Quincey Gets Raise, Wings Evade Arbitration

Detroit did what they had to today to keep their blueline from crumbling any further.

Reports are coming in that Kyle Quincey and the Detroit Red Wings have agreed on a 2-year contract, paying Quincey $3.55 Million this coming season, and $4 Million in the next.  This currently makes Quincey the 2nd highest-paid defenceman on the Detroit roster, and unless something drastic happens between now and the start of the season, it will likely stay that way at the beginning of the 2012-2013 campaign.


As of now, only Niklas Kronwall ($4.75M) is paid more to patrol the blueline than Quincey, and Jonathan Ericsson ($3.25M) is right behind him.  The remainder of the Red Wings' defence core consists of Ian White ($2.875M), Jakub Kindl ($0.883M) and Brendan Smith ($0.875M).


Detroit still needs to find some way to plug the enormous hole left by the departure of Nicklas Lidstrom to retirement and the defection of Brad Stuart to San Jose.  Quincey was by no means Top 4 defense caliber during his short tour at the tail end of last season, but perhaps being put through training camp and having time to properly work with his teammates will help him turn his game around.  Detroit has too many woes back at the blueline to foster 4 3rd-pairing D-men if some big help isn't acquired (and assuming a young/average player is brought in to fill out the roster).


The summer is drawing on, and as the halfway point of July has come and gone, Detroit's options are thin.  It seems as though the question has shifted from "What will they do?" to "What can they do...?"