Brad Stuart has been a pretty big piece to the Wings success in recent years ever since they acquired in him a trade with the Los Angeles Kings back in 2008 for a second and fourth round draft pick.
He’s fit in nicely to the Wings’ system, has been very effective on the blue line and has come up with some big plays.
However Stuart is in the final year of a 4 year, $15 million dollar contract with no talks taking place for an extension.
Now would the Wings like to bring Stuart back? Yes probably.
Would Stuart like to come back? I guess that’s where things get a little cloudy.
Ansar Khan of Mlive.com writes that from a hockey standpoint, Brad Stuart would love to come back to Detroit but hockey isn’t everything for him.
Stuart’s wife, two young sons and step daughter remain in San Jose and will remain in San Jose so during breaks in the schedule Stuart is often times taking a plane cross-country to see them.
This understandably has become very hard for Stuart to continue to do and may very well weigh in on his decision to sign a contract to stay with Detroit.
“It is going to be a tough decision,” Stuart said. “It’s not going to be all based on hockey and what I want for my career. It’s going to be a little bit (about) family, which is important. Those are things I still have to kind of sort out, try to figure out what’s going to be best for everyone.”
“I’ve loved playing here, loved everything about being here, so that’s not a problem,” Stuart said. “It’s just that I have a difficult situation I have to deal with, with the living arrangements. It’s something I have to figure out in the next few months.”
He added, “I’m sure in the next few weeks I’ll probably chat with Ken (general manager Holland) a little bit about it, but that’s really as far as it’s gone.”
“But, at the same time, as an organization, they got to look to the future and have to plan, so I understand if they want to know or at least get an idea before that,” Stuart said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Now given where the Wings are in the standings and the fact that they are a big contender to win the Cup this year they are more than likely not going to trade Stuart at the trade deadline. However like many players who have jumped at the opportunity to play in Detroit, it’s going to be difficult to lock up Stuart to a contract extension this offseason.
Ref: Mlive.com, NHL.com, SI.com (image)
