Nick [Nick Jr] Jensen

[The Zetterberg Era]

I have always been a big fan, but at best he is a #4 D-man.... Oh well so is DeKeyser I guess.

Glad he finally got his chance, his ability at high speed was always going to help him at the NHL level.

Given the contracts he probably needs to be protected. Right now on a lot of lists he is the most valuable guy we might be exposing to Vegas. I would rather dangle DeKeyser than him.

 

[TheOtherOne]

Big fan, hope Detroit doesn't lose him.

As far as offense is concerned, he ran the PP in college at St. Cloud.

Once he gains some more confidence I can see him laying someone in open ice.

Too bad we have so many exceptional quarterbacks ahead of him keeping him off the PP

 

[GrGriffins]

Watched him in Grand Rapids for 3 seasons and he was just an ordinary D-man here. Average PK player at best and had problems getting the puck out of our zone. When they put him on the PP unit, he could not hold the puck in the zone and he had problems deciding when to pinch in or back out of the play. He was very predictable, especially when he got the puck in his own zone. Teams would put 2 forecheckers on him and instead of passing the puck to an open man, or at least flipped it out of his zone, Nick would try to skate by them and it ended up trapping his forwards up ice and the puck would either be in the back of our net, or our goalie would have to bail him out. He had very little upside offensively. He was a good skater and he was a good "+" guy on the ice, but nothing that stood out enough for the Wings to give him a look.

With the Wings "D" this season with the injuries, inconsistent play, and the other rookies not developing fast enough, the Wings had no choice to put Jensen in and it was his one and only shot in the NHL to see if he was worth keeping around for next season or not. When he got the call up, fans here in GR were shocked as to what he did to where he played well enough to be not sent back down here for the upcoming playoffs, and ended up getting a 2 year deal from the Wings. The fans here in GR figured that Jensen would have become "Lashoff Jr" instead of Nick Jr. We are glad that Jensen took advantage of the Wings "D"emise on defense, made the most of it and got rewarded for his efforts. That is why the Griffins are here to develop what the Wings give us and make them into (hopefully) future Wings players.

 

[TheOtherOne]

So if anyone wants some additional context.

Nick Jensen has 13 points, tied for second among our defensemen. I was curious how this stacks up against the rest of the league, so I browsed NHL.com stats.

Turns out, New Jersey and Tampa Bay both have 2 players who have more than 13 points.

EVERY other team in the entire league has 3 or more defensemen with more than 13 points.

So yea in case you weren't sure how bad our defense is at offense... there ya go.

 

[Vatican Roulette]

Too bad we have so many exceptional quarterbacks ahead of him keeping him off the PP

Since you like stats, how many minutes has he played on the PP?

 

[SpookyTsuki]

he's not that great. Green is better. Ouellet is arguably on the same level and probably ends up better. He's very lucky the wings dcore is super trash

 

[Mijatovic]

I guess we all see something different. I see pretty clear difference in ability and usefulness between Jensen, Oulette, and Russo in that order.

 

[Filppula]

I really like him, and I think he looks pretty great out there.

He's a fantastic skater, and he isn't afraid to jump in and join the rush. I like the way he battles to keep pucks in the offensive zone if he senses a scoring opportunity. Plus with his skating he can quickly get back. He's also not afraid to mix it up with others, regularly engaging in physical contests, which is where Kindl would often fall apart.

So happy for him, and I think he's a very solid #4/5 for many years.

 

[TheOtherOne]

Since you like stats, how many minutes has he played on the PP?

Zero. I said that in the first post.

Okay it's like 3 but yea. What's your point again?

 

[vladdy16]

Jensen is currently the beneficiary of how peoples impressions/standards fluctuate based on timing/context.

He hasn't played in a meaningful game all year, and is logging bonus time while everyone's cynicism seems to have checked out for the year.

The reality, in my opinion, is that it's a huge struggle each game for Jensen to even threaten to tip the scale towards him being a net positive for the game.

He's got great quickness, and jumps on loose pucks and puts them or carries them into space. That about does it for the list of positives.

Giveaways are really high*, takeaways are non existent. He's a -7 on the year, with over 50% offensive zone starts, and he currently has a 14 game streak of not logging a single game with a positive plus/minus.

But that's just stats, when really the eye test is the huge head scrather for me, because for every nice breakout or rush, there's 5 shifts of giveaways, icings and spinning on the boards then collapsing towards his own net.

* Jensen has 34 giveaways in 47 games @18 min per night. Oulette has 20 in 64gp @18min. Green has 50, in 70gp @ 24min.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Jensen is currently the beneficiary of how peoples impressions/standards fluctuate based on timing/context.

He hasn't played in a meaningful game all year, and is logging bonus time while everyone's cynicism seems to have checked out for the year.

The reality, in my opinion, is that it's a huge struggle each game for Jensen to even threaten to tip the scale towards him being a net positive for the game.

