Smart FA Signings Put Red Wings in Excellent Position to Extend Playoff Streak

Maybe life won't be so bad in Detroit without coach Mike Babcock.

The Red Wings took two steps toward a 25th consecutive playoff appearance on the first day of free agency. According to Bill Roose of DetroitRedWings.com, they signed defenseman Mike Green to a three-year, $18 million deal and center Brad Richards to an incentive-laden one-year, $3 million contract that could be worth as much as $4 million.

After a 100-point season and seven-game, first-round loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the playoffs, the Red Wings appear to have fortified two glaring weaknesses that have existed for years.

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland has been looking for a top-four or top-pairing right-handed defenseman since at least 2012. Last summer, Holland didn't like the asking price of free agent Matt Niskanen, who signed a seven-year contract with a $5.75 million cap hit with the Washington Capitals, which forced Green into the free-agent market this summer.

Green is no longer the player who scored 31 goals in 2008-09 and had 76 points in 75 games the following season. He remains an offensive threat, though, even with just 38 points two years ago and 10 goals and 45 points last season. In 2014-15, Green was utilized as a bottom-pairing defenseman (he was fifth in ice time among Caps blueliners, both overall and at even strength) and watched as John Carlson assumed the role of first-unit power-play quarterback.

So, really, it's good news and bad news for the Red Wings. The good news is Green averaged 1.29 points/60, but he did so as a No. 5 defenseman.

Does that mean Green isn't actually the top-pairing defenseman the Red Wings need?

Not at all.

Season	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	TOI	FF%	FFrel%
'11-12	32	3	4	7	21:02	52.3	+3.2
'12-13	35	12	14	26	24:51	48.5	-2.4
'13-14	70	9	29	38	22:43	51.0	+4.8
'14-15	72	10	35	45	19:06	52.7	+1.7

Green certainly excelled in sheltered minutes in 2014-15, but his possession numbers since 2011-12, going back to a time when he was utilized as a No. 1 defenseman, have usually been solid.

As long as Green stays healthy—he missed 96 games from 2010-13 but played at least 70 games each of the past two seasons—this will be a sound investment for the Red Wings.

Richards should provide a positive impact, as well, just not to the extent of what Green will provide.

Scott Iskowitz/Getty Images

Depth at center has been an issue in Detroit in one form or another. Either Babcock would play Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on the same line, leaving little in the way of production behind them, or one of the two or both would be hurt. Richards isn't a 60-point player anymore, but he's a great second option for rookie coach Jeff Blashill if Datsyuk and Zetterberg are together, or he could be solid bottom-six depth if the stars are separated.

Richards is 35 years old and coming off his least-productive season in the NHL. He had 37 points in 76 games, but, as he tends to do, he elevated his game in the postseason with three goals and 14 points in 23 games as the Chicago Blackhawks won a Stanley Cup. If Holland feels his team is playoff-bound in 2016 and wants a player who can give his team a push over the first-round hump, Richards can be that player.

As poorly as he produced despite having Patrick Kane on his wing at times last season, Richards was still solid possession-wise. He had a 52.6 percent Fenwick, according to war-on-ice.com, which was slightly above the team average. 

Richards is a below-average skater at this junction of his career, but he's good enough to make a quiet impact on the ice and in the locker room.

It's not as though the Red Wings don't have issues—they have a rookie coach and some weirdness in net with Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard that needs to be sorted out, and Datsyuk may not be able to start the season after having ankle surgery. 

But with Green and Richards in the fold, the Red Wings look primed to be a playoff team again.

Statistics via NHL.com. Contract information via Spotrac.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @DaveLozo.