Christian-Ehrhoff

Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff is a tremendous skater who moves the puck well and logs a lot of minutes.

(The Associated Press)

DETROIT – Christian Ehrhoff has been added to the thin list of free-agent defensemen who'll be available Tuesday at noon when the market opens.

And that's great news for the Detroit Red Wings, who'll be among the teams making a pitch for him.

The Red Wings inquired about Ehrhoff at this year's trade deadline, but the Buffalo Sabres hung onto him. Now teams don't need to part with any assets to acquire Ehrhoff after the Sabres used a compliance buyout on him.

The Red Wings' top priority is a top-four defenseman. They would prefer a right-handed shooter, but options are limited.

Ehrhoff shoots left but has many of the qualities the Red Wings desire: He's a tremendous skater who moves the puck well and likes to join the rush. He can quarterback the power play. He can log a lot of minutes and play in all situations. And he has decent size (6-2, 196), though he's not particularly physical.

Ehrhoff turns 32 on July 6. He has six goals, 27 assists and a minus-27 rating in 79 games this past season.

The Sabres bought out the final seven years of Ehrhoff's contract, which had $18 million remaining. He'll be paid two-thirds of that amount over twice the remaining length of the deal ($12 million over the next 14 years).

The Red Wings would prefer to acquire a free agent due to the high cost of making a trade for a top-tier defenseman like the Arizona Coyotes' Keith Yandle or the Sabres' Tyler Myers, if he's even available anymore after this Ehrhoff move.

The Red Wings were among numerous teams that spoke to the representatives of Matt Niskanen and Dan Boyle, the top two defensemen in a weak free-agent class. Niskanen is sure to get a maximum length contract (seven years) for upwards of $6 million a year (possibly more than the Red Wings would like to spend). Boyle,who turns 38 on July 12, might seek a two-year deal for about $5.5 million a season, which would appeal to the Red Wings.

-- Download the Detroit Red Wings on MLive app for iPhone and Android

-- Follow Ansar Khan and Brendan Savage on Twitter

-- Like MLive's Detroit Red Wings Facebook page