Wings sign Stuart for four years, $3.75 million per

The Wings have signed defenseman Brad Stuart to a four-year deal worth $3.75 million a season. It’s a slight raise from his $3.5 million salary last season. The deal also includes a limited no-trade clause in the last two years of the contract.

Signing Stuart, 28, was the Wings’ top priority heading into the free agency period, which began at noon today. He was the perfect partner for Niklas Kronwall on the second pairing, an ideal No. 4 defenseman who plays a safe, stay-at-home game and provides a physical presence.

He showed his commitment to staying with a winning organization by taking less money than he could have received on the open market. The Wings ended up playing him a little more than they would have liked — they were hoping to sign him for around the same $3 million salary that Kronwall makes. But it’s a good deal for the Wings.

Detroit now has 17 players signed for 2008-09 at about $44 million. The salary cap is $56.7 million. The Wings will stay roughly $2 million short of that to allow for a mid-season or trade deadline move. That gives them about $10-11 million to spend with the following players still needing to be re-signed: forward Valtteri Filppula, defensemen Chris Chelios, Kyle Quincey and Jonathan Ericsson and goaltender Jimmy Howard. They would also like to sign Darren McCarty, Aaron Downey and a veteran No. 3 goalie. Of course, a few of these players will be on two-way contracts and will be playing in Grand Rapids.

They still have enough room, it seems, to sign a top-six forward, with Toronto’s Mats Sundin and Minnesota’s Brian Rolston at the top of their wish list.

Source: by Ansar Khan / MLive