from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Might the Red Wings exercise the option this off-season, whenever that will be following the coronavirus hiatus? That is today’s question from an MLive reader:

Q: Do you see the Wings buying out any players, namely (Justin) Abdelkader and (Frans) Nielsen, to free up money for all the restricted free agents they need to sign?

A: No. It’s highly doubtful they will buy out anyone this year.

They don’t want that player’s contract on the books for several additional years, even at a much-reduced rate. And they have ample cap space to re-sign their own players and pursue a few free agents.

Abdelkader, signed to a seven-year, $29.75 million contract in 2015, has three years remaining at a cap hit of $4.25 million. According to CapFriendly.com, if Abdelkader were bought out this year, he’d be paid $1.05 million in each of the next six seasons with a cap a hit of $1.8 million in 2020-21, $2.3 million in each of the next two seasons and $1.05 million for three years after that.

Rather than buy him out, the Red Wings more than likely will waive Abdelkader and assign him to the Grand Rapids Griffins next season if he doesn’t do enough to earn a roster spot in training camp.

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