The first of the three young RFAs was signed Thursday afternoon. Andreas Athanasiou will be under contract for two more years in Detroit.

Amid trade controversy, the Red Wings re-signed forward Athanasiou to a two-year, $6 million dollar deal.

He spent most of his time around the middle of the forward lines last year; his most common linemates were Dylan Larkin and Tomas Tatar. But no matter where he played, he was able to put up points with the limited ice-time he got.

Seeing that he only scored 16 goals and 33 points in 71 games last year doesn’t tell the whole story. Among all Red Wings skaters, Athanasiou was 5th in Points/60 – take out late-season call-up Evgeny Svechnikov, and he was 4th.

Athanasiou is the first of other young forward Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha, to receive a contract for this upcoming season. Most likely, the Red Wings are looking for a longer-term contract for the other forwards.

At $3-million AAV, it is slightly richer than expected by most analysts. Matt Cane and his contract projections had Athanasiou at $1,881,831 if he was to sign a two-year deal. Nevertheless, Athanasiou will most likely have an improved year sharing the ice with newly-signed Thomas Vanek and hopefully Blashill will allow him to see some more ice.