Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: With Nicklas Lidstrom returning next season at a friendly $6.2 million, the Detroit Red Wings can now turn their attention to the other free agents. They have just under $9 million (that’s saying the cap will increase $2 million), and are expected to re-sign both UFAs Tomas Holmstrom and Todd Bertuzzi, and RFAs Darren Hel, Justin Abdelkader, Drew Miller and Patrick Eaves. That won’t leave much for any other free agents. They could re-sign Andreas Lilja or a 3rd pairing free agent defenseman. GM Ken Holland also proposed at the GM meetings to extented overtime past the current 5 minutes in an attempt to lower the amount of shootouts.
Chris McCosky of the Detroit News: Lidstrom’s signing at $6.2 million may mean that UFA Kirk Maltby and RFA Derek Meech might be re-signed. One must not forget that they’ve already added Jiri Hudler to their roster for next season. The Wings won’t be bringing Brett Lebda and Jason Williams back.
Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune: Red Wings GM Holland told the media in Detroit that Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman has asked permission to speak with the Wings director of hockey administration, Ryan Martin, about an assistant GM position. Martin was responsible for managing the Wings salary cap.