Red Wings forward Joakim Andersson signs with Swedish club
By Sam Blazer
8 years agoAt least the speculation was short and Swede.
All jokes aside, Red Wings forward Joakim Andersson is going back to his home country to play for Swedish Club Orebro on a two year deal. This was first reported by Orebro. Andersson had been relegated to a fourth line role when playing in the NHL, and the amount of time he played in the NHL continued to dwindle. Most of his time this year was spent in Grand Rapids as a depth player.
Our own Jeff Veillette had some nice-ish things to say about Andersson back in January when he was put on waivers.
“If nothing else, Andersson has been an effective enough bottom sixer for the team under limited minutes and less than advantageous opportunities over the past few years. If I had to guess, waivers aren’t the Red Wings’ method of giving up on him. It’s very likely that a player like him clears, and once he clears, he’s free to go up and down between the two teams until the Red Wings play ten games or 30 days pass (whichever comes first). This gives the team more salary cap flexibility as they approach the trade deadline; every day that Andersson is a Griffin, the team saves about $4000, which is the equivalent of over $10,000 come the deadline.”
More than likely Andersson saw the writing on the wall and knew what was coming for him. Younger players are going to be filling in over the next couple of years. He would be used solely as a fringe player and if you believe you are more than that, why not go back to your home country? He has a chance to come back to the NHL after his contract is up, though the likelihood of it happening is minimal. His time with Orebro should be interesting only to see how he transitions back to the European game. What exactly does Joakim have left in the tank?
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