Breaking: Huge update in Athanasiou saga

According to a report from the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James, Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland has made a personal visit to restricted free-agent Andreas Athanasiou and his agent Darren Ferris in the hopes of coming to terms on a new contract.

"I flew to Toronto to meet with Andreas and his agent. Heading back to [Traverse City],” said Holland in St. James’ report. For his part, Athanasiou seems happy with the tactic. Ferris mentioned that the meetings between the two sides were “productive” and “positive”. Whether that’s enough to get a deal done or not remains to be seen.

Athanasiou has an offer from the KHL sitting in his back pocket and could bolt for Russia if the Wings don’t come up with something better than the $1.9 million, one-year deal currently tabled.

What’s next? KHL or a trade? It’s believed that the Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens have all reached out to Holland to get a sense of what the team would want in return. Stay tuned.