The Detroit Red Wings entered 2022 NHL Free Agency with over $30 million in cap space and a need to spend. The team was below the league's salary floor, meaning they had to spend in order to be cap compliant.
General manager Steve Yzerman spent and then some on Wednesday. He shelled out $63.35 million in total on five players that look to bolster a team that desperately needed NHL-quality talent.
Without any further ado, let's take a look at each signing the Wings made, how they help the team and give each signing a grade.
2022 NHL Free Agency grades for every Detroit Red Wings signing
Andrew Copp, five years $5.625 AAV
Grade: A
This is a solid signing for the Red Wings. Detroit needed a second-line center behind Dylan Larkin, and Copp is a great fit.
The move signals a homecoming for the recently turned 28-year-old. Copp was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and played his college hockey at the University of Michigan.
Copp spent most of his career with the Winnipeg Jets. This past season, he emerged as a reliable top-six contributor, which earned him a deadline-day trade to the contending New York Rangers.
He increased his value with an impressive performance on Broadway. He scored 18 points in 16 regular season games for the Rangers and added 14 points in 20 playoff games. The Rangers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.
The Wings get an A grade for this signing in part due to who the Rangers signed to replace Copp. New York brought in former Carolina Hurricanes center Vincent Trocheck on a seven-year deal for $5.625 million per season.
Detroit signed a player who some believe to be better than Trocheck for the same dollar figure but on a lesser term. That is a shrewd bit of business by Yzerman.
Beyond that, Copp is an excellent hockey player who can do anything asked of him. He doesn't excel in any one thing but makes up for it by being good in all phases of the game. And he should help elevate the team around him.
Olli Maatta, one year $2.25M AAV
Grade: A
Maatta was floated as a name the Wings could pursue, but it was made official on Wednesday. And it's an interesting deal for the 27-year-old.
Maatta is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion, winning back-to-back titles with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
The 27-year-old has spent the last two seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, and he has found a role as a reliable top-four defenseman. He is more of a defensive defenseman, which the Wings desperately need.
Maatta provides needed depth on the left-handed side of the defense for Detroit. It's tough to project where he'll slot into the lineup, but he will definitely play important minutes next season.
The Wings get an A grade here because while Maatta isn't a world beater, it's a one-year deal at a very reasonable price for a player who could outplay the deal. And he's only 27, so if he does outplay the deal, then Maatta could turn into a longer-term option in Hockeytown.
Ben Chiarot, four years, $4.75M AAV
Grade: C+
This is one of the first moves Yzerman has made as GM of the Red Wings where the fan base has mostly been skeptical. And that skepticism is more than understandable.
Chiarot is not the worst player in the league. Far from it, in all honesty. However, he is also far from the best player in the league.
NHL GMs see things differently, clearly. The Florida Panthers paid a premium for Chiarot at the trade deadline, moving a first-round pick, a prospect, and a fourth-round pick to acquire his services.
Now, Yzerman is committing nearly $5 million to Chiarot, which was the richest figure given to a defenseman on Wednesday. On the bright side, this deal won't stand as the richest figure given to a defenseman. John Klingberg will certainly beat this figure easily.
However, it is still a significant commitment to a player of his caliber. Chiarot is an NHL-quality defenseman who loves to battle along the boards and in front of the net, but he's not a guy that provides good value on a $5 million figure.
The Wings should get good play out of the 31-year-old, especially if he plays on the second or third pairing. But the dollar figure is definitely something to scratch your head about.
Dominik Kubalik, two years, $2.5M AAV
Grade: B+
The Red Wings signed a former Chicago Blackhawks cast-off last year in Pius Suter. The Swiss center posted career highs in goals, assists, and points in his first season in Detroit.
Yzerman will hope that the soon-to-be 27-year-old winger will produce a similar return on investment. The Blackhawks did not give Kubalik a qualifying offer on Monday, allowing him to be an unrestricted free agent.
Kubalik provides something the Red Wings desperately need: goal scoring. He potted 30 goals in his rookie season as a 24-year-old in 2019-20. He hasn't come close to that mark in the last two years, but he has still provided at least 15 goals in each of those campaigns.
It'll be interesting to see where Kubalik lines up for the Red Wings. Daily Faceoff currently has Kubalik slotted in as the third line left wing alongside Suter and Filip Zadina.
Things definitely could change, especially if Zadina is traded. However, irregardless of his place in the lineup, the soon-to-be 27-year-old provides depth goal scoring at a reasonable rate. And he is in his prime as a player. It's another move that's a great fit and fills a need for Detroit.
David Perron, two years, $4.75M
Grade: A-
Signing a 34-year-old player at the Red Wings' stage in their rebuild usually only serves to fill out the NHL roster until the team's prospects are ready. However, Perron wasn't signed to be a warm body on the roster.
The longtime St. Louis Blue has enjoyed a career renaissance. He has become a perennial 20-goal scorer in the last four seasons and has reached 25+ goals in two of those seasons.
Perron's 27 goals last season were one off his career mark set in 2013-14. The 34-year-old also added 16 points in 26 playoff games in 2018-19 to help the Blues win the Stanley Cup.
This move continues this weird cycle of the Red Wings and Blues swapping pieces every so often. It began when the Wings acquired Robby Fabbri from the Blues for Jacob de la Rose. It continued with the Ville Husso trade last week and Thomas Greiss signing in St. Louis on Wednesday.
Perron adds experience and goal-scoring to Detroit's top-six. And Perron will likely play on the first line at points during the season. Especially when the team travels to Canada, as Tyler Bertuzzi cannot play in Canada because of his vaccination status.
Perron's signing, like all of these signings, makes the Red Wings more formidable. And Detroit needs that, especially in a stacked Atlantic Division. Yzerman clearly sees the window opening for his team, and has set them up to take a big step in 2022.
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