moritz Seider, their contracts are going to go up significantly, and that’s going to take up a major portion of our cap,” Yzerman said.

If you project Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson and Jonatan Berggren making the team in the fall, Yzerman has just over $27 million for seven more players. (Berggren isn’t signed but we penciled him in for roughly $800,000).

Seider and Raymond could cost Yzerman around $17 million in cap space on long term deals. That doesn’t leave much for the last five players, especially when you consider that Patrick Kane can probably command at least $5.5 million.

Staying in Contact With Kane

“I’ve talked with Pat Brisson who represents Patrick,” Yzerman said. “We’ve talked again with all of our free agents, not just Patrick, and explained my situation and have a feel for what they’re thinking of. And we just pretty much all agreed, let’s stay in touch. And this is a busy week. Not just a busy week for the draft, but a busy week trying to see if we can put some of these pieces in place.”

This would be easier for Yzerman if he could get Seider and Raymond signed first, but there is no indication that anything is close.

“I guess I’m just gonna have to work around it,” Yzerman said. “Ultimately, I can’t force anything. They’ll get done in due time. I’d prefer to have them done, but to be quite honest, I don’t anticipate that happening at this stage. And we’ll just work around it and make decisions along the way, fully aware of that we’ll try to get them under contract or plan to get them under contract at some point.”

Yzerman could trade a veteran, or buy out a player, to give him additional cap space. Defenseman Justin Holl is the most likely player to move. Kane, Shayne Gostisbehere and David Perron would seem to be the UFAs the Red Wings need, or want, the most.

“Ultimately, it’s going to come down to term and dollars,” Yzerman said.  “We have to make this all fit. As you know, I think it’s safe to say Lucas and Moritz Seider, their contracts are going to go up significantly, and that’s going to take up a major portion of our cap. And I have to be aware of that and I have to plan for that. So that’ll limit what we can do in other areas.”