Waived: Danny DeKeyser

[Preposterone]

When a player is claimed is there any compensatory picks provided or is the claiming team free since the salary of the player is being claimed? For some reason I was thinking the claiming team had to give up a draft pick but not seeing anything online and believe I am wrong in that regard.

Nah there is just a small fee paid by the team claiming a player

 

[PettersonHughes]

Is Dekeyser done? Been reading up on his 2020 season and seemed like he had a back injury, but has he looked awful? The blueline in my team has not gelled well (Hughes really needs a stable defense partner in particular), could Danny still have some top-4 caliber play in him still in the NHL? (if the Wings are down, we can swap washed up vets, e.g. Loui and a 4th for Dekeyser; most of Loui's contract was front-loaded and in a defensive role he can still hold his own; and you'd also get a pick for taking on an extra $1 million per season; same term length as DD).

 

[cjm502]

Is Dekeyser done? Been reading up on his 2020 season and seemed like he had a back injury, but has he looked awful? The blueline in my team has not gelled well (Hughes really needs a stable defense partner in particular), could Danny still have some top-4 caliber play in him still in the NHL? (if the Wings are down, we can swap washed up vets, e.g. Loui and a 4th for Dekeyser; most of Loui's contract was front-loaded and in a defensive role he can still hold his own; and you'd also get a pick for taking on an extra $1 million per season; same term length as DD).

DD is an average two way second pairing dman who usually goes about his work quietly. I think his usefulness completely depends on his injury situation. Hes playing on one leg right now and from the sounds of it he has a ways to go before hes 100% if he can actually even get back to it.

 

[FabricDetails]

Kind of hoping this is just an extended conditioning stint. Didn't really think he was in the "completely washed" realm.

 

[SirloinUB]

Is Dekeyser done? Been reading up on his 2020 season and seemed like he had a back injury, but has he looked awful? The blueline in my team has not gelled well (Hughes really needs a stable defense partner in particular), could Danny still have some top-4 caliber play in him still in the NHL? (if the Wings are down, we can swap washed up vets, e.g. Loui and a 4th for Dekeyser; most of Loui's contract was front-loaded and in a defensive role he can still hold his own; and you'd also get a pick for taking on an extra $1 million per season; same term length as DD).

He was playing solid hockey previous to the back injury but taking a year off is tough. Currently, his speed and strength just aren’t where they need to be for him to be effective. Based off Blashill’s comments I believe waiving him is about giving him an opportunity to work on his strength and game speed on the taxi squad/In Grand Rapids. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him spend 3 weeks or so working on building himself back up. After that, it would be anybody’s guess on how effective he can be.

 

[raymond23]

Is Dekeyser done? Been reading up on his 2020 season and seemed like he had a back injury, but has he looked awful? The blueline in my team has not gelled well (Hughes really needs a stable defense partner in particular), could Danny still have some top-4 caliber play in him still in the NHL? (if the Wings are down, we can swap washed up vets, e.g. Loui and a 4th for Dekeyser; most of Loui's contract was front-loaded and in a defensive role he can still hold his own; and you'd also get a pick for taking on an extra $1 million per season; same term length as DD).

DeKeyser is a LD and he's not going to fix your problems. Unfortunately he looks done since returning. His mobility isn't there anymore which was probably his best asset in his prime plus he just looks lost out there.

 

[Retire91]

I hope a team claims him this would be a great way to get Dekyzer off the roster but I doubt anyone touches that contract.

Not really interested in glachenyuk but if they do pick him up he almost makes league minimum for one year so its not a huge risk. I just don't want to become a collective dumping ground of mediocre vets like Granger.

 

[MBH]

the part about the guys in Detroit are super curious about him makes me think we might actually be bringing this guy in.

I think guys might be curious to know if he's getting raked for announcing political views.

 

[MBH]

Is Dekeyser done? Been reading up on his 2020 season and seemed like he had a back injury, but has he looked awful? The blueline in my team has not gelled well (Hughes really needs a stable defense partner in particular), could Danny still have some top-4 caliber play in him still in the NHL? (if the Wings are down, we can swap washed up vets, e.g. Loui and a 4th for Dekeyser; most of Loui's contract was front-loaded and in a defensive role he can still hold his own; and you'd also get a pick for taking on an extra $1 million per season; same term length as DD).

He looks like he aged 10 years over night.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Hoping DDK has full recovery so we can trade by TDL.

 

[jaster]

Surprised but not surprised. Surprised because I hadn't considered waiving him. Not surprised because, by all accounts regarding his health, it makes total sense. He appears to be in the midst of a very long recovery period in an effort to return to being NHL-caliber. Either he:

A) returns to relevance before his contract is up and once again plays some meaningful games for Detroit

B) doesn't return to relevance and finishes out his career as a Quad-A type, never quite getting over the hump again

C) doesn't return to relevance and winds up LTIRetired sometime in the next 14 months

Either way, I don't see a scenario where he gets claimed tomorrow, picked in the expansion draft, or traded. I also don't see a scenario where he sticks around the organization beyond his current contract. I hope for his sake he accomplishes option A and signs somewhere else after next season.

 

[SoupGuru]

DeKeyser's main assets are reading plays and positioning along with some decent mobility and has a good stick. Basically, he knows where to go defensively all the time. This injury limits his ability to be effective when he gets there.

 

[LeftWingLocked]

Dekeyser was another head scratching huge contract by Holland. He will be fine. He's made over $30 mil in his career and still has another guaranteed year next season.

