In news that absolutely nobody saw coming...

According to one of them fancy tweets from the always reliable CapGeek, the Wings have signed Ilari Filppula, brother of Valtteri, to a one-year, two-way contract worth $500,000.

Sometimes these things make sense... but not so much in this case. Ilari is going to be 29 this year -- Valtteri's elder by three years -- usually when a brother enters the organization, they usually have an older sibling in the system. What does it mean? Late developer? Family favor? A really sneaky way to give Valtteri more money? Hm.

Other than knowing for a long time that he had an older brother who was a regular in the top Finnish league, and knowing that he looks really similar to his brother, I really don't know that much about Ilari. He just finished his seventh full season in SM-Liiga, meaning he was impressive enough to get into that league at a pretty young age. However, he never really represented Finland at any age group internationally, which most top prospects do at some point.

But he's coming off of his strongest season ever. He racked up 49 points in 58 games to lead his team, and another 14 in 15 playoff games as he captured the Jari Kurri Trophy for MVP of the playoffs. This is coming on the heels of two 20 point seasons after a 41 point season in 2006-07 -- showing a bit of inconsistency, but still that he can be a contributor, as the Finnish league is not known for it's high scoring.

By now you're asking -- can you tell me anything that doesn't come from Wikipedia or his profile on EliteProspects? Sadly, no. He's a bit of a mystery to me -- never seen him play. To be certain, he's slated for Grand Rapids, potentially as a player who can slot onto the top two lines, and potentially not look terrible in the NHL in a pinch if Detroit's younger prospects aren't panning out due to his experience on the professional circuit. His sounds like he's just an older version of Valtteri -- more of a playmaker than a scorer, probably pretty solid at both ends of the ice, not all that big.

Griffins fans should love getting some more use out of their Filppula jerseys -- one of the more popular ones I see down there. An NHLer in the making? Unlikely. But a serviceable AHL player that has shown enough promise to reward with a long look at training camp? Most definitely.

Fella's pretty popular on YouTube. I remember seeing this first one earlier in the year and pear-hops even tweeting about it, the other two are pretty nifty too.