Wings re-sign Chelios & Quincey
It’s official, the Wings have re-signed defensemen Chris Chelios and Kyle Quincey. Financial details about the deals have not been released, but Quincey’s deal is good for two seasons. Cheli’s contract is for one season and the base salary is less than last season ($850,000), but we do not know the exact amount yet. [Update: Chelios will make $750,000 per year according to TSN.]
As expected, Chelios will find himself watching the game from the press box or wherever a bit more this year because the younger defensemen need playing time to develop.
“Obviously in my situation and age, and being on the best team in the league — you have some young guys on the team that you have to play or you’re going to lose them — so I understand the situation and I love playing here,” Chelios said. “My role, I’ve accepted that, so I’ll make the best of it. I guess I can say I’m a survivor because I’m still here at this age. But things change quick in this game. We’ll start the season and I’ll make the best of it and work hard.”
Chelios agreed to accept a lesser role this season, noting that many of the younger defensemen – namely Brett Lebda, Kyle Quincey, Derek Meech and Jonathan Ericcson — need more ice-time.
“The only difference is that guys have to play. It’s understandable,” Chelios said. “But when you watch and see what happened with Brett Favre — and I don’t put myself in the same class as him by no means — but that’s the nature of the beast. For now, I’m happy to be back, and I’m looking forward to another great year.”
Despite the decrease in salary base for Chelios, I believe the Wings will still be over the cap with these two signings so it’ll certainly be interesting to see how GM Ken Holland gets the team salary down to fit under that cap.
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