Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

As soon as the NHL draft ended Saturday, the Detroit Red Wings started wooing Frans Nielsen.

And their early attention paid off, as the Dane agreed to a six-year, $31.5-million contract within minutes of today's noon opening of the free agent market.

Teams could not tender offers before today, but they could talk. And that's what general manger Ken Holland and head coach Jeff Blashill did as soon as it was allowed.

“He was our first call,” Holland told the Free Press. “Jeff and I were on the phone with Frans and his agent 15 minutes after the draft ended. He was our priority headed into free agency.”

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Privately, the Wings didn't think they'd have a shot at Steven Stamkos, figuring he'd end up staying with Tampa Bay because of how good of a situation he has there. That scenario played out Wednesday.

The other factor that made Nielsen the top target was the departure of Pavel Datsyuk, which left the Wings looking for a center.

Nielsen’s contract has a no-movement clause the first two years, followed by a limited no-trade clause. The actual salary breakdown, Holland said, is $6 million annually each of the first three years, then $5.5 million, $5 million and $3 million, respectively.

“He's a 200-foot player,” Holland said. “He can play power play, penalty kill, is good in shoot-outs. No one can replace Pavel, but we think we’ve added a legitimate No. 2 center.”

Nielsen, 32, has 119 goals and 230 assists in 606 career NHL games, all with the New York Islanders. He's known for being sound at both ends of the ice, and durable (he has missed just five games the past five seasons), and making heady plays. He’s crafty and versatile and should fit in well with the Wings’ style of up-tempo play.

Nielsen, from Herning, Denmark, has twice hit the 20-goal mark, including this past season, and he regularly flirts with 30 assists per season. His sound playmaking skills should benefit a second line with wingers such as Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and Darren Helm.

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Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.