Detroit -- The rebuild the Detroit Red Wings have been preaching lately got sidetracked Sunday.
They re-signed defenseman Mike Green, 32, to a two-year contract worth $10.75 million ($5.375 million per year cap hit), and added forward Thomas Vanek, 34, (one year, $3 million) and goaltender Jonathan Bernier, 29, (three years, $9 million, $3 million cap hit).
Many Wings fans were a bit confused, since the signings of Vanek and Green, in particular, could take away roster spots for young players such as forwards Michael Rasmussen, Filip Zadiina or Evgeny Svehnikov, or defensemen Dennis Cholowski, Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek or Libor Sulak.