Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

At least two players won't be back with the Detroit Red Wings next season.

General manager Ken Holland told the Free Press today that he told "Brad Richards and Kyle Quincey that I definitely won't sign them before July 1, if at all." Both will be unrestricted free agents come July.

Neither is a surprise. Richards, 36, was signed last summer, for one year at $3 million, to bring scoring and playoff experience. He contributed just 10 goals among 28 points in 68 regular-season games and had one goal and a minus-4 rating in five playoff games.

Quincey, 30, was a good, steady defender, and his departure is more of a numbers situation. The Wings are looking for an upgrade on defense in light of Niklas Kronwall showing a decline thanks to a bad knee, and they also have several prospects waiting. Xavier Ouellet is penned in for next year's squad, but Ryan Sproul and Nick Jensen also are out of waiver exemptions, so the Wings need to make decisions on what to do with them.

Among the other pending UFAs, Holland said he has talked a few times with forward Drew Miller, whose season ended with an injury in January, and wants to do the same with Darren Helm to see whether the sides see a fit going forward.

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