Quoting: aedoran
Kronwall is 47 games from 1000. If he wants to go for it Detroit is happy to let him.
My thought on Kronwall is multi-fold:
1. He's 47 from 1000, a big milestone. Culture is a big thing in DET, money isn't as big a worry (especially with this team's available cap). Doing a 1000 game celebration, letting a Stanley Cup winner and longtime assistant captain ride off properly is way more important than the $3mm cap hit.
2. He played pretty good last year. He had almost a 49% Corsi and Fenwick, while not great, was only eclipsed by Hronek (on the Corsi side), and Green (on the Fenwick side). If he maintains that (which wouldn't be hard to do), he would be a valuable 5/6/7 dman. Is that worth $3mm? Not really, but his value is in more than numbers.
3. He's the transition to Cholowski, Hronek (who I'm calling Hornet from now on) for defensive leadership, and Larkin as a captain. Last year, he was the face of the Wings during most losses. He played the Z role, who played the Lidstrom role, who played the Stevie role (Captain always speaks after a losss, the team speaks after a win). He's the guy they can turn to in tough situations.
4. Once he hits 47 games, I expect him to start taking nights off, rotating in with players (Bowey, Kaski, Lindstrom if he's playing well in GR). I'm willing to bet he only plays like 55 games next year.
5. He's still the toughest player in the D corp. He's a feared hitter still, and rubs teams the wrong way. I'd rather have him doing that then Hornet, Cholowski, Bowey, etc.
6. Finally, he's not preventing anyone from making the Wings squad. Cholowski and Hornet will be here, and no one else in GR or the minors is ready for the big show. It would be different is Hornet wasn't going to make the team because they signed Kronwall, but that's not the case.