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| Kyle Quincey was originally drafted by the Wings and is now back in Motown. (Getty Images) |
The Detroit Red Wings and Kyle Quincey were scheduled to go to arbitration as the team and restricted free agent couldn't reach an agreement on an extension. That was until Wednesday.
Quincey avoided seeing the Wings in front of a mediator by agreeing to a new two-year contract worth $7.55 million, as reported by Helene St. James of the Detroit Free-Press.
Re-signing Quincey was never really an issue, it was certainly expected given his restricted free-agent status. That doesn't mean it wasn't vital for the Wings to get it done. After seeing Nicklas Lidstrom retire, Brad Stuart heading to San Jose and Ryan Suter passing on the Red Wings' offer in favor of the Minnesota Wild, it was pretty imperative to make sure Quincey was back in the rotation.
Acquired from the Colorado Avalanche by way of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Quincey appeared in 18 games on the Detroit blue line last season. Perhaps it was adjusting to a new team but Quincey had just one goal and two assists in that span, not producing as much offensively as he did in Colorado -- or in Los Angeles before that.
He was making $3.25 million last season so it is an increase in salary for Quincey, if not a massive one. As mentioned, they needed to get Quincey back under contract because with him on the books once again that brings the Wings to six defenseman signed at the NHL level, one of them being the still relatively unproven Brendan Smith.
With Lidstrom gone it will be interesting to see how much the Wings will turn to Quincey. He is one that carries the label of puck-moving defenseman so the power-play hole left by Lidstrom might be Quincey's spot to fill.
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