Detroit Red Wings' Complete Guide to Free Agency

In 2015-16, the Detroit Red Wings will start their season without the long-familiar face of coach Mike Babcock behind their bench.

As Jeff Blashill steps up from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins to run the show, expect the new faces in the Detroit lineup to also emerge, primarily from Detroit's prospect pool.

The Red Wings have been big movers in the past during unrestricted free agency. Remember the furor they caused when they pried Daniel Alfredsson out of Ottawa back in 2013?

This season in Motown, it's all about building from within.

Here's how the Red Wings roster currently shapes up, with free-agent moves that could be on the agenda when the signing period opens on July 1.

Depth Chart

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The Red Wings like to commit to their core players with long-term deals. Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson are all signed to long-term deals.

Here's a look at the most significant contract situations for the Red Wings going into the 2015-16 season.

11 Forwards: $32.8 million

• Justin Abdelkader (28) and Darren Helm (28) each have one year left on their contracts before becoming unrestricted free agents.
• In addition to 10 signed forwards, the Red Wings will need to strike deals with young restricted free agents Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Jurco, Teemu Pulkkinen and Landon Ferraro.

Seven Defensemen: $19.2 million

• Kyle Quincy (29) is entering the last year of a deal with a $4.25 million cap hit before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
• Brendan Smith (26) is a restricted free agent who needs to be signed to a new contract.

Two Goaltenders: $6 million

• Though Jimmy Howard carries a cap hit of $5.3 million and Petr Mrazek's cap hit is $737,500, Mrazek carried the load during the 2015 playoffs.

Salary-Cap Status

Dave Sandford/Getty Images

General Fanager reports the Red Wings currently have just over $58 million committed against the salary cap in 2015-16 for 20 players.

That means Detroit general manager Ken Holland has as much as $13 million available for new contracts. He locked up restricted free agent Joakim Andersson just before the draft at a very reasonable $815,000, but he has five more important RFAs who need to be inked to new deals.

Holland may be inclined to leave himself some cap flexibility for the upcoming season. The summer of 2016 could bring a potential crunch when promising restricted free agents Riley Sheahan and Danny DeKeyser need new contracts and Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm will have a chance to test the open market.

Who's a Free Agent?

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Unrestricted Free Agents

Erik Cole (36) - Left Wing

• 3-3-6 in 11 regular-season games with the Red Wings after being acquired at the trade deadline.
• Did not play in the playoffs

Daniel Cleary (36) - Right Wing

• 1-1-2 in 17 regular-season games
• Did not play in playoffs

Marek Zidlicky (38) - Defense

• 3-8-11 in 21 regular-season games with the Red Wings after being acquired at the trade deadline.
• 0-0-0 in six playoff games

Jonas Gustavsson (30) - Goal

• 3-3-1 in seven regular-season games, with a 2.56 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.
• did not play in playoffs

Restricted Free Agents

Gustav Nyquist (25) - Right Wing

• 27-27-54 in 82 regular-season games
• 1-1-2 in seven playoff games

Tomas Jurco (23) - Right Wing

• 3-15-18 in 63 regular-season games
• 1-1-2 in seven playoff games

Teemu Pulkkinen (23) - Left Wing

• 5-3-8 in 31 regular-season games
• did not play in playoffs

Landon Ferraro (23) - Center

• 1-0-1 in three regular-season games
• 0-0-0 in seven playoff games

Brendan Smith (26) - Defense

• 4-9-13 in 76 regular-season games
• 0-0-0 in five playoff games

Biggest Needs

Scott Audette/Getty Images

Right-Shooting Defenseman

For several years, Detroit has coveted a right-handed shooting defenseman to generate offense from the back end. 

At the 2015 trade deadline, Holland picked up rental player Marek Zidlicky in exchange for a third-round draft pick. Zidlicky cranked out 11 points in 21 games for the Red Wings before going ice cold in the playoffs and eventually getting knocked out of the lineup with a concussion.

Before picking up Zidlicky, the Wings were, according to MLive.com's Ansar Khan, said to be interested in acquiring a much higher-profile player to fill their need—Dion Phaneuf of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Phaneuf could still be on the move, if Ken Holland decides to get back into the market.

Other Teams' Free Agents to Target

Jared Silber/Getty Images

Though Holland has been a player in the free-agent market in years past, it sounds like he's going to sit this one out. The Red Wings have a strong prospect pool at all positions and want to give more NHL ice time to those young players.

Here's what Holland told Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press:

"

That's the direction we're going. They're good young players. They need an opportunity. When you look at the unrestricted free agent market, I can't tell you that there's not some players there that won't be better for us in the short term, but eventually, how do we get these younger players to the point where they are legitimate NHL pros. They've got to play at the NHL level.

"

Holland's enthusiasm for the free-agent market may have been dampened two years ago, when a juicy five-year contract for center Stephen Weiss didn't pay off as hoped.

If Holland is willing to leap into the deep end, Washington's Mike Green could fit in nicely as that offensive right-shooting defenseman. Cody Franson and Zbynek Michalek are also reasonably reliable shooters.

Raphael Diaz is an offensive specialist who made just $700,000 last year and could be acquired as inexpensive insurance on the blue line.

Predictions

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

With former Grand Rapids Griffins coach Jeff Blashill behind the Red Wings bench now that Mike Babcock has moved on, expect the Wings to put their young players into bigger roles this season.

2014 first-rounder Dylan Larkin should get a good look up front after capping off an outstanding season by showing that he could play with men at the World Championships and in the AHL playoffs. 

On the back end, the door has been opened for Xavier Ouellet, Alexey Marchenko and Ryan Sproul, and according to Holland, "One of the young defensemen is going to be on the team," per St. James.

Expect to see the Red Wings lay low during the free-agency period and give the youngsters a chance to shine at the beginning of the year.

As St. James points out, "If that doesn't yield results, there's always the possibility of an in-season trade."

The Detroit Red Wings' Free-Agency Period Will Be...Quiet

Dave Reginek/Getty Images

These days, unrestricted free agents are far from free. When multiple teams compete for the same players, the result is high contracts and longer commitments than even the winning team would ideally like to make.

In the case of the Red Wings, signing a free agent also takes a roster spot from a young player who is already in the organization. As prospects get closer to losing their waiver exemptions, these players need to get a chance to show their stuff and prove whether they belong at the NHL level.

Unless ex-Red Wings Brendan Shanahan and Mike Babcock can persuade Ken Holland to pull the trigger on a Dion Phaneuf trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, don't expect to see much movement from Detroit during the free-agency period.

Stats courtesy of NHL.com. Contract information from General Fanager is sourced from CapGeek, a now-defunct website.