The Detroit Red Wings won't have to go to arbitration with 24-year-old forward Joe Veleno.
The Detroit Red Wings will avoid arbitration with forward Joe Veleno, as the 24-year-old forward signed a two-year extension worth $4.55 million on Friday,Veleno, the No. 30 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, played last season on a one-year deal worth just $825,000. He still played a limited role as he averaged just 13:57 of ice time per game, but put up a career-high 12 goals and 28 points. Over his four-year career in Detroit, he's scored 64 points while averaging 13:21 of ice time in 232 games.
The Montreal native still projects as a bottom-six forward for Detroit, but the pay raise could mean that the Red Wings have faith in him to take that next step. Veleno was the only Red Wings player to elect arbitration this year, so that's a nice weight off the team's shoulders. Perhaps more importantly, Detroit still has roughly $17.6 million in cap space to work with this offseason. That leaves the door open for the Red Wings to potentially make another splash before the season, and considering that they've missed the playoffs in eight straight seasons and pressure on general manager Steve Yzerman is building, such a move could help them finally snap the skid.
Whether or not Veleno can help the Red Wings get over the hump this season remains to be seen, but they clearly have faith in him to do so and live up to his status as a first-round pick.
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