There was no way that the Red Wings would or could have been able to replace Brian Rafalski via the unrestricted free agent market, not in one of the available players, anyway, but Ken Holland managed to both plug the gaping hole on the Wings’ blueline and save a significant amount of cap space for the Wings’ future endeavors over the course of the past three days, first re-signing Jonathan Ericsson to an inflated contract to stave off another subtraction and then making amends for it by retaining Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller and adding bite to the Wings’ defense via depth defenseman Mike Commodore and would-be journeyman Ian White.
For a grant total of $1.25 million more than Rafalski earned last season, Holland’s investments signal a bit of a shift in terms of philosophy in the best sense of the term, and to put the theory bluntly: when you’re missing an element from your team, it is best to pursue the players that annoy you the most.
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