Red Wings Re-Up Trio of Players on Eve of Free Agency

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6/30/2025

The Detroit Red Wings announced new contracts for pending unrestricted free agent Patrick Kane and pending restricted free agents Albert Johansson and Jonatan Berggren on Monday, one day before the opening of free agency across the NHL.

🗣️ ALJO!

The #RedWings have signed Albert Johansson to a two-year contract with an AAV of $1,125,000. pic.twitter.com/ZDxWseiU5i

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 30, 2025

BERGY 🍔

The #RedWings have signed Jonatan Berggren to a one-year contract with an AAV of $1,825,000. pic.twitter.com/Jrl04kt0yb

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 30, 2025

YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS 🎬

The #RedWings have signed Patrick Kane to a one-year contract with an AAV of $3,000,000. pic.twitter.com/wpLFyzkPGq

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 1, 2025

The moves were all mostly expected.

Kane’s signing, in particular, had been hinted at by Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman during last weekend’s NHL Entry Draft. Just like last year, however, putting pen to paper came down to the wire.

The new deal for Kane carries a $3 million salary cap hit with another $4 million in bonuses that can be deferred to next season’s cap if necessary. It’s a similar structure to the deal he had this year. The number feels high to me but, given the shallow free agent pool, it was important not to have to try to replace another key piece of the roster.

Johansson’s deal is eminently reasonable. Two years at a $1.125 million cap hit gives him some security and time to continue to grow and makes him moveable if he stagnates or the Red Wings pick up someone else that requires moving him.

Berggren’s deal is the one that surprises me.

In April, when I wrote up my end-of-season notes, I suggested that the Red Wings should give Berggren a qualifying offer but trade him if the opportunity arose. Right now, I see him slotted in on the fourth line, which doesn’t seem to be a great fit for him. It seems like it would have been smarter to wait and see how the early offseason shakes out before signing him. It also seems like that deal is about a half-million dollars too high.

That said, it’s only a one-year deal, so if it ends up being a mistake it’s not one that the Wings will have to live with for long.