In the Wings Defense......

[yave1964]

I have been hyper critical of Ken Holland for hitting his snooze on July first and sleeping through the free agent frenzy, missing out on Niskanen, Erhoff, ect... and returning the same bunch of d-men that were pedestrian last season. Taking a deep breath and attempting to take a fair and impartial look at what we have on the blue line, it really is not that bad.

Kronwall returns as the leading scorer for the club, a solid puck moving player who has an overrated rep as a hitter (he has not laid anyone out in two years since Lidstrom retired) who gets pushed around in the defensive zone a fair amount. Offensive Acumen I say is top shelf, defensively average.

Ericsson is his partner on the top pair, health is the biggest concern. He has developed defensively into a top pair shut down guy, solid, he is technically sound. Offense is average, a good first pass and he is solid in his own zone, uses his size and skill well.

Dekeyser is the wild card, he showed flashes last season of becoming a top pair all around blueliner. Confident, skilled, his game is improving at lightning speed. Offensively he has room to grow but showed flashes, defensively he is already proving he has earned top four minutes and possibly more.

Quincey. Sigh. Okay he isn't THAT bad, he covers his own zone well, he kills penalties and he does not allow himself to be rushed off the puck, he makes the occasional bad decision which winds up in the back of the net but for the most part he is okay. Nothing fancy, just okay. No real offensive ability, his defense is average or ever so slightly above.

Lashoff. An average AHL d-man, nothing more. He plays because Babcock likes his size and because of injuries. No offensive ability whatsoever, terrible with the puck, defensively, he is okay, slightly below Quincey. A poor mans Kyle Quincey, God help us all.

Brendan Smith Showed flashes of offensive talent last year, a late bloomer. lives in Babcock's doghouse. Babs has tired of poor outlet passes and has forced him to clear along the boards or lose ice time, to the point where opponents have read this and scamper to the wall when the puck is on his stick. Still young, showed a solid point shot and offensive ability when allowed to roam. Defensively, still a work in progress.

Kindl took a massive step back last year, afraid of the puck, his confidence was shot early and he never recovered. No offensive ability, noen at all, defensively he is big but plays a small mans game. Reactive rather than attacking, an awful year last year. Most likely to be replaced by one of the kids.

Sproul I watch a lot of Griffins games, more than I should, I got to the point where I love this kid. A heavy shot and at 6 foot 4 a big son of a gun, he will get ice time in the NHL this year and wont embarrass himself. Has the advantage of being a righthanded shot which the Wings are desperate for.

Marchenko Until he got hurt last year he was showing signs of being another late round steal for the Wings. Offensively still a work in progress but six foot two and thick, still learning North American game.

Oullet Babcock raves about this guy, though the truth is I havent been impressed by what I have seen. Average size, lots of speed, technically sound in his own zone, very little offensive ability. I don't know, better than Lashoff, probably more upside than Quincey, I personally would go with Sproul over him any day of the week. Babs loves him though and he knows a lot more than I ever will so we will see....

So. IMHO this is how I would shake it out, barring a trade.

Kronwall/Ericsson above average top pairing

Dekeyser/Smith Make or break year for Smith, move him up with a real partner, see what happens

Sproul/Quincey Pair the kid with the Vet, gives offense in all three pairs

Lashoff as boring 7th d-man who knows his role

Kindl, if anyone wants him take him. Please.

Oullet and Marchenko ready to step in if Sproul/Smith falter

Not horrible, don't get me wrong, I would have loved to have added a Boyle or one of the other vets to give the kids another year on the farm, but it didn't happen. The rumor right now is the Wings are considering a Jurco to Boston for Boychuk, which would change everything. But as it stands right now, this isn't the worst defense in the league.

[jammer2]

@yave1964  There is some obvious holes, but this defense is better than most in the NHL. The keys should be how Smith advances and whether Spoul can knock out an incumbent. Overall though, good group of guys.

[WingNut722]

@yave1964

 

Good write up.  Agree on most of your points, but I think you were a little overly generous to Quincey.  I don't think he's even THAT good.  Like @jammer2 said, there are some holes...big ones.  So this season's status is going to fall on Jimmy Howard.  I'm hoping he spent some time in a Buddhist monastery trying to find his happy place.  As long as the offense stays healthy, they'll be enough Goals For to win games (not a ton, but enough), so Howard just has to let fewer between the pipes.  The press right now indicates that Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Weiss are all healthy and feeling very good.

 

So....Alfie.  What's it gonna be?  Bet or fold!

[yave1964]

@WingNut722

The problem with the Wings defense is that every single player, without exception has a glaring weakness and they have been exploited by other teams. Kronwall gets pushed around, Ericsson is big but is injury prone. Quincey and Kindl? Ugh. Smith makes too many bad passes. Dekeyser is a work in progress.

I am not saying that they don't have strengths, but with only three exceptions, (IMHO) Kronwall, Ericsson and Dekeyser the weaknesses outnumber the strengths. Lashoff is not an NHLer, Kindl barely is, Quincey is a bottom pair veteran, Smith, whom I love has one good game in three, one average one and one horrible one. Not saying we need a Lidstrom (though that would be nice, lol) but we need a defenseman who may have some warts but who brings more to the table than what we have now.

My choice, pure and simple would be big Buff. Yes he is slow and can be timed with a sundial. But he has a heavy shot, runs a power play like nobody else, his strengths are STRENGTHS, yes he has weaknesses but I would love to see him in the winged wheel.