He's got great quickness, and jumps on loose pucks and puts them or carries them into space. That about does it for the list of positives.

Giveaways are really high*, takeaways are non existent. He's a -7 on the year, with over 50% offensive zone starts, and he currently has a 14 game streak of not logging a single game with a positive plus/minus.

But that's just stats, when really the eye test is the huge head scrather for me, because for every nice breakout or rush, there's 5 shifts of giveaways, icings and spinning on the boards then collapsing towards his own net.

* Jensen has 34 giveaways in 47 games @18 min per night. Oulette has 20 in 64gp @18min. Green has 50, in 70gp @ 24min.

How is Marchenko doing in Toronto these days?

 

[vladdy16]

How is Marchenko doing in Toronto these days?

What's your point? I don't think I referenced Marchenko in my post.

 

[GrGriffins]

How is Marchenko doing in Toronto these days?

He is not getting hurt by watching games in the stands. That is a plus for him. Maybe they are saving him for next season already. The Leafs do not want to take a risk in him playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs fearing he might get hurt again.

 

[Reddwit]

Vegas claims him.

Doubt it. Better young defenseman will be available and Jensen has little trade value in a flip.

 

[Reddwit]

Jensen is currently the beneficiary of how peoples impressions/standards fluctuate based on timing/context.

He hasn't played in a meaningful game all year, and is logging bonus time while everyone's cynicism seems to have checked out for the year.

The reality, in my opinion, is that it's a huge struggle each game for Jensen to even threaten to tip the scale towards him being a net positive for the game.

He's got great quickness, and jumps on loose pucks and puts them or carries them into space. That about does it for the list of positives.

Giveaways are really high*, takeaways are non existent. He's a -7 on the year, with over 50% offensive zone starts, and he currently has a 14 game streak of not logging a single game with a positive plus/minus.

But that's just stats, when really the eye test is the huge head scrather for me, because for every nice breakout or rush, there's 5 shifts of giveaways, icings and spinning on the boards then collapsing towards his own net.

* Jensen has 34 giveaways in 47 games @18 min per night. Oulette has 20 in 64gp @18min. Green has 50, in 70gp @ 24min.

Jensen has been a lot better in the last streak of games that you're dogging him for. He's played up during that time and has racked up at least a couple of minuses directly because of Dekeyser.

I agree he hasn't been as great as many suggest, but all you're doing is throwing out giveaways and plus/minus (the latter not really telling us much this year).

 

[vladdy16]

Jensen has been a lot better in the last streak of games that you're dogging him for. He's played up during that time and has racked up at least a couple of minuses directly because of Dekeyser.

I agree he hasn't been as great as many suggest, but all you're doing is throwing out giveaways and plus/minus (the latter not really telling us much this year).

That's not all I'm doing! Stats are cliffnotes. Physicality, experience and the defensive zone would be the crux of my argument here.

I'm surprised you're saying Jensen has looked strong on the top pair these last few games. Quite an accomplishment for him to be there, but his game seems incomplete to me unfortunately.

 

[Reddwit]

That's not all I'm doing! Stats are cliffnotes. Physicality, experience and the defensive zone would be the crux of my argument here.

I'm surprised you're saying Jensen has looked strong on the top pair these last few games. Quite an accomplishment for him to be there, but his game seems incomplete to me unfortunately.

Oh I definitely agree his game is incomplete, but I think he's flourished on the offensive end of things playing with better forwards. His timing to jump into the play has been great lately, whereas it was pretty terrible to begin with.

As for the stats, I just think Jensen played like a spazzy Smith-esque player when he first got here and that indoctrination period skewed his year long stats.

 

[vladdy16]

Right on. If you're seeing improvement in his puck management, that's definitely something that would go a long way, so I'll keep my eye out.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Is basically the second most productive Red Wings defenseman, having played a little over half a season, with under 18 minutes per game and zero power play time.

Which admittedly isn't saying much, but it's still a nice surprise. How has he been overall? Has his ceiling or expectations changed? Will he play a bigger role next year?

Yeah, I've been a fan for a very long time. I remember reading up on him over at RWC when he was drafted and felt like he had the tools to be successful. He's definitely passed the eye test this year, as I've said before he's the "young" defenseman I have the highest hopes for as far as becoming a good NHL'er. He's just getting started too, if he gets claimed by Vegas he's going to be a very under the radar pick that will have people wondering where the hell he came from. I'm not saying he's going to be a 50 point guy, just a nice defender with really great wheels who can chip in 10 goals a year easy and play in all situations. It's laughable we didn't have room for him on our roster with all the dead puck d-men we have in the lineup.

Unfortunately it looks like Sproul is gonna go the Kindl route. I wish they'd trade him but odds are good he'll get picked up off the waiver wire as soon as next season. I hope he gets out of Detroit before his career is more or less over.