Claypool
Registered User
- Jan 12, 2009
- 13,670
- 4,352
Since 2006 the Detroit Red Wings have drafted a total of 25 defensemen. The group has played 592 NHL games for Detroit scoring 127 combined points. (Note: I’m not include Danny DeKeyser since he was not drafted).
Here’s a breakdown of the top five defensemen in games played and points:
Brendan Smith – 291 GP - 67 Points
Alexey Marchenko – 110 GP – 19 Points
Nick Jensen – 57 GP – 17 Points
Xavier Ouellet – 104 GP – 16 Points
Ryan Sproul – 57 GP – 7 Points
When we talk about the Red Wings current struggles this is the main point of contention. Not only has this team been unsuccessful in drafting a top pairing defenseman since 2006, they haven’t been able to draft a legitimate top 4 defenseman. I believe Smith is a quality third pairing guy at best on a contending team. He was too high in Detroit’s lineup.
The group of Mattias Backman, Ryan Sproul, Xavier Ouellet, Nick Jensen, Brendan Smith, and Alexey Marchenko was a complete and utter flop.
Management better hope Filip Hronek, Dennis Cholowski, Jordan Sambrook, and Vili Saarijarvi all fare much better in the NHL that the previous group.
Here’s a breakdown of the top five defensemen in games played and points:
Brendan Smith – 291 GP - 67 Points
Alexey Marchenko – 110 GP – 19 Points
Nick Jensen – 57 GP – 17 Points
Xavier Ouellet – 104 GP – 16 Points
Ryan Sproul – 57 GP – 7 Points
When we talk about the Red Wings current struggles this is the main point of contention. Not only has this team been unsuccessful in drafting a top pairing defenseman since 2006, they haven’t been able to draft a legitimate top 4 defenseman. I believe Smith is a quality third pairing guy at best on a contending team. He was too high in Detroit’s lineup.
The group of Mattias Backman, Ryan Sproul, Xavier Ouellet, Nick Jensen, Brendan Smith, and Alexey Marchenko was a complete and utter flop.
Management better hope Filip Hronek, Dennis Cholowski, Jordan Sambrook, and Vili Saarijarvi all fare much better in the NHL that the previous group.