We resigned Abdelkader at 4 years, $1.7M a year and he's bunk.
But he had 3 full seasons and 4 playoffs of bunkery under his belt. They basically gave him the Miller contract with a little bit extra for his physical game and upside.
Abby had to wait until his 3rd contract to get that payday because he had no leverage and hadn't fully proven himself at the NHL level. His first RFA deal was 2 years and just under $800k a year. That's what I expect for Andersson and maybe Nyquist's offense gets him an extra $100k or so.
Smith played #3 role on our team last year. He got some awfully tough matchups too. As for his offensive feel he makes some pretty heady plays and is basically the only guy we have on the blueline that can actually read Datsyuk which says something.
I will be curious to see what he does with this summer, but I remain pretty high on him. Think people get a little too caught up in some of his clunker performances, he was pretty good for a rookie D-man basically being told to play D first and stuck on the PK. For his long-term development I think it was huge as was checking some of the bigger forwards that he did in the post-season run.
But really the most significant factor on him would be the organization and Babcock have not left his camp. That is important to the kind of contract you can expect.
We'll see. Next year is a big year for him, but unfortunately (or fortunately) they have to pay him first. I would be very leery of going long-term or big-dollar on the guy until he puts together a solid 2 way season of defense. He had way too many nights this year where he looked like he had absolutely no idea how to play ice hockey, be it offense, defense, or anything else.
Give some, take some. Nyquist and Smith aren't Emmerton and Ericsson coming up the system, taking the stability unknown if they will ever become regulars. This is closer to Filppula and Kronwall coming up the system. They already are regulars and will be playing top9 and top4 roles respectively next season.
Nyquist isn't likely to sign for three years at one million, there's nothing in it for him. If he puts up 45 points next season he's gonna be worth thrice that and he knows it. Same with Smith. He was playing 20 minutes per game in the playoffs and he's likely gonna be playing something similar to start next season. 20 minute defensemen soon earn their paycheck, especially if they put up some points. The shorter deal now, the earlier you pay the significant bucks. It's one thing if you don't like the player at all ofc, but be sure Detroit management are high on Smith.
800k fits with what I said for Andersson.
If the only contract the Wings offer Nyquist is 3 years at $1 mil, I would wager he would sign it. He'd have to, unless he wants to go back to Europe. He's not going to get an offer sheet worth signing (basically nobody does) and his qualifying offer is going to be in the $925k region.
I can see him countering with 2 years at around $1 mil if he doesn't want to do 3 years, but really the dude has no leverage whatsoever and it's not like he has put in 2-3 years of NHL time like some of these other guys have. He's on his first RFA contract and the Wings don't give out big deals to those players.
First RFA deals in recent Wing history:
Abby: 2x$787k
Kindl: 3x$883k
Emmerton: 3x$533k
Helm: 2x$913k
Ericsson: 3x$900k
Look at Ericsson for a good Nyquist comparable. He only had half an NHL season in but he did have a great playoff run in 2009, and he didn't get a sniff at big bucks. They didn't need to overextend themselves and they didn't. Abby and Helm seem to have moved the bar a bit from 3 years to 2 on a "show me" deal for those guys that aren't desperate for stability and want to roll the dice a little, but they didn't get more $/year in those first RFA deals.
I expect the same for Nyquist, Andersson, and Smith. The numbers will tick up a little (5-10% maybe) from inflation, but it would be way out of character for the Wings to give Nyquist close to $2 mil unless they're getting 4 years or more for it. It's Kindl's 2nd deal and frankly he was a lot better than Smith this year, so he'll get a decent raise.
Andersson: 3x$800k
Nyquist: 2x$975k
Smith: 3x$1.1m
Kindl: 3x$2.25m