Best, worst free agent deals

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Red Wings hits and misses in free agency since 1996

Goaltender Dominik Hasek is among several players who won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings after joining them via free agency, which hasn't been as lucrative for Detroit in recent years.

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BEST: Brett Hull, 2001

Hull passed up more lucrative offers to sign a two-year, $9-million deal with the Red Wings in pursuit of a second Stanley Cup championship. He got in his first season with Detroit, scoring 30 goals while playing all 82 regular-season games before bagging a playoff-leading 10 goals in 22 post-season games. Hull spent two more seasons in Detroit, scoring 62 goals in the regular season and three more in 16 playoff games.

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WORST: Stephen Weiss, 2013

The Red Wings signed Weiss to a five-year, $24.5-million contract in 2013 to be their second-line center. Instead, he missed much of his first season with injuries, playing just 26 games and scoring two goals. He scored nine goals during 52 games in 2014-15 and the Red Wings bought out the final three years on his deal, paying two-thirds of the $16 million he was owed.

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BEST: Joe Kocur, 1996

Add one of the best fighters in team history to the list of players who returned to Detroit late in their careers and won a championship. Kocur spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Red Wings before being traded to the Rangers. He returned to Detroit in 1996 and provided toughness on Stanley Cup-winning teams in 1997 and '98. During the two Stanley Cup runs, Kocur had five goals and three assists in 37 postseason games.

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WORST: Jordin Tootoo, 2012

Tootoo signed a three-year, $5.7-million deal in 2012 as the Red Wings tried to add some muscle to the lineup. But coach Mike Babcock eventually soured on Tootoo, who was a frequent healthy scratch while playing in 53 games over two seasons before being waived and getting a compliance buyout from the Red Wings midway through the 2013-14 season. He had three goals, six assists in 83 penalty minutes with the Red Wings.

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BEST: Marian Hossa, 2008

Hossa spent just one season with the Red Wings after signing as a free agent in 2007 for $7.4 million. But what a year it turned out to be. He led the team with 40 goals among 71 points in 74 regular-season games before getting six goals and nine assists in 23 playoff games. But Hossa left for Chicago via free agency, inking a 12-year, $62.8-million deal after the Red Wings signed Johan Franzen to an 11-year, $43.5-million extension. He won the Stanley Cup in his first year with the Blackhawks.

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WORST: Brad Richards, 2015

After helping the Chicago Blackhawks win the 2015 Stanley Cup (and reaching the Finals the previous year with the Rangers), Richards received a one-year, $3-million deal from the Red Wings. But in 68 games with the Red Wings, he scored just 10 goals, the fewest of his 15-year career. He had one goal in five playoff games. The Red Wings have no interest in bringing him back next season.

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BEST: Chris Osgood, 2005

Osgood spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Red Wings, winning Stanley Cups in 1997 and '98, before being claimed by the Islanders in the 2001 waiver draft. After three seasons with the Islanders and Blues, he returned to the Red Wings as a free agent and led them to the 2008 Stanley Cup by posting a 14-4 record, 1.55 GAA and .930 save percentage in the playoffs after replacing Dominik Hasek as the No. 1 goalie. He led them back to the Stanley Cup Finals the next year before losing in seven games to Pittsburgh.

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WORST: Carlo Colaiacovo, 2012

The veteran defenseman signed a two-year, $5-million contract in 2012 but never panned out. He suffered a shoulder injury during his first season in Detroit and played just six regular-season games. The Red Wings waived him in July 2013 before using a compliance buyout to get out of the final year of his contract. He spent the last three seasons with St. Louis, Philadelphia and Buffalo.

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BEST: Daniel Cleary, 2005

Cleary's 10 seasons with the Red Wings might not have ended on the best note but there's no denying he paid dividends for several years after signing with Detroit as a free agent in 2005. He scored at least 20 goals three times during his first five seasons and finished with 124 goals during 609 games with the Red Wings. He also helped the Red Wings win the 2008 Stanley Cup and in 111 career playoff games with Detroit had 23 goals and 49 points.

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WORST: Mike Commodore, 2011

Former coach Mike Babcock pushed for the Red Wings to sign the 6-foot-4 defenseman, who inked a one-year deal worth $1 million, but Babcock quickly soured on Commodore and made him a frequent healthy scratch. They previously butted heads in 2003, when Babcock was coaching Anaheim and Commodore was on his team. Commodore appeared in just 17 games with the Red Wings before they traded him to Tampa Bay at mid-season for a conditional seventh-round draft pick.

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BEST: Dominik Hasek, 2007

Hasek, who led the Red Wings to the 2002 Stanley Cup, returned as a free agent in 2006 hoping to get another after spending one season in Ottawa. Hasek didn't get another ring in his first season back in Detroit but he helped the Red Wings win the 2008 Stanley Cup after platooning with Chris Osgood during the regular-season. Hasek appeared in four playoff games before Osgood assumed the No. 1 job en route to Detroit's fourth championship in 11 seasons.

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WORST: Mike Modano, 2010

The Livonia native returned home at age 40 after signing a one-year, $1.25-million contract with the hope of challenging for a Stanley Cup. But he severed a tendon in his wrist after being cut by a skate blade 20 games into the season and appeared in just 40 games, scoring four goals while adding 11 assists. He appeared in two playoff games before retiring.

