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Wings Nation Free Agency Targets: The Top 5 UFA Centres

Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

By Nick Seguin

Jun 26, 2017, 21:47 EDT

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The last week has been a whirlwind of hockey news with the expansion draft, NHL awards, and NHL Entry Draft all happening within four days of one another. At the expansion draft, the Red Wings lost NHL-ready forward Tomas Nosek, who enjoyed a great year in Grand Rapids and was a big part of the Griffins’ Calder Cup win. It was widely believed that he had a roster spot secured in Detroit. At the draft, the Wings added eleven new players to their prospect pool.

Since none of these players are NHL-ready, there is a small hole to fill on the Red Wings roster. While there are one or two players who could fill in from Grand Rapids, Holland suggested that signing someone from free agency wasn’t out of the question. The purpose for this would be to sign someone to a one-year deal and flip them at the trade deadline for picks if the Red Wings are once again not playoff-bound. It’s a sound strategy and worked this season when Thomas Vanek and Steve Ott netted a third round and a seventh round pick.

The free agent pool isn’t very deep this year, but there are some intriguing candidates who could be signed for this purpose. Here are the top-5 unrestricted free agent centres the Red Wings could target:

5. David Desharnais

This was a weird one because I didn’t even realize David Desharnais was traded to Edmonton. He’s fallen a long way from his 60-point season in 2011-12, putting up only six goals and 14 points in 49 games with the Canadiens and Oilers last season. At this point, Desharnais isn’t anything more than a third line centre who can maybe get some time on the powerplay. To his credit, he is good in the dot, too. His career FO% may only be 50.5%, but he had an outstanding year in the dot in 2016-17, registering a 54.34 FOW%.

Desharnais is due for a bounceback year. He could very well be the Thomas Vanek of 2017-18 if he’s willing to sign a one-year deal on the cheap. For that to work, though, he needs to regain his scoring touch, which seems to have escaped him the last couple of years. With some sheltered deployment and ice time with a good passer like Zetterberg or Nyquist, Desharnais could be a steal of a pick up in free agency who nets the team a good haul at the trade deadline. That would mean, of course, that he’d be stealing top-6 minutes from players like Mantha, Athanasiou, and Larkin. It’s not the best strategy for the Wings, but, at this point, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them employ it.

4. Brian Boyle

The thought of Brian Boyle in a Red Wings jersey makes me feel more angry than it should. As a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boyle tortured the Red Wings in their last two playoff appearances. At the very least, it gave us this badass picture.

ftw.usatoday.com

TAMPA, FL – APRIL 15: Members of the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning fight during the third period in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on April 15, 2016 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 629093049 ORIG FILE ID: 521454432

Boyle has spent time on four different NHL rosters so far. He uses his size to intimidate opponents and dominate the gritty areas on the ice, such as the corners and the net front. He’s not a huge point producer, netting a career-high 21 goals and 35 points back in 2010-11 as a member of the New York Rangers. These days, he’s good for 13-15 goals and 20 points. He’s not a fast player or a great skater, but like I said, he can crash the net and pick up dirty rebounds.

With a 50.4% career faceoff percentage, Boyle is at best a bottom-6 centre. With Dylan Larkin’s underwhelming performance as a centre last year and Detroit’s desire to get bigger and add size to their roster, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them take a chance on the 32-year-old with a 1-2 year front-loaded contract worth $4 million ($2 AAV). Whether Boyle is interested in a short-term deal that will pay him essentially what he was making in Tampa is up to him. I would think that he’d rather go to a contender at this point in his career and it’s a path I hope he takes. The Red Wings don’t need a player like him on their roster.

3. Nick Bonino

Speaking of contending teams, Nick Bonino’s contract is up with the Pittsburgh Penguins. After playing a key role in the back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships, Bonino’s time with the Penguins is likely at an end with him due for a raise and the Penguins low on cap space.

Bonino had an excellent year in 2016-17, putting up 18 goals and 37 points in 80 games. In fact, Bonino has only put up less than 30 points once in the last four years (he had 29 points in 2015-16). This is great production for a third line centre. In addition to his production, Bonino is a strong defensive player who kills penalties and blocks shots. He’d be a great two-way centre on the Wings lineup, but will be asking for quite the raise after his Stanley Cup performances over the last two years. Bonino is a guy who shows up when it counts and that is worth a lot to teams, especially those who are in the hunt for a Stanley Cup. He’s coming off of a 3-year, $5.7 million contract that had a $1.9 million cap hit. Outstanding value for the performance the Penguins got for him. There will be teams who can offer him far more than the cap-strapped Red Wings and he’ll go there instead.

2. Martin Hanzal

After spending the first nine years of his career with the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes, Hanzal was flipped at last year’s deadline to the Minnesota Wild to help them in a playoff push that ultimately fell short.

Hanzal’s always been good for 10-15 goals. Last year, he hit a career high when he scored 20 goals across 71 games for the Coyotes and Wild. On average, Hanzal is good for 25-30 points, but he is showing no signs of slowing down as he put up 41 points in 2015-16 and another 39 last season. One area of his game that Hanzal is really good for is his faceoffs. He had the eighth best faceoff percentage in the league (56.4%) out of players who took more than 1,000 faceoffs. For context, Detroit only had two players who took more than 1,000 faceoffs and Nielsen had the best FO% at 53.8%. Glendening had the best FO% on the team with 568 faceoffs and a 54% FO%.

All that to say Detroit could use a little help in the faceoff dot. The team FO% was 51.9%, but their defensive zone FO% was only 49.6%. Hanzal took over 50% of his faceoffs in the defensive zone and had a DZFO% of 51.2%.

As far as a contract goes, Detroit is tight on cap space so they won’t be able to offer Hanzal much in salary or in term. At only 30-years-old, Hanzal is likely looking for a mid- to long-term contract that will be a slight raise to his $3.5M salary from last year. These two are likely not a good fit from a financial perspective.

1. Joe Thornton

Perhaps the biggest name in free agency this year is that of 37-year-old Joe Thornton. The big bearded man spent the last 12 years of his illustrious 20 year career with the San Jose Sharks where he captained them and then didn’t captain them and then made a solid run at the Stanley Cup in 2015-16.

Thornton is one of the greatest passers in the game with over a thousand assists recorded over his 1,446 NHL games. He’s experienced both in winning (Olympics and World Cup of Hockey) and losing. He’s a natural leader on and off the ice, sticking up for his teammates and hitting opponents where it hurts – on the scoreboard. He’d be a great addition to the Red Wings, but, at this point in his career, he’s after a Stanley Cup. Sure, Detroit could flip him at the deadline to a contender, but Thornton would have to be willing to take a huge pay cut to play in Detroit unless the team can clear a bunch of cap space before the season starts in October. I have a feeling that he’ll be paid a lot of money for a short term.

It would be great to see his wild beard streaking down the ice in the Winged Wheel, but Detroit isn’t a big destination for free agents like this anymore. Gone are the days when veterans turn to the Wings in their twilight years. It will take much more elite talent and much more money to land them – two things the Red Wings are quite short on these days.