Pro/No :: Patrick Eaves
Welcome to another round of the joint TPL-WIIM series of pro/no profiles, giving you all the details you need to make an educated opinion about each of the upcoming free agents. At the bottom of the entry, you’ll find a voting form — please feel free to leave additional thoughts in the comments either here or at Winging it in Motown!
THE VITALS
Patrick Eaves, winger, #17
27-years-old (5/1/84)
6’0″ :: 192 lbs
6 NHL seasons (2 with Detroit)
From Calgary
STATISTICS
Regular Season — 63 games, 13 goals, 7 assists, 14 penalty minutes, -2, just under 13 minutes a game.
Playoffs — 11 games, 3 goals, 1 assist, 6 penalty minutes, +1, 11 minutes a game.
CONTRACT SITUATION
After being traded from the Carolina to Boston, the Bruins waived Eaves with the intention of buying out the remaining years on his contract. This made him an unrestricted free agent, and the Red Wings snapped him up for the league minimum on August 4, 2009. He was re-signed last summer, after a strong first season in Detroit, and earned a modest raise to $750,000 for another one-year contract.
As of July 1st, he will be an unrestricted free agent.
DEPTH SITAUTION
Eaves was part of an early-season rotation of bottom six forwards who found themselves spending some time in the press box. In November, with Kris Draper on IR, Eaves and Drew Miller were flipped for one another for ten straight games (until Mike Modano’s injury).
With Modano out for several months, Eaves was able to get into the lineup for every game; and when Kris Draper was healthy enough to return to the roster — it was Eaves who found himself out of the rotation. Draper, Miller, and Hudler formed the new healthy scratch rotation, seemingly solidifying Eaves’ place on the game sheet.
There was a three-game absence with an elbow infection, and a ten game absence following a collision with Torrey Mitchell, but Patrick Eaves was not a healthy scratch after December 4th…until the final game of the regular season, when he sat out against Chicago. In the six games leading up to the finale, Draper and Miller had swapped out for another.
In the post-season, 8 forwards played in all 11 games. Patrick Eaves was one of them.
CASE FOR EAVES
1) Slowly but surely, he’s solidified his spot in the active lineup, and has proven effective as a third or fourth line energy player.
2) He’s capable of scoring big goals — he’s a one-time 20-goal scorer in this League, and added 13 this season in what was very much a complimentary role.
3) In the past two seasons, he’s come very cheap — possibly due to the fact that the Bruins are still paying him more than a quarter-million dollars NOT to play for them.
CASE AGAINST EAVES
1) It’s certainly possible he knows that his value has increased in his two seasons with Detroit and may seek out a bigger pay day (or a bigger role) on another team this off-season.
2) At the same time, it’s possible that he’s replaceable on the open market or from within.
3) With the Red Wings looking for some things to change after two lackluster second round exits, it’s roster spots like Eaves’ that may be commandeered by a more proficient scorer.
WHAT HE’S SAYING
During locker room cleanout, Patrick Eaves sounded nothing if not confident that he’ll return to Detroit. He knows that he’ll be looking for another contract and said that “I’m sure it’ll get done” when asked if he was nervous about proceedings. Sounds to me like he’s a guy that knows he wants to be in Detroit, and won’t necessarily bicker about the terms if it means he can continue being a Red Wing.
SALARY RANGE
Even with $253k supplementing his Red Wings paycheck, Eaves is probably due a raise from his $750k salary from a year ago. His contributions to the team do exceed that number, and with the rising cap, the Wings should be able to do a cool million for the grinder. It’s just a matter of whether or not they feel they have to.
POTENTIAL REPLACEMENTS
Internal :: Jan Mursak and Cory Emmerton may be able to make the jump, Tomas Tatar may still be a year or two away.
External :: Upcoming free agents in a similar income bracket with a similar skill set and of a similar age include Boyd Gordon, Marek Svatos, Tanner Glass, Sean Bergenheim, Tim Brent, and Tomas Kopecky (just kidding…sorta).
WHAT DO YOU THINK
Thank you for your votes! They are now being tabulated and we’ll have a recap post later in the summer with all of the results!
Photo Credit: Dave Guralnick, Detroit News
I think a 2 year deal at 1 mil per season Is a fair enough offer for his skills I like Eaves and hope the wings will retain his services and the same offer for Drew Miller and I believe both ould accept that offer we shall see and I would not want more that a 2 year 2.5 mil per season for Jonathon Erickson!!
This is such a no-brainer! YES, you sign him again! Playing the PK isn’t a glamorous job and doesn’t reflect in the stats, but is important nonetheless. I say sign him at $1mil and it’s money well spent. Reminder: first hat trick of his career this year.
Eaves is an integral part of the Red Wings future. He’s young, resilient, and can score goals. I see him working his way up to the second line if he stays here for pretty long. I personally like his work ethic as I see some Cleary in him and hope that he stays for as long as he can. The guy could score 30 goals a season on another team. He fits the system well and should stay.
Eaves at 1 million is a steal. Putting up 13 goals in 63 games while playing in every PK is pretty solid work. I think Miller is much more likely to go, and a less talented player all around. If Eaves got top-6 minutes he would probably put up more goals than Hudler or Filpula did.
Bergenheim is the only one from the posted list I would consider since he turned into a scoring monster for the Lightning during this playoff run. Stevie Y will probably resign him so lets just get Eaves resigned for two years and by that time, the Wings newbies will be skilled and ready to take over. Would love to see Hudler traded for a stay at home defenseman since Huds really hasn’t done a damned thing like he was supposed to. Guy seems to afraid to shoot the damn puck. Package Hudler and Miller and see if Edmonton would consider coughing up some prospects since the Wings don’t draft high enough in the draft order.