The relationship between the Detroit Red Wings and forward Bobby Ryan began with such feel-good appeal: They were a team badly in need of scoring help; he was a former high-end draft pick coming off a challenging year and looking for a chance to prove he could still play in the NHL.
A season later, that appeal has faded. When free agency began July 28 general manager Steve Yzerman targeted Pius Suter as a forward who can help spur the Wings’ offense.
That led to this week’s mailbag, with reader Michael A. asking, “Any chance Bobby Ryan comes back to the Wings? He seemed like he was a good fit.”
WHO CAN SCORE? How Yzerman boosted Red Wings by signing Pius Suter, re-signing Sam Gagner
Ryan certainly started out looking like he’d offer good return on the one-year, $1 million contract he was signed to by Yzerman in October 2020. At 6 feet 2 and 208 pounds, the second overall pick from 2005 (the Sidney Crosby draft) added size and scoring touch, and was viewed as an excellent mentor.
For his part, Ryan was looking for an opportunity after being bought out the prior season by the Ottawa Senators. Ryan played 24 games in 2019-20, taking time off to deal with a substance abuse issue.
One of the best storylines to come out of training camp, for the roughly one week in January that it lasted, was that maybe the Wings finally had a scoring line beyond that of Tyler Bertuzzi, Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin. That’s how good Ryan, Robby Fabbri and Filip Zadina looked.
Well, that lasted one game. Ryan missed the opener with an injury, and by the third game, Fabbri was in quarantine protocol after testing positive for COVID-19. Two games later, so was Zadina. While those guys were out, Bertuzzi suffered a back injury that would sideline him the rest of the season, prompting lines to be reshuffled.
WHAT’S THE PLAN: Pius Suter hopes he, Red Wings can ‘grow together’
Ryan did have a terrific start, scoring off a pass from Zadina in Ryan’s first game. Ryan scored twice in his second game, and again n the third game.
That made it four goals in three games.
He scored only three goals over his next 30 games, and didn’t play after March 28 because of a torn triceps in his right arm that eventually required surgery.
Ryan, who turned 34, turned out to be a no-risk gamble that didn’t yield the hoped-for results, producing 14 points in 33 games. When it came time this offseason to assess whether any of his pending unrestricted free agent forwards should be re-signed, Yzerman went with Sam Gagner, a slightly younger (32 on Aug. 10) former high-end pick (sixth, 2007). Both he and Ryan shoot right. Gagner, originally acquired by Yzerman at the 2020 trade deadline, had seven goals and 15 points in 42 games. His 0.36 points-per-game clip was a smidge below Ryan’s 0.42, but Gagner had a minus-4 rating to Ryan’s minus-14, and Gagner can play both special teams, whereas Ryan was limited to the power play.
ANOTHER MOVE: The Wings extend Sam Gagner. Here’s why
With Ryan not being re-signed, the Wings don’t have any top-six forwards who shoot right. That’s not ideal, but the bottom line is, the Wings took a chance on Ryan, and the results unfortunately just weren’t there.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.