After an unexpected resurgent season with the New York Islanders, long-time forward Valtteri Filppula has signed a deal with the Detroit Red Wings. It’s a two-year deal with financial terms to come.
The #RedWings today signed center Valtteri Filppula to a 2-year contract. pic.twitter.com/S8HavAUPSa
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 1, 2019
Valtteri Filppula Signs
The Islanders brought Filppula in last season to try and shore up their bottom-six depth going into the season. He had only scored 16 goals combined in his previous two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers but this past season, he beat that with 17 goals with the Islanders. This was the most goals that he’s scored in a season since he put up 25 goals with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2014. With the 17 goals, he put up 14 assists to get 31 points for this past season so it’s no wonder he got a raise for this contract.
The Red Wings are seeking depth scoring and even at age 35, he can still provide that. His shooting percentage was a bit higher than normal (21.8 percent this past season compared to 15.7 percent the season before) but he was still putting pucks in the back of the net with adequate linemates.
Filppula used to be a good possession player but as a player gets older, it usually starts to deteriorate a little bit each season. He was above 50 percent for CF% all the way up until the 2015-2016 season but now he’s down to 43.8 percent which isn’t good at all. That 43.8 percent came this past season with the Islanders and that’s the lowest CF% he’s had in his career.
For the playoffs, Filppula was obviously at his best when he was with the Detroit Red Wings since he was in the prime of his career while he was there. He had 19 playoff goals with the Red Wings but since leaving them, he has just six combined playoff goals and 23 combined playoff points. Now that he’s back with Detroit, they shouldn’t count on him to show up a lot in the playoffs but he still should able to put up some decent goal scoring numbers during the regular season.
Main Photo: OTTAWA, ON – MARCH 07: New York Islanders Center Valtteri Filppula (51) keeps eyes on the play during first period National Hockey League action between the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators on March 7, 2019, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
