Red Wings Lock Up Niklas Kronwall To A Long 7-Year Deal
DETROIT – The Red Wings have locked up a vital cornerstone to their future, signing defenseman Niklas Kronwall to a new seven-year contract extension Monday. Kronwall would have become an unrestricted free agent in July, but the 6-foot Swede wanted to remain in Detroit. And the Red Wings certainly wanted to keep him. A first-round pick in 2000, Kronwall’s extension that runs through the 2018-19 season is worth $33.25 million. With half of their defensive corps set to become unrestricted after this season, it was imperative for the Wings to get a deal done with Kronwall, sooner than later. “If you look at our defense, (Nicklas) Lidstrom’s unrestricted, (Brad) Stuart’s unrestricted, and we’re going through a little bit of a transition,” Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “We’re trying to rebuild a little bit, so signing Kronwall and keeping him here is a real important step for us in the next 12- to 24-month process of trying to figure out where we will be going forward.” Whether the 41-year-old Lidstrom decides to return next year for a 21st season or not, the Wings feel that Kronwall is the heir apparent to the captain’s throne. While Kronwall certainly isn’t in Lidstrom’s class – and nobody is – the 30-year-old’s physical play makes him a different kind of asset to the Wings. “We want him to play hard, but we don’t want him to play as physical, because he’s not a big guy; he’s an important guy, who plays big,” Holland said. “I think there’s more there offensively. But what I like about him is that he’s a big team guy. He probably could be on the first power-play, but he’s OK with being on the second power-play because it’s Ian White and Nick. But when you put a team together you want to spread your wealth. We have a guy who is a team guy.” Kronwall has proven to be a punishing hitter, but last season he set new personal highs for goals (11), power-play goals (5), game-winning goals (3) and shots on goal (131). “At some point down the road, I’m anticipating that Kronner will have a bigger role on our team, offensively,” Holland said. “But for right now, he’s comfortable with his role with the team. He’s formed a good pair with Brad Stuart, but we want him to continue being good defensively and making good outlet passes. “When you have a player who can play in any role or situation, and they are competitive, they’re hard to find.” |
CONTRACT DETAILS: Length: 7 Years (2012-13)-(2018-19) Cap-Hit: $4,750,000 Pay-Out Details:
**Bonuses: Receives a $1,250,000 signing bonus in 2012-13 Contract Clause Details:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reaction:
This is a great deal for the Red Wings, and I'm sure Kronwall is pretty satisfied with it as well. The cap-hit is excellent for a player of his stature, and if I was a Red Wings fan I would be ecstatic because this will open up some nice opportunities for them down the road with the extra space this deal will provide. I think some people over look Kronwall, but I am a big fan of his and I think its fair to say he is a top-10 defenseman in this league. He does everything a team could want coming from a top-pairing d-man. I am 100 percent sure that had he hit the open market, he'd get a lot more money than the amount he got from the Red Wings. Despite that, this is a good contract for Kronwall for a few reasons. Firstly, its a very front-loaded deal with 70 percent of his $33,250,000 contract being paid to him in the first four years of his 7 year commitment. Along with that he has a full no-trade clause until the 6th year of the contract where he begins a limited no-trade clause. These perks are huge to any player and when you consider how much Kronwall loves being a Red Wing it makes a lot of sense as to why he would agree to a deal like this when he could have gotten a lot more money as an unrestricted free-agent. Obviously the Wings are happy with this steal too, so the only real losers in this situation are the other pending free-agent defensemen because now after a guy like Kronwall gets so little the threshold has been set very low for others. It'll be interesting to see what the contracts look like for those other defensemen.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar