Red Wings Came Up Short in Big Run at One Notable Free Agent

Steve Yzerman was turned down by a big name UFA despite a larger contract offer

The Detroit Red Wings were called out by their star center Dylan Larkin for not doing anything to improve the team back at the trade deadline. Other than acquiring John Gibson back in June, the summer has been much the same story, though we're learning that it's not for lack of trying.

According to James Mirtle in The Athletic, Wings GM Steve Yzerman had more money on the table for one of the Florida Panthers' Big Three pending free agents than he wound up signing for.

I know Detroit was pushing for some of the top potential UFAs this summer... Aaron Ekblad, in particular, could have signed for a much thicker average annual value in Michigan than the $6.1 million he took with Florida.

Ekblad made it clear in the season's final days that he really wanted to stay with the two-time Stanley Cup champions, but many around the sport wondered how Panthers GM Bill Zito would be able to fit all of Ekblad, Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett under the cap with new costly free agent deals. Clearly, Ekblad taking less than market value was one of the ways Zito managed to make it happen.

The Red Wings have just under $12 million in cap space still remaining, but there aren't any big-ticket UFAs left to spend it on. They have, however, recently been linked to a hometown kid who could be one of the biggest UFAs on the market next summer, if he makes it that far.

As for RFAs this summer? There are a couple of prominent ones still out there, if Yzerman is interested in trying to pull off either a sign-and-trade, or even an offer sheet. And, in fact, they have been linked to Anaheim Ducks' RFA Mason McTavish, due to the inextricable connections between Yzerman and Ducks GM Pat Verbeek.

One way or another, the Wings do need to do something to boost the charges in the Motor City.

Talking about Detroit's stagnant trade deadline, Larkin said in his post-season session with the media, “It was hard that we didn’t do anything. And then I felt the group kind of — we didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline and guys were kind of down about it. It’d be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice, and maybe a morale boost as well.”

Based on this latest report on Ekblad, Stevie Y was close, but no cigar.