Detroit Red Wings give qualifying offers to 4 restricted free agents

With the 2023 NHL Draft officially in the rearview mirror, Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has now shifted his focus to free agency. On Friday, the Yzerman reportedly offered qualifying offers to four players, including Joe Veleno, John Lethemon, Jared McIssac, and Wyatt Newpower.

Detroit Red Wings give qualifying offers to 4 restricted free agents

As noted by Max Bultman of The Athletic, this would mean no qualifying offer for Gustav Lindstrom, Seth Barton, Matt Luff, or newly acquired forward, Klim Kostin. That being said, Yzerman said great things about Kostin after trading for him, at we would have to believe that a multi-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings is in the works.

Bottom Line: What does this mean for Klim Kostin?

To be completely honest, it is interesting that Yzerman did not make a qualifying offer to Kostin, but my guess is that deal will be announced as early as Saturday. After trading for Kostin, Yyzerman had great things to say about the veteran, and it would be very surprising if they don’t get a deal done.

“Kostin is a big winger, plays hard,” Yzerman said Thursday. “We were looking to add some of that. We have to figure out exactly what our plan and where Kailer (fits). I haven’t even had a chance to talk to him or his agent to figure out what our plan there is.”

“We watched him last year,” Yzerman said. “He’s big and he skated well, got more involved. He played on a pretty deep team in Edmonton, so this is an opportunity to take on a bigger role. We felt like he showed he can play in the NHL as a regular, that was our opinion. We’re optimistic he can work his way into a bigger role with us.”