The depth forward, beloved by his teammates in part for his signature "third assists," has agreed to a one year contract to remain in Detroit

A year ago today, the Detroit Red Wings added an unheralded depth forward from the now defunct Arizona Coyotes.  Next to J.T. Compher, Daniel Sprong, and Shayne Gostisbehere, Christian Fischer was hardly the splash of Detroit's free agency spending spree.  Comparison to subsequent acquisitions Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane would be even less flattering to Fischer, when it come to headlines.  However, by season's end, the affable and indefatigable Fischer, operating on a modest salary, would endear himself to the Red Wings' coaching staff and fans with his simple reliability.  Now, he's back to do it again, the ink still fresh on a one-year, $1.125 million contract.

Fischer recorded five goals and 14 assists, playing in 79 games for the Red Wings, but to measure his impact in scoring would be to entirely miss the point.  He is a hard-working forechecker, self-sacrificial penalty killer, and reliable defender, endearing himself to those around him for his relentless effort. 

 "The guys love Christian," said Derek Lalonde of Fischer after a March victory over the Sabres. "He plays the right way. Obviously, they had the [Tage] Thompson assignment tonight, and their job was not to get scored, and for them to get a goal the way they did—second effort, zone time, below the goal line—[was] very up-lifting."

Fischer also jokingly coined the term "third assist" to explain the little plays he makes that don't show up in a more conventional statistical accounting of the game.   “Not even just me — there’s so many guys that do such little plays on the ice,” he explained to THN Feb. 9. “A lot of the stuff comes from the D zone just interrupting a pass or getting the puck out on the wall, so many things that lead to the end result. I think that’s kind of the cliche third assist. … You look at almost all of our goals, there’s probably another guy that deserves a lot of the credit.”

Fischer won't be anywhere near the top of the Red Wings' scoring leaderboard at the end of the 2024-25 season, but that fact has nothing to do with his impact and value, which Detroit should be pleased to return for another campaign.

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