The Detroit Red Wings have signed forward J.T. Compher to a five-year contract with an AAV of $5.10 million.

Compher was able to take advantage of his pre-UFA season, posting a career-high 52 points in 82 games. Prior to that, he had never reached the 35-point mark since debuting with the Avalanche in the 2016-17 season. The increase in points was all assists, as Compher recorded 35 assists in 2022-23 when his previous career best was 20 assists (in 2019-20). Injuries and the departure of Nazem Kadri had a lot to do with Compher's increased production, as his average icetime per game increased from just over 16 minutes in 2021-22 to 20:32 in 2022-23.

Expect Compher to slot onto the Red Wings' second line behind leading scorer and team captain Dylan Larkin. The move shouldn't affect his value significantly, as he seemed to play all over the lineup for Colorado and won't be playing alongside any top-tier players for the Red Wings. The signing could move Andrew Copp down the lineup, although Copp (last season's big signing) could also moved to the wing (or Compher could move there too). The signing could also keep Joe Veleno down in the lineup as well.

Not necessarily from a fantasy perspective, Compher improve the Red Wings' team defense and also gives them a right-handed shot on faceoffs. That could help the Wings improve as a team, but fantasy teams shouldn't expect Compher to improve much – if at all – on his 52 points in 2022-23. Securing first-unit power-play time, which is probably a 50-50 proposition, will be critical for him to maintain that output.

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Players this helps, in order:

No one in particular

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Players this hurts, in order:

Veleno

Copp