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Assuming everyone’s healthy, Wings will ‘probably’ have to shed salary

NHL General Managers Media Opp

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 23: General manager Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings speaks with the media following the NHL general managers meetings at the Bellagio Las Vegas on June 23, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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The Detroit Red Wings may have to shed some salary to become cap compliant for the 2017-18 season.

“If everybody is healthy when we get to opening day, we’ll probably have to make a move,” GM Ken Holland said, per MLive. “I’m anticipating we’ll be over by a little bit.”

The Wings still have to sign RFA forward Andreas Athanasiou.

From MLive:

The Red Wings’ cap figure stands at about $77.5 million, including $2.56 million of dead space from Stephen Weiss, who was bought out in 2015, and (Johan) Franzen. They could get as much as $3.95 million in cap relief from Franzen, which would take them down to roughly $73.6 million. That doesn’t leave a lot to sign Athanasiou, a restricted free agent, and provide a small cushion to recall a player from the Grand Rapids Griffins as a replacement for someone on short-term IR.

Obviously, it’s not an enviable position that the club finds itself in. The Wings just missed the playoffs for the first time since 1990, and they have a number of aging veterans signed to significant contracts.

But Holland has been loath to tear things down in Detroit.

In fact, the longtime GM went out this summer and signed veteran defenseman Trevor Daley for three years and $9.5 million.

Daley will turn 34 in October.