I don't know what you expect out of Quincey. I thought he played very solid as a stay-at-home, defensive D-man last year. No, he's not a great puck-mover or someone who will do anything offensively. But I can barely remember him costing us a goal against the entire season. All I remember is safe, under-the-radar defensive play, with the occasional GREAT defensive play or surprising physicality thrown in.
I'm not an advanced stats guru, but Q also had the best individual Fenwick and Corsi among our d-men, the lowest GA/60 among our regular d-men, the best GF% of our regular d-men... he must have been something right. Not to mention he was 3rd in points among our d-men and 2nd in +/- at +10. All these stats seem to confirm what my thoughts were after watching all Red Wings games last season; Quincey was solid.
Honestly, part of it is that Quincey (imo) is played out of position and with too many minutes. His being third on the team D in points is a symptom of what's been wrong more than what he does right, because we haven't been getting nearly enough production, or even just good puck movement, from our D. however, as Frk It points out, the only that Quincey has looked good with has been Dekeyser, so...I'm not sure what we can really do with the guy.
I want our second pairing to be more than something where we're happy if they don't hurt us. I don't think that happens with Quincey on that pairing, and with the makeup of our blueline and the kids we have knocking on the door, I don't really like him on the third pairing. I also don't see Quincey as a long term answer for us, so moving him and getting a better look at a kid has appeal for that, too.
The dman who plays 15ish minutes of decent defense while having a bunch of PK time has been a position/role lambasted and undervalued by Detroit fans for years.
Quincey (and Ericsson actually) the past few years.
Stuart before that.
Lilja before that.
Chelios' last few before that.
Fischer's first couple years before that.
Macoun before that.
Those roles always have terrible counting stats and the only time you ever really notice those players is when they're getting beat. They are always, always, always the spots people want cleared out so some prospect or other gets that IT. Some guy who has 'upside'.
Those spots are so vital to be filled and filled correctly that entire teams have folded up like cheap tents when they weren't.
What Quincey and E have done, much like what those guys before them did, has been/is being drastically undervalued by fans. Back in the early '00's Detroit just ran Lidstrom or Chelios out there for 5+ a night on the PK, and then took only 3 penalties a game. Absent that security blanket it is unbelievably important to have people who can relieve the constant, draining pressure of a PK from guys like Kronwall and Dekeyser.
Detroit's been bad enough offensively from the blue line. How much worse do you think it would get if Kronwall and Dekeyser had to get their butts kicked 4+ a night on the PK? How much ES time would that cost them in exchange? How many more injuries?
You have to have those guys, and they have to be effective in that role. That is absolutely not something you can trust the vast majority of prospects to handle.
Except Quincey doesn't eat PK minutes. Who were our top2 PK guys last year? Kronwall and Dekeyser. Ericsson was third. So, we dump Quincey and replace our #4 PK D with Marchenko/Smith/whoever. And our PK finished average, again, so changing our PK isn't exactly a high risk venture.
Stuart was loved here until his play noticeably slipped towards the end of his tenure.
Chelios was a 12 minute a night guy his last year here and didn't eat any minutes of note.
Macoun and Lilja were 16 minute guys with their PK included.
Fischer was loved because he was huge, young, and had gobs of upside.
Quincey (and Ericsson) get ragged on now because they should be 16-18 minute a night, second pairing PK guys, but are played out of position.
Also, the league seems to have been trending to less special teams play for the past three or four seasons. Unless they have another "crackdown" on something, we're not going to have to worry about anyone being out there for 4+ minutes. Kronwall, Dekeyser, and Ericsson would continue to be put out there for around three minutes a night and a couple of other guys will mop up the rest.
Quincey isn't undervalued because he does a job people don't appreciate, Quincey is bagged on because he plays too many minutes in a job he hasn't been well suited for.
