Wings re-sign Williams for 2 more years
I went to check the Detroit Red Wings website to see what it had about the Danny Markov signing. I was surprised when the first thing I saw was the announcement that the Wings had re-signed Williams for two more years before heading to arbitration and not Markov’s signing.
“We are pleased to reach a deal with Jason before going to arbitration,” said [GM Ken] Holland. “He took a big step forward as a NHL player last year and we look forward to even more progress in the future.”
Even though I interviewed Willy for 30 minutes or so back in 2004 and he’s a really nice guy, I’m not a huge fan of him especially Willy on the power play. That being said, this was his first year playing a ton of games so hopefully he’ll just get better. And he is good on the shootout, which will help us in the regular season. Although I only really care about the playoffs and earning a playoff spot.
I would’ve been a lot happier with a one year contract, but I bet the Wings didn’t pay as much as they would’ve via arbitration. It’ll be interesting to see just how much Williams will be making.
Ansar Khan at MLive.com is reporting that Williams will be paid $1.6 million/year, which isn’t bad considering how arbitration has gone this offseason.
“(Coach) Mike Babcock gave him the opportunity (last season) and Jason took advantage of it,” Holland said. “He really established himself as an NHL player. Hopefully, he can continue to build on that confidence.
“I don’t want to say what statistics we’re expecting from him, but there is an opportunity for someone to take a step forward offensively.”
“In the end, we felt if we could avoid (arbitration), we’d both be better served,” Holland said. “In the past couple of days, as (arbitration) awards came out, a marketplace began to surface.”
Holland has around $6 million to get a goaltender, winger, and to sign Johan Franzen. Ideally, Holland would like to sign Franzen for three or four more years, but it’s looking like Franzen will sign a one or two year deal. Franzen will be UFA eligible in 2008.
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