Rumor: Yzerman has a deal in place with free agent defenseman.

Newly appointed Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has not been resting since it was announced that he would replace former Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland as the new head honcho in the organization.

Just this morning we reported on the fact thatYzerman was bringing another huge name from the Tampa Bay Lightning organization with him to Detroit, a huge coup for the Red Wings and a huge blow to the Lightning franchise all at once. Now it could be argued that this is something that Yzerman had in motion for quite some time now, but this next move is clearly one that he had to evaluate in short order. 

According to a report out of Finland from Ilta Sanomat it now appears that Yzerman may have also secured his first ever free agent signing as the general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. Now it has to be said that the contract has not yet officially been signed, however all indications are that 23 year old Finnish born defenseman Oliwer Kaski has agreed to become the newest member of the Red Wings organization. This is a big time move from Yzerman on many fronts. 

First and foremost adding additional talent to your blue line is always a positive and getting a 23 year old defenseman with international experience already under his belt is especially attractive. That is not all however, according to the report from Ilta Sanomat it appears that the Red Wings were just one of a number of National Hockey League organizations looking to secure the rights to Kaski, something that would indicate to me that Yzerman was able to beat out several other NHL general managers in this one. 

Kaski is coming off a brilliant season with the Pelicans of the Finnish Elite League, recording 19 goals and 32 assists from the blue line for a whopping 51 points over his 59 game season. It was by far the best season of his professional career in the Finnish Elite League and no doubt this played a big role in getting him attention from several teams around the National Hockey League. Additionally Kaski was chosen to play at the World Cup of Hockey so he already has experience playing against some of the very best the NHL has to offer.