From the Athletic
https://theathletic.com/2128233/2020/10/09/red-wings-sign-bobby-ryan-and-jon-merrill-how-they-help-and-what-could-be-next/
Ryan:
Importantly, Ryan also made it known that one factor of his decision to join the rebuilding Red Wings was the knowledge the team wasn’t content with where it sits in the NHL landscape.
“Dylan was probably one of the biggest conversations I had,” Ryan said, “where he mentioned, ‘Listen, you can come in and we can be a much more competitive team than we were last year. You’ll help, we’re a year older, we’ve dealt through a little more, there’s going to be some other players coming in.’ They have a good feeling that they’re going to be a much more competitive team. That’s all I needed to hear.
“I did ask, I said, ‘Listen, are you guys bogged down by the losing? Like, has it gotten to you in the sense that you’re just accepting it?’ Because that would have been a big red flag for me. And one thing that was told to me was ‘the coach would have been fired if we thought that we all accepted that.’ So you understand that this is not a group of guys that wants to lose, that is OK with it, and they’re not going to lose for long. And I hope I can help facilitate them into that next stage.”
Yzerman:
The Red Wings also likely aren’t done. One of the many benefits to these signings is that they preserved a significant amount of the Red Wings’ cap space, leaving all kinds of flexibility for other moves.
The team still needs to find another goaltender in free agency, with Thomas Greiss, Corey Crawford, Craig Anderson and Aaron Dell among the most prominent remaining names. Adding another forward and defenseman seem plausible as well, based on Yzerman’s comments before the opening of free agency.
And, of course, there’s the potential to take on a contract via trade, in order to pick up another draft pick or prospect from a team hurting for cap space.
However, it doesn’t sound like that was a major part of free agency’s opening day for Yzerman.
“Mostly today I spent talking to agents and players you’re trying to sign,” he said, “so I would probably say a lot of that is on hold for the time being. Teams are trying to get free agents signed and then circle back, probably, if need be after the fact.”
Detroit still has three restricted free agents to sign in Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmytro Timashov, but after opening free agency with a pair of shrewd signings, the Red Wings still have room to do just about anything they want.
That's what I'm most happy with after the first day. After signing our RFA's we should have about 15 million left.
