Red Wings Land Free Agent DeKeyser

The Detroit Red Wings are the winners of the Danny DeKeyser sweepstakes.

The team announced on Friday the signing of the Western Michigan defenseman to a standard two-year entry-level contract. The 23-year-old was considered the top NCAA player available in the 2013 free agent class and was sought after by many teams.

DeKeyser has a long history of connections with the Red Wings. He grew up a fan of the team in Macomb and played with Detroit assistant general manager Jim Nill’s son, Trevor. With the Broncos, he was coached by Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Jeff Blashill during his rookie year. He was also invited to the Red Wings’ summer development camp during his offseasons.

In three seasons at Western, DeKeyser accumulated 12 goals and 37 assists for 49 total points.

Financial terms of the deal were not announced but are expected to carry a rookie-max cap hit of $3,775,00. Most of that will be in bonuses that cannot be reached but are factored into the cap calculation nonetheless.