Red Wings land Daniel Alfredsson, Stephen Weiss

Helene St. James | USA TODAY Sports

Daniel Alfredsson and Stephen Weiss echoed each other Friday afternoon as they discussed why the Detroit Red Wings hold so much appeal.

For both Alfredsson, 40, and Weiss, 30, it came down to joining the one team that makes the NHL playoffs season after season, to help push them toward another Stanley Cup.

"I've played 18 years and I haven't won the Stanley Cup," Alfredsson said. "That's my dream. I had an opportunity to talk to a couple of teams. Everybody knows Detroit's goal is always to be at the top of the game and to win championships. I'm really excited to get this opportunity at this stage of my career, to go for a Stanley Cup and pursue a long-time dream."

Weiss said, "coming from Florida, and being there for 10 years, only playing in the playoffs one time - it was a pretty easy decision to come and play for the Red Wings organization. It's been a culture of winning over the years. Their goal every year is to win a Stanley Cup and to come to a team and be a part of that is really exciting.

"I'm thrilled to be given this opportunity to come to this team."

Alfredsson agreed to a one-year deal worth as much as $5.5 million with bonuses. Weiss agreed to five years, $24.5 million.

Alfredsson has spent his entire career with the Ottawa Senators, but when he became an unrestricted free agent this week, he opted to look elsewhere.

The Red Wings are an ideal fit for many reasons: Alfredsson is a skilled right winger who shoots right, something the team lacks. He's Swedish, which never hurts in joining a team that already boasts seven countrymen. Alfredsson was teammates with Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg on the Swedish national team, including the 2006 team that won gold at the Torino Games.

In response to the Alfredsson signing, Zetterberg told Sweden's Aftonbladet that, "this is fantastic. Alfie was the last Swede I expected to be playing with over here, it's really surprising, but I'm really looking forward to having him as a teammate.

"We played together in the national team a couple of times, especially on the power play. I expect we'll be together on the PP in Detroit as well and he's gonna be a great addition there.

"I believe he's got a great chance of winning the Cup with us. And if we do, there's no debate anymore on who I'll give the Cup to ...."

Weiss, on the other hand, gives the Wings the No. 2 center they badly wanted, someone who will allow them to play Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk on the same line.

Alfredsson's deal, with a salary cap hit of $3.5 million, is heavy on bonuses that can, if needed, be deferred to 2014-15, when the salary cap will rise above next season's $64.3 million.

Alfredsson and Weiss give Detroit 14 forwards under contract for next season, a number that will grow by two when restricted free agents Joakim Andersson and Gustav Nyquist are re-signed. There are numerous questions, though, that hang over that current roster, including whether Darren Helm and Mikael Samuelsson will be able to play next season after both spent almost all of last season injured.

Alfredsson, who has been Ottawa's captain since 1999, has played 17 seasons for the Senators, who picked him in the sixth round in 1994. He has 426 goals and 682 assists for 1,108 points in 1,178 career games. He has 51 goals and 49 assists for 100 points in 122 playoff games.

Weiss has spent his whole career with the Florida Panthers, who made him the fourth overall pick in the 2001 NHL draft (he played locally for the Plymouth Whalers in his youth). Weiss has 145 goals and 249 assists in 654 games, along with five points in seven playoff games.

Helene St. James writes for the Detroit Free Press, a Gannett property

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