The Detroit Red Wings have received the news they were hoping for, that their captain and All-Star defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom will be returning for a 20th season.
Lidstrom, 41, followed the same post-season period of evaluation as has become custom the past few years. He took time to talk with his family, to ponder if it’s time to retire and move back to Sweden, to examine his desire to play and the state of his health.
The answers to all questions keep coming back in the Red Wings’ favor, so Lidstrom is back for another year. Lidstrom and the Wings announced Monday he will be signing a one-year contract, worth $6.2 million. It’s the same amount that he played for last season.
“At this stage in my career, I have to be motivated,” Lidstrom said, during a Monday teleconference with the media. “I have to be having fun. That’s why I am taking it year by year, to be sure I am motivated, and that I am playing at a high level.
“You have to be ready for a long season, and to be ready to play well, too.”
Lidstrom has been the Red Wings’ defensive anchor for two decades, his legacy cemented by four Stanley Cups, six Norris trophies as the N.H.L.’s best defenseman and 11 All-Star Game appearances. He’s a candidate for this year’s Norris trophy, which will be awarded on June 22 in a ceremony in Las Vegas. Zdeno Chara of the Bruins and Shea Weber of the Predators are the other finalists.
Lidstrom, nicknamed “The Perfect Human” by his Red Wings teammates because of his work ethic, gentlemanly demeanor and commitment to keeping his body in prime playing condition, is arguably the team’s core. His level of play has remained high and dependable. This was the first season in which Lidstrom finished with a negative plus-minus, at minus-2.
Lidstrom has been keeping busy while making his decision, doing things such as paddle surfing on the Detroit River with pals Chris Chelios and Kid Rock.
The Red Wings have remained in perennial contention for the Stanley Cup, and Lidstrom said he needed to know that the team would remain committed to winning. So he discussed the team’s future with General Manager Ken Holland before he made his decision.
“I did have those questions for Kenny,” Lidstrom said. I’ve never had any doubt in my mind that Kenny is trying to do everything he can to put a good product on the ice, and Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch, as well.”
Lidstrom said the retirement of his defensive partner, Brian Rafalski, came as a surprise. It also made Lidstrom’s return even more important to the team.
“Obviously, if we had lost both, it probably would have been devastating,” Holland said on the teleconference. “I just can’t imagine the Red Wings without Nick Lidstrom. “I always say that the day he announces his retirement, I will be in an adjacent room, announcing mine.”
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