Confirmed with Link: Red Wings sign JT Compher 5 x 5.1 AAV

[DatsDeking]

I’ll say it again. Wings sign Compher. 5 years, 5.1 AAV.

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[WaW]

This screams Chris Illitch impatience.

He's probably fallen under a delusion that "you just gotta get in and you have a shot", inspired by people believing Florida was a true Cinderella team.

 

[norrisnick]

Sign safe or draft safe. Don't do both.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

I can't wait for the 11th pick in the 2024 draft. Detroit plug wings.

 

[Ezekial]

I just don't get why this is the move you make. A scoring winger makes sense for the short and long term of this team. A JT Compher is a player we have in spades and doesn't need to be promised 5.1 for the next 5 years.

Kubalik-Larkin-Raymond
Ras-Kasper/Copp
Berggren-Compher-Perron
Sprong-Fabbri-Kostin
Zadina/etc

 

[Frk It]

Don’t mind this, I like the player and fit, probably in the minority.

Could be wrong here though. I like the versatility and I think he is a better than Copp.

 

[David D]

i don't like these moves either but what would u guys have done this free agency?

 

[RRhoads]

Good signing. It was apparent last year that we have a hole in the middle. Really nice to get a right shot C.

 

[Henkka]

Oh, his estimations were more than Copp last year, like:

5.5-5.7M for 5-6-7 years.

Yzerman nailed this.

Right-handed center, not further than 32-year old. Just pefect.

Also a PK forward. Played most PK for the Avs. We needed critically add one PK guy for the current core.

Not a faceoff specialist, but gives a right handness to make some faceoff matchups.

Can go to wing as a vet when mentoring Kasper/Danielson. Really good term for the next becoming years.

 

[norrisnick]

Don’t mind this, I like the player and fit, probably in the minority.

Could be wrong here though. I like the versatility and I think he is a better than Copp.

What does he do better than Copp? It's not scoring. It's not faceoffs. It's not physicality.

 

[LitanyofCurses]

This is so horrible. It's about time people started questioning Yzerman properly. All this blind 'trust the Yzerplan' is ridiculous. The guy should be judged like any other GM. The draft was disgraceful. The Holl signing was pretty bad, as was Copp and Chiarot last year. But this! Give that deal to Ryan O'Reilly, and I'd probably take it on the chin, but Compher!!! The guy is so average. What THE HELL is this Michigan connection BS. If this was really a thing, why the hell didn't they draft a 2nd round DeBrincat and a million other Michigan players down through the years. I'm utterly depressed by this, and particularly the realisation that I don't respect Yzerman's judgment anymore, not one bit.

 

[Shaman464]

Don’t mind this, I like the player and fit, probably in the minority.

Could be wrong here though. I like the versatility and I think he is a better than Copp.

How is he better than Copp? Most of their stats and usage are insanely close.

 

[Martinez]

Solid third line player. Go blue

 

[norrisnick]

Solid third line player. Go blue

So's Copp. Most expensive 3rd line in the league if Perron or Fabbri end up down there?

 

[Reality Check]

Things like this make me glad the internet wasn't huge and that I never bothered with sports radio when I was growing up.

I can only imagine the hot takes back then.

 

[Detroit Knights]

I can't wait for the 11th pick in the 2024 draft. Detroit plug wings.

Then we win the lottery and draft eiserman. Boom nailed it

 

[WaW]

i don't like these moves either but what would u guys have done this free agency?

Nothing, or at least close to nothing. Like, I'd plug roster holes (i.e. Reimer as a backup, the Kostin trade + extension, Sprong deal) but I wouldn't use it to "build a playoff team" because that isnt really possible. It doesn't move the needle for teams like those in our position.

Idealists hate this but you need a core talent that you pretty much only find in the lottery picks in order to build a cup contender around. I'd rather stay bad until we get that lottery center.

Plan B is pray that Kasper or Danielson blossom into a prime Kopitar type talent from the 8-10 range where they were picked and/or enough of your top 10 picks turn into stars...which you can kinda sit back and do by accident while waiting for Plan A to work out anyways.

It feels like we're pushing for the 12-16th overall pick range, which is the absolute worst spot to be.

 

[NickH8]

I think the deal is rich but you have to pay to play. Compher has more offensive upside than Copp imo. At worst he regresses back to a 30 point guy and is overpaid. At best he's exactly what we need at 2c, allowing Copp to play a role he's more comfortable with, and paid just right. Probably somewhere in between.

We are not bad enough to tank even without the signings we made. It's clear the way forward is slowly start playing more and more competitive hockey to develop the core guys.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

What does he do better than Copp? It's not scoring. It's not faceoffs. It's not physicality.

That's my question too.

I'd be more ok with this movie if it were a 3-year deal. But 5??

Maybe Zadina is getting pushed out of the lineup?

I think the deal is rich but you have to pay to play. Compher has more offensive upside than Copp imo. At worst he regresses back to a 30 point guy and is overpaid. At best he's exactly what we need at 2c, allowing Copp to play a role he's more comfortable with, and paid just right. Probably somewhere in between.

We are not bad enough to tank even without the signings we made. It's clear the way forward is slowly start playing more and more competitive hockey to develop the core guys.

I do agree with the competitive hockey part. Everyone wants the Wing to sign top talent, including Yzerman. The thing is, when those guys are available as free agents they typically don't want to play on shit teams. So the catch-22 is getting good enough as a team to land great free agents.

 

[PajamaBoy]

2 awful signings. People who wanted to spend probably actually thought MOD we were gonna do something nuts and over the hill big names like Senko or Kane. Lol congrats we get a couple of mutts in compher and holl. Better hope that cap goes up or we are truly jobbed. Didnt mind copp but him and jt lol come on man. Trust stevie in the draft but these are weird signings.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

I wonder if Yzerman knows Fantili and Trouba are ex-wolverines

 

[Holden Caufield]

But seriously, we needed to invest in some offensive threats… Compher is a Copp clone.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Maybe Zadina is getting pushed out of the lineup?

You know what, I think there are legit problems with this contract.
Potentially pushing Zadina out of the lineup is NOT one of them.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

You know what, I think there are legit problems with this contract.
Potentially pushing Zadina out of the lineup is NOT one of them.

Oh to be clear I wasn't saying that was a problem.

I'm just trying to understand this move. Yzerman keeps mentioning how the team needs to get better at every position and if Compher shuffles things to push Zadina out of the lineup once and for all, the team does get better.

 

[DatsDeking]

This signing makes a lot more sense if we packed our Fwds with offensive talent. That’s not aimed at ABC specifically, but we need the goals and it isn’t coming from guys like this and I don’t think Kostin is that guy either.

If we don’t grab some big scorers by next offseason, I’ll start to panic.