Red Wings Extend Svechnikov

The Red Wings announced the signing of pending restricted free agent forward Evgeny Svechnikov to a one-year deal on Sunday.

The #RedWings today signed right wing Evgeny Svechnikov to a one-year contract extension.

More » https://t.co/SE8dkbyyuV pic.twitter.com/vAzCgUoZPH

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 9, 2020

Svechnikov is the first of Detroit’s ten pending restricted free agent forwards to come to terms on a new deal.

Financial terms of the contract were not announced (of course) but it would be hard to see him making much different than the $863,333 he earned last season.

The 2020-21 campaign will be make or break for Svechnikov.  He spent almost all of last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins after missing 2018-19 due to injury.  He will also need to clear waivers to re-join the Griffins so he should be penciled in for a slot on the opening night roster.

Had the Red Wings not thought that was possible, they could have let him sign in Russia (as had been rumored earlier this summer) while retaining his NHL rights as an RFA.  The fact that this deal happened at all seems to show that the Red Wings think he’s ready to make the jump to the NHL.