Friday, September 14, 2012

Wings Resign Abdelkader, Rumoured to Sign Colaiacovo UPDATE: Colaiacovo signing confirmed.

UPDATE: Its not just rumours now Colaiacovo has been signed by the Red Wings (SOURCE)

Hopefully Adbelkader will see more of this

The Detroit Red Wings have resigned scrappy forward Justin Abdelkader. To a 4 year deal rumoured to be at $1.7mil a season.

The Michigan Native had a career best year last year playing in 81 games and tallying 22 points. It has also been reported that the Red Wings plan on using Abdelkader more as a Centre this year. The move to Centre is probably for the best considering how many Wingers the Red Wings currently have signed.

Combine this with Detroit's early offseason acquisition of Jordin Tootoo it could seem like Detroit is looking to bring back the "Grind Line" . The line of Kirk Maltby, Darren McCarty and Kris Draper gained large success as Detroit's shut down line and helped the Wings win multiple Stanley Cups.

If healthy Carlo could be a big help
There have also been some recent rumours surfacing about the acquisition of former St. Louis Blues Defensemen Carlo Colaiacovo. A twitteraccount reported that he had been signed but after further investigating this it looks like Detroit is only in talks with signing Colaicovo.

The 29 year old blue-liner was the #17 overall pick in the 2001 Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played with the Leafs organization and AHL affiliate for 5 years before being traded to the St. Louis Blues.

Colaiacovo has never played a full season in the NHL as he has been bothered with injuries for most of his career. Despite this he has managed to put up 30+ points in 2 of the last 4 years. 

Detroit still lacks a second first line defenseman to play alongside Niklas Kronwall but the addition of Colaiacovo could strengthen the Wing's D corps.

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I welcome the resigning of Abdelkader and despite his injury troubles of Colaiacovo I would welcome him to Motown if he eventually signs here. However, all of this could be a moot point if the NHL decides to lockout the players (which in all likelihood will happen).