 

[Henkka]

Nice move that they are gonna rehab him at AHL, and promoting some kid like Lindström instead of him.

 

[Henkka]

Dekeyser was another head scratching huge contract by Holland. He will be fine. He's made over $30 mil in his career and still has another guaranteed year next season.

Nothing wrong on the contract. Injuries have changed the fate. It wasn't anything exrtaordiray for an aging vet. Deal included his projected prime. DeKeyser will be 32 at next year when the contract does end. Think this deal was timed right when signed. Optimal term.

 

[Henkka]

Is Dekeyser done? Been reading up on his 2020 season and seemed like he had a back injury, but has he looked awful?

He was outplayed by 6 better defencemen, pretty much.

 

[Henkka]

Any difference in Team Stats with and without DeKeyser?

Point-%
Frist 10 games: 0.300 (30th) First 10 games were with DeKeyser
Last 6 games: 0.333 (23rd) last 6 are without DeKeyser

Team CF% (all situations)
First 10 games: 48.60 (20th best)
Last 6 games: 48.19 (19th best)

Team GF% (all situations)
First 10 games: 36.36 (30th)
Last 6 games: 44.83 (21st)

Team xGF% (all situations)
First 10 games: 49.39 (19th best)
Last 6 games: 47.24 (20th best)

Team CF% (5-on-5)
First 10 games: 46.94 (26th best)
Last 6 games: 47.44 (19th best) without DeKeyser

Team GF% (5-on-5)
First 10 games: 40.00 (29th best)
Last 6 games: 50.00 (16th best) without DeKeyser

Team xGF% (5-on-5)
First 10 games: 46.51 (25th best)
Last 6 games: 49.16 (17th best) without DeKeyser

In general, all Team stats have been better without him.
The biggest difference is at 5-on-5 stats and on Goals For/Against. All situations GF% indicates about a weak special teams he participated. Was also on the PP, but PK was his bread and butter.

EDIT:

Some extra. Didn't find penalty kill percentages, but here's PK GAA

Team PK GAA
First 10 games: 13.81 (30th best)
Last 6 games: 4.66 (13th best) without DeKeyser

Penalty kill has improved drastically.

Last 6 games it has been mostly:

Nielsen - Glendening
Staal - Nemeth

Helm - Namestnikov
Merril - Hronek

Frist 10 games it was:
Bertuzzi - Glendening
Nemeth - Hronek

Filppula - Namestnikov
DeKeyser - Staal

Think they already took DeKeyser off from the PK before the 10-game mark. Stecher was there instead, mostly the role has gone to MErrill.

 

[jaster]

^- Sample size is too small to mean anything.

The important factor is the known problem wit his health. That's why he's not been playing, not because of any "with and without" comparison.

 

[Henkka]

^- Sample size is too small to mean anything.

How about eye-test. He looked weak and bad especially net-front. Mostly lost battles for loose pucks.

Or are you saying that he was good and should have a big role on the roster?

 

[jaster]

How about eye-test. He looked weak and bad especially net-front. Mostly lost battles for loose pucks.

Or are you saying that he was good and should have a big role on the roster?

No, I'm definitely not saying he should have a bigger role. I think waiving him is probably the right decision.

In a sample that small, the eye test is much more important, yes. He didn't pass it. But even more importantly is the knowledge of his sub-optimal health. If everything we've read is true, he shouldn't be playing NHL minutes, even if the stat comparison above was showing we are better with him.

 

[GreatGordie9]

Hoping DDK has full recovery so we can trade by TDL.

Danny will clear waivers and either will end up on the taxi squad or go down to GR for conditioning and a few games. Nobody will want Danny's contract.

 

[HoweFan]

Maybe his is the start of making room for the younger guys. It would be nice to see Lindstrom up for a bit.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Dekeyser on waivers is interesting, since he is supposedly still recovering from his back surgery.

Maybe his back injury was way worse than originally assumed?

He had herniated disks, which in itself can be a career ender. He also had surgery to remove parts of the vertebrae that were pinching on the disks.

The dude has not looked good at all this season. Very stiff, stand up skating, lots of reaching for the puck, and not in his usual skating stance (low and wide). I wouldn't be surprised if DDK calls it quits after this season.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Maybe his back injury was way worse than originally assumed?

He had herniated disks, which in itself can be a career ender. He also had surgery to remove parts of the vertebrae that were pinching on the disks.

The dude has not looked good at all this season. Very stiff, stand up skating, lots of reaching for the puck, and not in his usual skating stance (low and wide). I wouldn't be surprised if DDK calls it quits after this season.

Yeah, I think they let him rehab in GR and ultimately he ends up retiring. He had a solid career and a bad back is very difficult to recover from. I wish him a healthy recovery.

 

[Gniwder]

Maybe his back injury was way worse than originally assumed?

He had herniated disks, which in itself can be a career ender. He also had surgery to remove parts of the vertebrae that were pinching on the disks.

The dude has not looked good at all this season. Very stiff, stand up skating, lots of reaching for the puck, and not in his usual skating stance (low and wide). I wouldn't be surprised if DDK calls it quits after this season.

He should've just LTIRetired. I don't understand why he's trying to play on one leg.

My only guess on waiving him is that they plan to swap DDK and Biega, so Biega can get 4 more games to qualify for the 27/54 expansion draft rule. Biega will need another contract though, and that would mean Stecher gets protected.