Xavier Oullet to be bought out

[yave1964]

 

 

 

Defenseman Xavier Oullet was bought out by the Wings today by the Wings saving a little over a million dollars a year for each of the next two seasons.  Oullet wasn't bad, not really he is just a throwback to another time when slow big hard hitting defenders who killed penalties and took defensive zone faceoffs were more of a thing, todays game his lack of speed killed him. He was beat out last year by Nick Jensen and couldn't ever get a foothold in the lineup, he mostly played when someone was injured or Kronwall needed a night off in the second game of back to backs. The Wings have several creative offers in place to Mike Green who they would like to keep and the extra million they save may be directed his way if he receives an offer elsewhere that they need to match or even better.

 Right now, the Wings defense is:

Dekeyser; offense slid last year, but he did tighten up defensively.

Daley; decent first year in Detroit. Not the worst player in the world.

Kronwall; on one leg he is probably still the best offensive defender. This is not a compliment as he has been slowing down for years.

Ericsson; Stay at home defender, wishing he would do that, just stay home in Sweden but he has 2 years left on his deal.

Jensen; really fast but horrible technique. 

 

And?

  Rookie former first rounder Dennis Cholowski is going to be given every chance to win a spot in the rotation a two way defender who is known for great vision and a hard accurate pass and shot. 

  Filip Hronek, a former second rounder was brilliant at Grand Rapids last year and they would love for he and Cholo to both make the team forcing Jensen into the 7th D role. Hronek has great technique on defense and a bit of offense as well. He was Grand Rapids best d-man last year as a 19 year old.

 Ville Saarijarvi is too short and too thin and struggled with the Griffins and at one point was demoted to the Toledo Walleye to find his game. a third rounder a few years ago he has progressed glacially slow.

 Finally Joe Hicketts, a sparkplug of a defender, a Brett Lebda type who can move the puck a little but hits like a ton of bricks on defense is in the mix as well.

 

  So really, it isn't thaaaat bad, there is some talent coming in the near future or even in the now, the problem is the forwards are miles ahead of where the defense is right now especially after this past draft.

 

  It is possible that a forward with value such as Nyquist or even Mantha is moved for a defender, Faulk from Carolina is someone I have been hoping for years to see wearing the winged wheel and they are actively shopping him for a scoring forward, Tanev in Vancouver is supposedly available in the right deal, there isn't much among the free agents which is why I doubt we are able to keep Green.John Moore maybe as an UFA, he isn't very good but he don't hurt you any. Jack Johnson may want to move closer to his parents, Nick Holden can play a little.Hamhuis was let go by the Stars but can still keep the puck out of his own net.Tobias Enstrom and the Jets are moving on, De Haan is pretty good for the second pair, Ian Cole has done a decent job. Overall not much to pick from so a trade to improve or ride it out and hope that Hronek and Cholo can step right in and bring youthful offense.

 

  Quickly an aside on Jensen, yeah he is quick, yeah he is probably the fastest defenseman on the team but he has this ugly move that I haven't even seen anyone else make, when in spite of his speed someone with moves gets past him (often) he literally tries to dive back into the play and goes sliding past the shooter sometimes even bumping Howard along the way, the shooter patiently waits for Jensen to go sliding by on his belly then fires a shot one on one with the goalie. I saw this over a dozen times last year, at first I thought great hustle, great trying to get back into the play but the more I saw it the worse it looked. Speed but if you get him skating backwards he is easy to get around then belly flop city. okay as a 7th defender but really a pretty awful hockey player.

 

  So I would like to see a forward, Nyquist being first choice, Athanasiou second and even dangling Mantha thrown out there to see if we can get a real offensive defender with skill. I know the price would be high but we are in position to make it happen with our new found forward depth. This is provided that Zadina, Rasmussen and Svechnikov make the team out of camp and all produce.