Red Wings Not Signing Jordan Sambrook

During Wednesday afternoon, news from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press announced that Detroit will not being offering 2016 fifth round pick Jordan Sambrook an NHL contract.

More often than not, the decision of not re-signing a former fifth round pick wouldn’t be news worthy. However, Sambrook made a bit of a name for himself in the past two seasons. In his D + 1 season he recorded 40 points in 61 games, and helped lead the Erie Otters to the Memorial cup. In his D + 2 season (this past season) we got more of the same, scoring 39 points in 67 games. He split half the season with the Otters and the power house Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. However, there wasn’t much growth in his game that indicated he could become more than his projected top-6 role.

Reasons for letting him go? Well, while it shouldn’t be an issue, the concern of walking around the fifty contract limit could be one reason. Over the course of the next three years Detroit should be collecting a ton of draft picks (already have eleven in this years draft). Currently they are in the 35-40 contract range.

The log-jam on defense could be the main culprit here. If he were to go to Grand Rapids his opportunity would be limited. That wouldn’t be optimal for a defensemen like him. Looking more and more like a low-caliber NHL player, it wouldn’t make sense to add even further into the log-jam

What is the right decision to move on from Sambrook? Let us know what you think in the comment section below!