Wings Fan Here: a couple things to justify these decisions.

*this is supposed to be realistic, believe me I'd like to do a lot more*

Guys I'm Not Resigning:
- Biggest thing I noticed this year (23-24) is that we have a surplus of bottom 6 forwards: Copp, Sprong, Perron, Ras, Fischer, Czarnik, Fabbri, Veleno all fall into this category. Thus I let a decent amount walk in Free agency. The only one I'm unsure about is Sprong because I think he's incredibly underrated as he produces so much offense in such little ice time. Don't understand why Lalonde is benching/scratching him as much as he is bc he's no more of a defensive liability than someone like Veleno, Perron, etc. Thus, I did not resign him because I feel like other teams will realize that he is underrated and offer him more than I'd be willing to get

RFA Signings:

Raymond - self-explanatory
Seider - not worth as much as Raymond, still has some hockey iq to develop, nevertheless, our best shot at a "franchise" dman; still very physical with decent offensive production

Berggren - another guy who is super underrated. When Lalonde was playing Kostin over him I was tweaking. However, this might not actually happen bc I've heard Bergs was unhappy with his playing time (understanably), so idk if he'll want to come back

Johansson - another young promising D. Wouldn't mind calling him up if someone goes down with injury

UFAs:

Kane - probably walks if we don't make playoffs. He's been great for us but tbh i won't be that upset if we don't get him back. Also cannot stress this enough but we CANNOT overpay for him to come back for a couple years of clout. He also plays on the 2nd line because I've like the Luke, Larks and Cat line a bit more

Ghost - our PP guy, 51 points (subject to change) is great, put him with someone competent defensively and his plus/minus gets better. If we can't get him for 5 mil or less let him walk and let Wally run PP1

Stephenson - the 2nd line winger we've been missing all this year. Really complete player who can do just about anything. Gut feeling him and Kaner would be gross tg idk. Always been a fan of his. Solid 2-way forward

Fischer - Didn't really like him the first half of the season but the guy plays so hard and can kill penalties. Solid 4th liner. Not super attached though so if he gets picky with the price tag let him go. 4th liners are as common as oxygen on earth

Czarnik - another guy that just works hard. Just a fill-in guy that we can get for cheap. When he centered Kane and Cat it was funny because he was so scared to shoot because he knows he's not the shot guy on that line lol.

Trades:

Petry: This guy gives me aneurysms, but every like 5 games he plays really well so idk. Actually got a decent amount of points this year but that doesn't make me forget that he's old and slow. Just a cap dump. Utah will take him because they need to hit the cap floor. He's also a veteran D and Utah has a lot of young d-men.

Holl - same thing a Petry. He wasn't awful when he played but 3.5 mil to be scratched is a heavy price tag. Anaheim aren't making a playoff push anytime soon and they'll have loads of cap room (no big signings coming up), so this seems like a realistic trade (make the pick a 5th if you're unhappy)

Fabbri - One of our surplus bottom 6 forwards. Easier to trade than Copp because he costs less. Also, Copp plays decently well on the PK. Fabs could probably produce more if we played him more but for his price and 1-dimensionalness (not a word) I wouldn't be mad if we traded him. Also tbh I think McCarron and a 4th might be a bit steep considering McCarron is having a good year, so that could be switched to Janikowski, or just a lesser pick with McCarron.

Remaining Players:

Husso - I wouldn't care if he stayed or went, but I'd be willing to give him another chance. Thought about trying to flip him for someone like Blackwood, but we'd probably have to give up too much.

Chiarot: another guy that gives me aneurysms, but can be solid (sometimes). Figure a guy like him playing with Edvinsson would be helpful for Ed's development

Maatta: Probably our steadiest d-man this year, and in a lot of other armchair GMs i see people getting rid of him. Pretty valuable to keep around, and he's on a good contract.

*Once again, this is supposed to be somewhat in the realm of possibility. IDK what teams Petry or Holl have on their no-trade clauses, but you get the idea I'm trying to go for. And yes, this team should make the playoffs, but in Red Wings fashion, they'll make it interesting.*