Eaves makes twelve, $3.75M left in the account

Patrick Eaves has re-signed with the Red Wings for a bargain basement deal — yet again. The one-year deal is worth a reported $750,000, a raise on his league-minimum $500,000 deal from a season ago. He has been receiving buyout payments from the Boston Bruins, per the trade with the Carolina Hurricanes, which help supplement his regular paycheck. The Bruins, in turn, receive a credit this season as Eaves’ salary would have been below the buyout amount (or some such nonsense).

If you follow along, you’ll recall I was most concerned about Patrick Eaves coming back into the fold, for fear that he’d earned his way into a bigger paycheck than the Wings could likely afford.

Using the numbers from yesterday, the Wings now have $55,642,045 dedicated to salary (12 forwards, 6 defenseman, and 2 goaltenders) and an additional $50,000 due for bonuses, leaving the Red Wings with $3,757,955 to sign their remaining restricted free agents: Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, and Derek Meech.

I won’t get into the Modano and sixth D implications again, everyone’s covered how insanely easily those pieces will fit financially thanks to the deals these guys are taking.

Maybe Lilja comes back after all…