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Detroit Red Wings projected to buyout $19.7M worth of players this off-season
Photo credit: Yahoo Sports
The Red Wings are projected to cut the fat at several parts of their roster, starting with an underachieving defenseman who routinely played top-6 minutes this season.
It's still one of the more puzzling moves made by Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman in his tenure, signing struggling defenseman Justin Holl to a 3-year deal and paying him an AAV (average annual value) of $3.4 million.
Are they on the verge of cutting ties with him? Rob Couch of NHL Trade Rumors seems to think it's possible.
The Detroit Red Wings signing Justin Holl was a bad move from the start. They already had too many veterans, and he was given a three-year deal. He wasn't good in year one and wasn't good this season, averaging 14:48 of ice time, a poor expected goals for percentage, and eight points. He has one year left at $3.4 million AAV, and Steve Yzerman's seat is getting hotter if he doesn't give the Red Wings the pieces to get them into the playoffs.
If the Red Wings were to buy out the final year of Holl's deal, it would cost them $1,133,333 over the next pair of seasons while saving them just over $2.2 million on the books in 2025-26.
Todd McLellan called out a particularly poor game of Holl in January, saying that his reduced ice time was his own doing.
He sent himself a message. I think that's pretty obvious. I'm not going to sit here and BS for him - he had a terrible night. That's just the way it is. Whether he got on in the last five minutes or not, it really doesn't matter. He knows he can play better. I am going to tell him that. I know he is a better player than that.
He had 8 points (2G, 6A) in 73 games.
The Red Wings are also expected to buyout Vladimir Tarasenko.
| POLL | ||
MAI 13 | 151 ANSWERS Detroit Red Wings projected to buyout $19.7M worth of players this off-season Should the Red Wings buy out Justin Holl? | ||
| Yes | 135 | 89.4 % |
| No | 16 | 10.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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