Red Wings land Frans Nielsen with six-year, $31.5 million deal

While the New York Islanders added Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera early in free agency, they also said goodbye to a trio of players.

With Matt Martin still shopping his services and Kyle Okposo moving on to Buffalo, Frans Nielsen, the team’s longest-tenured player, signed a six-year, $31.5 million deal with the Detroit Red Wings.

Nielsen, a third-round pick by New York in 2002, will help the Red Wings’ middle of the road special teams. He was tied for second on the Islanders in 2015-16 with seven power play goals and tied for first with two shorthanded tallies.

Nielsen told TSN after signing that after such a long time in New York he felt it was time to try something new.

A versatile forward, Nielsen will fill Detroit’s need for a top-six forward following Pavel Datysuk’s exit and likely take over second-line center duties.

The Red Wings had a ton of cap space to fill entering July 1 after Datsyuk’s contract was dealt to Arizona. They re-signed Darren Helm early Friday now sit with a little over $7 million in cap space remaining, per General Fanager, now that they missed out on Steven Stamkos.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy