The Detroit Red Wings have secured the services of one of their most dynamic scorers.
The Wings announced Friday that Gustav Nyquist has agreed to a four-year, $19 million contract, an annual salary cap hit of $4.75 million. The actual annual salary breaks down to: $4 million, $4.25 million, $5.25 million and $5.5 million.
Nyquist, a former University of Maine star, had been a restricted free agent who had filed for arbitration; a hearing had been set for July 27. Four years means Nyquist foregoes his first two years of unrestricted free agency.
General manager Ken Holland (who was busy Friday hosting one of his daughters’ wedding at his home in Kelowna, British Columbia), said in a statement, “We’re very happy to have Gustav locked up for four more years. He’s quickly become an important part of our team, and is a critical piece to the Red Wings future. He is just now entering the prime of his career.”
Nyquist, 25, is coming off two consecutive near-30 goal seasons.
Since joining the Wings full time in 2013-14, Nyquist has emerged as a top-six winger with superb puck skills. One of his highlight goals from last season came in a Dec. 27 game at Ottawa, when he dangled the puck throughout Ottawa’s zone before delivering an overtime goal.
He has been less visible in the playoffs, where he has just two points in 12 games over the past two springs. Holland pointed to similar sparse output for Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg when they were in their mid-20s, noting it takes even skilled players a while to figure out how to be a force in the playoffs.
There are now just two remaining RFAs to be signed, in forwards Tomas Jurco and Teemu Pulkkinen. Nyquist’s contract puts the Wings at $71.9 million, about $500,000 over the cap, but teams can be 10 percent over until the day before the season begins. At that point, the Wings expect to have more clarity on whether Datsyuk (ankle surgery) or Johan Franzen (multiple head injuries) will start the season on Long-Term Injured Reserve; either one would provide enough cap relief. It’s also possible there will have been a trade made by then.
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