Each and every offseason is filled with a bevy of difficult decisions for Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, as the brilliant man behind the curtain will once again do everything in his power to tweak his Stanley Cup-contending squad for the better in the summer months. But with 46 players already under contract out of the 50-man roster limit, the Red Wings need to make some key decisions on the futures of a number of former Grand Rapids Griffins players from this past season.
In addition to Swedish-born forward Fabian Brunnstrom, a 27-year-old who tallied one assist in five games with the Wings in 2011-12, Detroit also needs to handle free agent defensemen Doug Janik and Garnet Exelby. Although he impressed nearly everyone by earning a roster spot quite literally from nowhere in training camp, Brunnstrom has not exactly blown away Detroit's brass with his play on the ice, leaving his general manager to look elsewhere. "I think Brunnstrom is a good player, but we need leadership, toughness down there," Holland told MLive.com's Ansar Khan. "We're exploring the market.''
The 32-year-old Janik, who announced to the organization that he planned to head to Europe despite receiving a contract offer to stay, has been with Detroit's organization for three years and could conceivably return if he doesn't end up making the trek overseas. But with Holland and company firmly transfixed on the free agent market at the moment, it's likely that all three of these players' futures will be up in the air until the dominoes in free agency begin to fall.
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