«Детройт Рэд Уинз» пополнили свою оборону российским защитником Данилой Марковым, подписав с ним однолетний контракт на $2.5 миллиона долларов. 

В прошедшем сезоне Маркова преследовали травмы (лодыжка, колено, пах) из-за которых он провел всего 58 матчей за «Нэшвилл Прэдаторс», зарегистрировав 11 передач и 62 штрафные минуты. 

Всего в 472 играх НХЛ на счету Данилы 25 голов, 106 передач и 397 минут штрафного времени. 

Wings lure a rugged defenseman // Detroit News

But former Predator Markov has experienced injury problems because he plays a physical style.

Ted Kulfan / The Detroit News

Danny Markov
# Born: July 30, 1976, in Moscow
# Height/weight: 6-1/190
# Shoots: Right
# Notable: He played in all eight of Russia's games at the 2006 Olympics. … For his career, he has been in 472 regular-season games, with 25 goals and 106 assists. He has 397 penalty minutes. … In 63 playoff games, he has two goals and 12 assists, with 71 penalty minutes.
Red Wings 2006-07 schedule

 DETROIT -- The Red Wings on Wednesday added the defenseman they've been seeking.

Danny Markov, who will turn 30 on Sunday, signed a one-year deal worth approximately $2.2 million. He played in 59 games with the Predators last season and had 11 assists and no goals.

But it's not offense the Wings were looking for from Markov, but a tough defensive presence.

"He's tough to play against," general manager Ken Holland said. "He has a reputation as an agitator, and he brings a different dimension to our team. He's a top-four defenseman who can play a lot of minutes, and we expect he'll be a good fit for our team."

Markov has been slowed by injuries throughout his career and missed time last season because of ankle, knee and groin problems.

One reason for the injuries, though, is Markov's physical style. He loves to make highlight-reel hits, he's good at blocking shots and he is known as one of the gritty players in the league.

"He gets hurt because of the way he plays," Holland said.

The Wings will be Markov's sixth team, and fifth in the last five years. He played for the Maple Leafs, Coyotes, Hurricanes, Flyers and Predators.

Said Holland: "If Danny finds that this is a situation he likes, and we like the way he fits in, we told them (Markov and his agent) we would talk about a longer deal."

Markov joins Nicklas Lidstrom, Mathieu Schneider, Niklas Kronwall, Chris Chelios, Andreas Lilja and Brett Lebda on defense. Markov likely will be in that corps with Lidstrom, Schneider and Kronwall. Chelios, Lilja and Lebda will share the third pairing.