Wings Re-Up Bertuzzi and Frk

The Red Wings announced contract extensions for Tyler Bertuzzi and Martin Frk on Monday.

Forwards earned roster spots with Detroit in 2017-18 after winning 2017 Calder Cup with Grand Rapids Griffins.

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— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 25, 2018

As per annoying club policy, financial terms were not officially announced but leaked almost immediately.  Bertuzzi’s deal is reportedly for two years at a $1.4 million cap hit while Frk’s is for one year at $1.05 million.

Both players will be restricted free agents upon the expiration of their deals.

Frk’s contract is interesting in that the Red Wings did not give him a qualifying offer over the weekend, meaning he was set to become an unrestricted free agent.  The qualifying offer would have been less than what he ended up signing for.  It’s possible that the Red Wings didn’t bother with a paper qualifying offer because they knew they had a deal hammered out already but that’s conjecture on my part.

Bertuzzi’s deal is a healthy raise from the $661,667 salary cap hit he carried last season, bringing him closer to in line with Luke Glendening.

With Bertuzzi re-signed and bound for the Red Wings’ roster next season, I predict that he’ll wear the #17 he wore in juniors now that David Booth is no longer using it.

In addition to not qualifying Frk (before re-signing him anyway), the Red Wings did not give qualifying offers to Dan Renouf or Zach Nastasiuk.  Matt Puempel did receive a qualifying offer.