It seems veteran forward Daniel Cleary is going to get one more opportunity to make the Detroit Red Wings roster.
According to Ansar Khan of Mlive.com, the 37-year-old forward will be attending Red Wings camp this season on a professional tryout contract.
Cleary did not play in the NHL during the 2015-16 season after failing to make the Red Wings’ roster. He did play in 35 games in the AHL for Grand Rapids where he scored three goals and added 12 assists during the regular season. He appeared in nine playoff games for the team and recorded no points.
Daniel Cleary coming to #RedWings camp on a pro tryout.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) September 16, 2016
Prior to last season Cleary spent 10 years with the Red Wings, scoring 124 goals in 609 games since the start of the 2005-06 season. He originally joined the Red Wings prior to the 2005 season on a tryout deal and went on to become a valuable role player on a team that appeared in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals in 2008 and 2009.
He topped the 20-goal mark three different times, but hasn’t scored more than 10 goals in a season since 2011-12.
With a number of Red Wings forwards (Henrik Zetterberg, Thomas Vanek, Frans Nielsen, Dylan Larkin, Justin Abdelkader, and Tomas Tatar) taking part in the World Cup of Hockey, and Tomas Jurco still sidelined as he recovers from offseason back surgery, the Red Wings most likely needed a veteran to fill a roster spot for camp and the exhibition season.
Cleary helps fill that role while also getting one more shot at making it back to the NHL.
Given his age and what he’s done over the past three years (just five goals and five assists in only 69 NHL games since the start of the 2013-14 season) he would seem to be an extreme long shot to make the roster and would need to really have an impressive camp to earn a spot.