Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman gives update on Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi, and hints at more moves

Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has remained busy through the first few days of free agency, bringing aboard several new players including the likes of Bobby Ryan, Thomas Greiss and Vladislav Namestnikov.

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And here’s the kicker – none of them are long term deals. Ryan was signed to a one-year contract, while Greiss and Namestnikov were signed to two-year deals.

Yzerman met with media members virtually this afternoon to discuss the contracts that he’s given, and the flexibility that the short term deals gives him:

“It gives you the flexibility to do a lot of different things.“When you get into the longer-term contracts, generally you’re locked into them. We’re just trying to move cautiously. In the climate we’re in, with uncertainty about our salary cap for years to come, we just felt this was a good way to go.

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Yzerman also provided an update on the status of unrestricted free agent forwards Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi, the latter of which filed for salary arbitration over the weekend.

“We’ll have some discussions and I”m expecting to talk to Anthony’s agent in the coming days here, we’ll talk some more and I’m confident a deal will get done.”

“He filed for arbitration – ultimately we know we’ll get a contract done, maybe for one year, maybe for longer. As it stands, we’ll continue to talk.”

Are more moves on the horizon? Yzerman hinted that additional moves could be coming:

“I think we’re in a position where if we wanted to do something….maybe now, some of the teams that are cap crunched to see if they’re looking to do anything, so maybe explore possible trades and things like that,” Yzerman said. “If nothing comes to fruition there, maybe circle back and add one more player if they’re still out there later on. I don’t think we’ll be terribly active.”