The curious case of Joe Veleno and the Detroit Red Wings
Joe Veleno is once again a pending restricted free agent, a year after his one-year deal worth $825,000. That one-year ‘prove it’ bridge deal wasn’t agreed upon until late last summer, which raised a few eyebrows at the time, especially with general manager Steve Yzerman’s busy off-season.
Speaking about a busy off-season, I expect another one this summer for Yzerman and Co. The Detroit Red Wings have a ton of work to do, including extending pending restricted free agents Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond. I expect Raymond’s new deal to be around $8 million annually, and I feel as though there is a chance we will see Seider’s come in at around $9 million or more.
Then, Detroit must decide whether it can or is willing to come to terms with veterans Patrick Kane, David Perron, and Shayne Gostisbehere. The Red Wings also need to decide about the future of a cluster of role-forwards such as Daniel Sprong, Austin Czarnik, Christian Fischer, and Joe Veleno.
The Red Wings extended Michael Rasmussen during the year. In late February, the two sides agreed to a four-year contract extension that pays the versatile forward $3.2 million annually.
Veleno, 24, posted career-highs across the board this past season, his third full season with Detroit, notching 12 goals and 16 assists, totaling 28 games while averaging just a hair under 14 minutes of ice per night. The Red Wings drafted Veleno with the No. 30 pick in the first round of the 2018 NHL Entry Level Draft. In junior, Veleno was granted exceptional status, allowing him to begin his junior career a year earlier than usual at the age of 15 rather than 16.
Exceptional status isn’t common, but it does occur occasionally. When it was granted to Veleno, he joined Connor McDavid, John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, and Sean Day as 15-year-olds granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada. Since Veleno was granted exceptional status, Hockey Canada has granted Connor Bedard, Landon DuPont, Michael Misa, and Shane Wright the same honor.
