The Detroit Red Wings did some lower-level roster shuffling today.
George Malik passes along the news that the team finally officially signed aging forward Kirk Maltby to a one year, two-way deal while Red Wings GM Ken Holland placed young defenseman Derek Meech on waivers. Maltby’s deal will be worth $525 K at the NHL level and $105K at the AHL level.
The 37-year-old Maltby played with Detroit during most of his 16 NHL seasons, as he joined the team when he was only 24 years old. The 2009-10 season saw a minor dip in his already meager production, as his typical 10-11 point totals dropped to six as he only appeared in 52 regular season games and averaged 10 minutes of ice time per game. Naturally, Maltby is there as a scrappy character guy, so his biggest impact rarely shows up on the scoresheet.
Derek Meech is much younger at 26, but the team found him expendable. It’s not quite as surprising when you look at his career numbers, though. He played in a career high 49 games last season, managing six points and a -12 rating while logging just under 12 minutes per game.
Ansar Khan points out the fact that the Red Wings will probably need to move a forward to the minors before the season starts, so it’s quite possible that training camp could (at least temporarily) make or break Maltby’s status with the team. Meech will need to clear waivers (and possibly hope for a preseason injury or two) to avoid a demotion to the AHL, so the Red Wings could have some interesting storylines going into training camp. We’ll keep you updated.