DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings continued their reloading
project Wednesday with the signing of free agent Brett Hull.
| |  | |
| Hull |
They added goaltender Dominik Hasek in a trade and left wing Luc
Robitaille as a free agent earlier this summer.
The Red Wings knew they had to make changes to their roster
after failing to make it past the second round of the playoffs for
the third consecutive year since winning the Stanley Cup in 1997
and 1998.
Detroit has decided to make another run for a title with aging
stars -- 10 Red Wings are 34 or older -- and now have three of the
top 13 goal scorers in NHL history.
Hull, 37, is second among active players with 649 goals, two
behind Mark Messier and one ahead of Mario Lemieux. Detroit captain
Steve Yzerman, 36, is fourth with 645 goals and Robitaille is fifth
with 590.
Hasek, 36, has won six Vezina trophies and two Hart trophies as
the NHL's MVP.
Hull's deal is worth between $9 and $10 million, ESPN the Magazine's E.J. Hradek reported Tuesday. A team source told The Associated Press, on condition of anonymity, that the deal is for about $9 million over two years.
Detroit's payroll, already one of the highest in the NHL, is
expected to exceed $60 million next season.
Hull scored 39 goals for the Dallas Stars last season, his 15th
in the league. Sergei Fedorov scored a team-high 32 goals for
Detroit last season, followed by Brendan Shanahan's 31.
"I guess we were looking for a goal scorer," said Detroit
defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who won the Norris Trophy last season.
"That's a goal scorer for sure. He has the numbers."
Hull has led the NHL in scoring three times, most recently in
1992. He won the Hart Trophy in 1991 and is a seven-time All-Star,
most recently in 1997.
"The first word that you think about with him is `dangerous,"'
Detroit associate coach Dave Lewis said. "He's a dangerous player.
You don't always notice him, then the puck is on his stick and it's
in the net. He's one of the masters of finding free space and going
where there's no one."
The Red Wings desperately needed to add a right wing after
Martin Lapointe signed with Boston and when they decided not to
re-sign Doug Brown and Pat Verbeek.
"By signing Brett Hull, we have added significant punch to the
right side," general manager Ken Holland. "He has a tremendous
goal scoring ability and is one of the greatest goal scorers in the
history of our game."
Hull ranks seventh all-time among goal scorers, while Yzerman is
ninth and Robitaille 13th.
Lidstrom said Hull will help Detroit score more even-strength
goals.
"I think that's where we were struggling," Lidstrom said. "On
the power play we were good. We struggled on five-on-five."
The New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens also reportedly were
courting Hull and were offering two-year deals reportedly worth $10
million.
Hull became a free agent when Dallas didn't exercise the final
year of his contract, which would have paid him $7 million.
With the Stars, Hull scored the series-clinching goal against
Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres in the third overtime of Game 6 of the
1999 Stanley Cup finals.
Hull signed with Dallas as a free agent in 1998. He also has
played with the St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames.
Hull and his father, Bobby, hold the record for NHL goals by a
father-son combination with 1,259. Bobby Hull had 610 goals in a
Hall of Fame career spent mostly with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
|
|
|
