Ken-Holland-5-31-13

General manager Ken Holland said the Detroit Red Wings plan to bring back restricted free agents Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson even if they receiver offers from other teams.

(Ansar Khan | MLive.com)

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Expect forwards Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson to be back with the Detroit Red Wings next season.

Both are restricted free agents and although the Red Wings haven't started serious negotiations with agents for either player, general manager Ken Holland said he plans on signing both after they nearly helped Detroit knock off eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago in the Western Conference semifinals.

"I haven't really begun" negotiating, Holland said Friday night after the Development Camp scrimmage at Centre Ice Arena. "I talked with Nyguist's agent Monday or Tuesday. We haven't talked since. I played telephone tag with Andersson's agent.

"If somebody puts in an offer sheet, we'll match."

Nyquist and Andersson teamed with Damien Brunner to give the Red Wings a formidable third line down the stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs, when Detroit eliminated No. 2 seed Anaheim in seven games during the first round of the Western Conference playoffs before losing in overtime of Game 7 against the Blackhawks.

Nyquist had three goals and three assists in 22 regular-season games while Andersson had three goals and five assists in 38 games.

During the playoffs, Nyquist had two goals and three assists in 14 games while Andersson had a goal and four assists.

As for Brunner, an unrestricted free agent, he turned down two- and three-year contract offers from the Red Wings before free agency began and his career in Detroit is almost certainly over after one season.

"It appears so," Holland said. "Yeah."

Brunner, 27, was seeking $3.5 million per season, far more than the Red Wings want to give to a player with barely a half-season of NHL experience.

Like Brunner, Daniel Cleary is an unrestricted free agent. Cleary wants to return to Detroit for a ninth season but the Red Wings would have to clear some salary cap space to re-sign him.

Is his stay in Detroit done as well?

"I don't know that it's done," Holland said. "We were just talking about it. We'd love to have him on the team. We think he's a versatile player. I made him an offer prior to free agency. He didn't think it was enough.

"If we wake up in the next two days and he's signed (by another team), I'd certainly understand. If he stays out there and he's available and we're able to do some things, then we might have something for him."