The Detroit Red Wings have agreed to contract terms with center Joe Veleno. The contract carries a salary cap hit of two years and $2.275 million, according to PuckPedia. This is one of the contracts that needed to be fit under the Red Wings’ salary cap as the team continues to negotiate with forward Lucas Raymond and defenseman Moritz Seider. Where does the 23-year-old fit in the Red Wings’ lineup?
Drafted out of Montreal, Quebec, with the 30th overall pick in the 2018 NHL entry draft, Veleno has now played in over 230 games for the Red Wings during his career. At the time that Veleno was drafted, he was seen as a player who would go to the “dirty areas” of the ice. This fits into the type of player that general manager Steve Yzerman has had a habit of drafting in his time in Red Wings’ management.
In 80 games played during the 2023-24 Red Wings season, Veleno scored 12 goals and added 16 assists. These 12 goals are a career-high for the young Red Wings’ center. These are the kinds of numbers that a solid bottom-six center can put up, but if the Red Wings are going to make it back to the Stanley Cup playoffs, Veleno is going to need to progress. Veleno’s scoring has increased, albeit incrementally, in his brief time with the Red Wings. That is all that can be asked of such a young player still learning to play in the NHL.
