Franzen Signed Through 2020...

And, no Diane Sawyer and Bill Muir had nothing to do with it...

Locking up Franzen for this length defrays the salary cap implications and keeps him happy UFN... and it gives them a shot to pay a lot over a long period to keep Hossa when his negotiations begin.

Detroit signed forward Johan Franzen ((pictured, thanks Detroit Free Press)) to an 11-year deal Saturday, keeping him off the free agent market and retaining talent that helped the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup.

"His production over the past year and a half, both regular season and playoffs, has been remarkable and we feel, at 29 years old, that he is just now entering the prime of his career," said general manager Ken Holland.

The Red Wings also kept forward Henrik Zetterberg off the market with a 12-year deal in January. They are hoping to do the same with forward Marian Hossa before he becomes a free agent this summer.

The team said the deal for Franzen, known as Mule, is the second-longest in team history, behind Zetterberg's. Terms were not disclosed.

Franzen, who is in his fourth NHL season, led Detroit with 34 goals. His 59 points trailed only Pavel Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Hossa. After averaging 11 goals in his first two seasons, Franzen had 27 goals last year in the regular season and 13 in the playoffs to help Detroit win the Stanley Cup.

Franzen sustained a subdural hematoma that kept him out of six games of the playoffs last year. At the time, he said blood pooled between his skull and brain and took two to three weeks to be absorbed.

Franzen was a third-round pick of the Red Wings in the 2004 draft.

John Stossel would be happy with Wings' owner Mike Ilitch's manipulation of the free enterprise system.

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