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BEST: Todd Bertuzzi, 2009

After originally joining the Red Wings via trade in 2007, the rugged forward returned in 2009 after signing a one-year, $1.5-million deal. He spent the next five seasons in Detroit before retiring after the 2013-14 campaign. In 308 total games with the Red Wings, Bertuzzi had 61 goals, 150 points and 263 penalty minutes. He scored at least 14 goals three times in Detroit and was plus-23 in 2011-12.

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WORST: Derian Hatcher, 2003

The Red Wings gave Hatcher a five-year deal worth $30 million but he appeared in just 15 games after a knee injury in the third game of the season sidelined him for most of the campaign. When the NHL returned after the 2004-05 season was canceled by a lockout, the Red Wings bought out the remainder of his contract under terms of the new salary cap agreement. He had four assists in the regular season and one assist in 12 playoff games for the Red Wings.

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BEST: Andreas Lilja, 2005

The defenseman from Sweden signed with the Red Wings before the 2005-06 season and spent five years in Detroit. He helped the Red Wings win the 2008 Stanley Cup but missed their return to the Finals the next season when he sat out the entire year and much of the 2009-10 season after suffering a concussion when punched by Nashville's Shea Weber. In 298 regular-season games, Lilja had seven goals, 40 assists and 315 penalty minutes. In 47 playoff games, he had one goal, two assists and 46 PIM.

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WORST: Curtis Joseph, 2002

Joseph was strong during a career that saw him play for six teams in 19 years. But he never lived up to the the three-year, $24-million contract the Red Wings gave him kn 2002 to replace Dominik Hasek. They tried to unload Joseph but had no takers after his first season, when Hasek returned to Detroit. In two seasons with the Red Wings, Joseph 50-29-9 record, 2.46 GAA and .911 save percentage during the regular season while going 4-8 in the playoffs. He was in the net when they were swept by Anaheim in the first round of the 2003 playoffs and didn't appear in the 2005 postseason.

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BEST: Brian Rafalski, 2007

Less than a year after signing with the Red Wings in 2007, Rafalski was a Stanley Cup champion. In four seasons with the Red Wings before retiring in 2011 with one year left on his contract at $6 million, Rafalski had 35 goals, 169 assists and a plus-78 rating in 292 games. He also helped them reach the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals and in 63 playoff games with the Red Wings had 12 goals, 28 assists and a plus-20 rating.

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BEST: Mikael Samuelsson, 2005

Samuelsson averaged almost 17 goals in his first four seasons with the Red Wings after joining them in 2005. He also had a plus-49 rating during that four-year stretch while getting 13 goals and 22 assists in 69 playoff games. He helped the Red Wings win the 2008 Stanley Cup and reach the Finals the next season before joining Vancouver as a free agent.

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WORST: Mikael Samuelsson, 2012

Samuelsson's second stint with the Red Wings didn't go nearly as well as the first. He returned to Detroit after signing a two-year deal worth $6 million in 2012 but in two seasons played in just 30 games largely because of injuries, getting one goal and three assists. In 2013, he appeared in five of Detroit's 14 playoff games, getting a goal and an assist, but did not play in the 2014 postseason.

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BEST: Luc Robitaille, 2001

After 13 seasons with the Kings, Penguins and Rangers, Robitaille signed a two-year, $9-million deal with the Red Wings to try and win the Stanley Cup that had eluded him for so long. He scored 30 goals during the regular season before helping the Red Wings win the 2002 Stanley Cup by getting four goals and five assists. He finished his career in Los Angeles after bagging 11 goals and 20 assists during his second and final season in Detroit.

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BEST: Steve Duchesne, 1999

Duchesne spent his final three NHL seasons with the Red Wings, retiring after helping them win the 2002 Stanley Cup. He had six assists and a plus-6 rating in 23 playoff games when the Red Wings won their third Cup in six years. In three seasons with the Red Wings, Duchesne had 19 goals and 65 assists in 197 regular-season games while collecting two goals and 14 assists in 38 playoff games.

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WORST: Ray Whitney, 2003

Whitney spent one season with the Red Wings before being bought out after play resumed following the 2004-05 lockout. They paid him $3 million 2003-04, when Whitney had 14 goals and 29 assists in 67 regular-season games before getting one goal and three assists in 12 playoff games. He signed with Carolina in 2005 and won the Stanley Cup in his first season with the Hurricanes.

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BEST: Dallas Drake, 2007

Drake began his career with the Red Wings in 1992 and finished it with them by winning the Stanley Cup in 2008 after returning to Detroit via free agency. He provided grit on the fourth line while adding one goal and three assists in 22 playoff games. During the regular season, he had three goals and three assists in 65 games.

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WORST: Uwe Krupp, 1998

Few free agents were bigger busts -- both literally and figuratively -- than the 6-foot-6 defenseman. He played in 30 games during two seasons in Detroit, getting a total of three goals, three assists and 14 penalty minutes while being sidelined by a back injury during much of his stay in Detroit. Krupp did play two games when the Red Wings won the 2002 Stanley Cup.

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BEST: Fredrik Olausson, 2001

The veteran defenseman only spent one season in Detroit but it paid off with a Stanley Cup victory in 2002. He played on the club's top defensive pairing alongside Nicklas Lidstrom, getting two goals and four assists in the playoffs after recording two goals and 13 assists in 47 regular-season games.