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Detroit Red Wings

Last Day For Red Wings to Sign Three Draft Picks

Mathurin, Bednar, Niederbach not offered contracts

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1 month ago

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Jan Bednar, Red Wings prospect
Jan Bednar is among three Red Wings draftees who must be offered an NHL contract by the June 1 deadline.

Today is the last chance for three Detroit Red Wings draft picks to be offered NHL contracts by the team.

The club must tender NHL pacts to draftees Theodor Niederbach, Tnias Mathurin and Jan Bednar by 5 p.m. ET today. June 1 is the deadline to sign the three players or surrender the club’s rights to them.

Goaltender Bednar, selected 107th overall in 2020,  played the last two seasons under an AHL contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s top farm club. However, all of his game action came with the ECHL Toledo Walleye.

There’s always a chance that Bednar could sign again with the Griffins or the Walleye. However, the Red Wings were recently signing college netminder Carter Gylander to a pro deal. His likely destination for next season would be playing for the Walleye.

Red Wings Once Held High Hopes For Niederbach

When he was playing for Sweden at the world juniors alongside fellow Detroit prospects Lucas Raymond, Elmer Soderblom and Albert Johansson, the Red Wings were feeling confident that Niederbach could ultimately become part of the club’s future. However, the bloom came off that rose as Niederbach was struggling to display any consistency with three different SHL clubs.

During stints with Frolunda, Rogle and MoDo, Niederbach would never score more than nine goals in a single season. He’s under contract with MoDo through the 2024-25 season.

Missing too much time during key development seasons was likely working against Mathurin’s chances of landing an NHL deal. Cancelations due to COVID-19 cost him one OHL season, while shoulder surgery last season would limit him to one regular-season game for the North Bay Batallion.

The handwriting appeared to be on the wall for the shutdown defender last month when the Red Wings were opting to sign fellow draft pick and OHL defenseman Andrew Gibson from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Gibson is also a solid defender but displays more offensive upside than Mathurin.

There’s already speculation that Mathurin might stay with the Batallion for his overage season.

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