DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – Headlining big moves in the first two days of free agency in the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings bolstered their roster with solid players for next year. A major sign was former Michigan player Andrew Copp from Ann Arbor signing a five-year deal. He was the first of six players signed on Wednesday when free agency opened up.

After Copp, defenseman Ben Chiarot, left wingers Dominik Kubalik and David Perron, right winger Matt Luff, and center Austin Czarnik (Detroit native) all became Red Wings. On day two, Executive Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman added two more players in defensemen Olli Maatta and Mark Pysyk to one-year contracts.

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Yzerman says from the Red Wings NHL website, “We had roster spots open and available with needs to be addressed. We felt we addressed some needs by position. We needed simply to add players to obviously fill out a roster.”

Two of those additions are Michigan natives in Copp and Czarnik. Copp says, “It’s cool to be coming back home and trying to recreate the magic a little bit. Getting to play for your hometown team is really rare in this league. I’m just fortunate enough to be able to be one of those guys who gets to do it for a few years here, and enjoy being around friends and family the whole year instead of just a few months in the summer.”

This new pool of free agents will also have a new coach for next season in Derek Lalonde who was hired earlier this month.