Flip Senior On His Way to Detroit

Often bereft of compatriates to play with, Valtteri Fippula was a lonely Fin after the departure of 2nd Finnish player in Red Wings history, Ville Leino. His loneliness won't last long however, with Ken Holland's signing of his older brother, Ilari Filppula to a one-year, two-way $500k contract.

From Ansar Khan at mlive:

The Detroit Red Wings have signed 28-year-old Finnish free-agent forward Ilari Filppula, the older brother of Valtteri Filppula."

He adds some depth to our organization,'' Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill said. "His career has blossomed in the last 2-3 years. He was one of the better players in Finland. It's time to see if he can play in the best league in the world.''

Ilari is a 28-year old winger, who also has the versatility to move to center when needed. He has spent his entire professional career in the Finnish SM-Liiga, playing for JYP, Jokerit Helsinki and most recently TPS Turku where his club won the Finnish Championship and he earned himself the Jari Kurri trophy as the playoff MVP.

Filppula is 5'11", 191lbs and last season with TPS, he tallied 12 goals and 37 assists in 58 games but was a minus-3 despite leading his team in scoring. He's said to be a good playmaker but doesn't skate as well as his younger brother, Valtteri.