Ritola signs an "interesting" contract

My esteemed colleague Cody has informed me that he Wings have begun to assemble their roster for next season already, by retaining one of their promising young RFAs, F Mattias Ritola. He's also informed me that he is going to bed, so I will be breaking the news to you all. Lucky me :)

Ritola has been developing in Grand Rapids for the past 3 seasons, and is a player in the mold of a Henrik Zetterberg. That is, he is strong with the puck, decent-sized, and if he learns to be selfish and shoot the damn thing, he could be a very good player.

There are two good things about this signing:

1. The cap hit is VERY low.

2. The first year of the contract is 2way, meaning if he clears waivers to get to Grand Rapids, he can play there. Then, we can call him up without worrying about re-entry waivers. So, if he can tough out one more year in the minors and continue to develop he could be a top six forward on our team in 2011-2012.

The fact that he can be called up safely also gives us the option of bringing him up if he is simply too good for the AHL, or if we have a long-term injury issue.

A good start to the offseason by GM Ken Holland.