Redder Winger
Registered User
- May 4, 2017
- 3,700
- 730
Ken Holland, F - Tried to rectify a massive failure by trading Tatar at the end of the year. But even that success was nullified by the failure to move Green. At the end of the year, Detroit didn't do much developing this year, outside of Larkin and Bertuzzi. Our prospects suffered in the AHL. We don't have many, if any, blue chippers in the organization. And we have an old, expensive, cruddy team that somehow still plays ahead of many of the younger players in the organization.
Jeff Blashill, F - No business coaching in the NHL. He has no system. He overplayed Zetterberg for what? To finish 5th from the bottom? He overplayed Howard. He underplayed Athanasiou. He let Ouellet rot in the press box while overplaying Jensen, Kronwall, Ericsson, Daley, etc. He didn't win. And he didn't do much development.
Dylan Larkin, A - Good season for Dylan and he even managed to find some goal scoring moxy at the end of the year. Was given every opportunity, played through the tough times and made good on it.
Zetterberg, B - Raw production is pretty nice, but his underlying numbers have declined a lot. He's one of the lowest-producing high minute guys in the NHL. Wasn't a fan of Z calling out "kids" for not performing earlier this year, in a year when veterans have underperformed.
Mantha, B- - The point production looks good. But this kid gets 17 minutes a night. When he makes glaring errors, he still comes out and plays big minutes. He probably makes more glaring mistakes than any other forward on the team. Too often, he's simply invisible.
Nyquist, C - You'd think he was a Hart Trophy candidate listening to Fox Sports. 20 goals and 40 points with top 20 5 on 5 and PP minutes in the NHL? Yuck. This guy doesn't get enough out of his skill.
Abdelkader, C - Slumped to the finish after a nice start. A nice all-around player. Needs to be better at $4M/Y though -- especially given his PP time.
Athanasiiou, C - Production was OK, considering minutes. Totally misused in Detroit. When Blashill rode him, he was a thoroughbred. The most entertaining and positive games this team had this year came in those stretches when AA played big minutes. But AA doesn't help himself. Looked listeless on Nielsen's wing. Blashill's a dipshit, but he's the coach and it looks like he's coming back. Hope the Red Wings trade Athanasiou for peanuts and regret the trade for a decade. But AA needs to find a way to jumpstart his motor.
Nielsen, D - Guy plays a semi-defensive role and managed to be a player, so that's a positive. But he's a $5M+ guy. Not enough. This guy simply doesn't do enough with his icetime to justify his contract.
Green, D - 33 points in 66 games is nice, but the effort on display this year was hard to watch. He needs to disappear.
Helm, B- A healthy season, Helm put up decent numbers by his standards and was a plus player. Still struggled by the standards of his contract.
Kronwall, D- - Credit the old guy for trying to live up to his contract. And he's still our best passing defenseman. But despite the easiest deployment on the team, Kronwall just can't get it done anymore. He never shoots the puck, despite all those Ozone draws. He's making more mistakes and he's less able to recover from them.
Frk, B- - Young guy near the minimum. He scored 11 goals in limited time and put up more points than Bertuzzi in the same minutes. But Frk got a ton of first unit PP time and didn't do much with it. Having Glendening as his center most of the year doesn't do much for him. Another Blashill mistake.
Bertuzzi, B+ - Spent the last 20 games on the top line - though he never really deserved that callup -- and he's been really good. He has 13 points in 19 games since the end of February. Works hard. Plays the boards well without being dirty or undisciplined. Has the intelligence in the Ozone to play with topline guys, and has soft hands. Skating wise, he's never going to be the guy you want carrying the puck. He's also too scrambly in his own end. But he's been good.
Glendening, C - Glendening continued to be a beast on faceoffs and play the PK. Unfortunately, he was stuck on an incoherent fourth line with Marty Frk - and that limited his icetime. Played well on the PK.
Daley, C- - Was at his best when Mike Green went down (the first time). But spent most of the year chasing guys around his own zone, and not looking very look doing it. Hopefully the Wings can move him next season and not wait til the deadline of his final year.
Jensen, C- - Constantly abused in his own zone. Looks like a player on the rush once every 10 games or so. But he's a cheap player. Expectations are low.
Ericsson, C - At times, Ericsson has looked surprisingly good this year. Then there were games like last night. His +/- has been abused over the last three weeks. He's -9 in 11 games.
Dekeyser, C+ - Dekeyser stabilized his game after a brutal year last year. He managed to be, barely, a plus player. Dekeyser's strength was skating, and he's lost a lot of that as he's bulked up for the NHL game.
Ouellet, C - Didn't play much. Not sure why. Not NCAA enough for Blashill. What a waste. There's no reason this kid doesn't play 18 minutes a game on a shitshow team like Detroit.
David Booth, C - Hard to complain about Booth. Scored a little. Wasn't as physical as he was in the preaseason.
Svechnikov, C - After a rough start at least looked competent. Kid desperately needs to improve his skating. But that was true last year, too. He's going to be in the KHL soon if he can't improve his skating.
Witkowski, C- - Lots of dumb penalties. Not much else.
Howard, C- - Great start. One of the worst goalies after the opening six weeks.
Jeff Blashill, F - No business coaching in the NHL. He has no system. He overplayed Zetterberg for what? To finish 5th from the bottom? He overplayed Howard. He underplayed Athanasiou. He let Ouellet rot in the press box while overplaying Jensen, Kronwall, Ericsson, Daley, etc. He didn't win. And he didn't do much development.
Dylan Larkin, A - Good season for Dylan and he even managed to find some goal scoring moxy at the end of the year. Was given every opportunity, played through the tough times and made good on it.
Zetterberg, B - Raw production is pretty nice, but his underlying numbers have declined a lot. He's one of the lowest-producing high minute guys in the NHL. Wasn't a fan of Z calling out "kids" for not performing earlier this year, in a year when veterans have underperformed.
Mantha, B- - The point production looks good. But this kid gets 17 minutes a night. When he makes glaring errors, he still comes out and plays big minutes. He probably makes more glaring mistakes than any other forward on the team. Too often, he's simply invisible.
Nyquist, C - You'd think he was a Hart Trophy candidate listening to Fox Sports. 20 goals and 40 points with top 20 5 on 5 and PP minutes in the NHL? Yuck. This guy doesn't get enough out of his skill.
Abdelkader, C - Slumped to the finish after a nice start. A nice all-around player. Needs to be better at $4M/Y though -- especially given his PP time.
Athanasiiou, C - Production was OK, considering minutes. Totally misused in Detroit. When Blashill rode him, he was a thoroughbred. The most entertaining and positive games this team had this year came in those stretches when AA played big minutes. But AA doesn't help himself. Looked listeless on Nielsen's wing. Blashill's a dipshit, but he's the coach and it looks like he's coming back. Hope the Red Wings trade Athanasiou for peanuts and regret the trade for a decade. But AA needs to find a way to jumpstart his motor.
Nielsen, D - Guy plays a semi-defensive role and managed to be a player, so that's a positive. But he's a $5M+ guy. Not enough. This guy simply doesn't do enough with his icetime to justify his contract.
Green, D - 33 points in 66 games is nice, but the effort on display this year was hard to watch. He needs to disappear.
Helm, B- A healthy season, Helm put up decent numbers by his standards and was a plus player. Still struggled by the standards of his contract.
Kronwall, D- - Credit the old guy for trying to live up to his contract. And he's still our best passing defenseman. But despite the easiest deployment on the team, Kronwall just can't get it done anymore. He never shoots the puck, despite all those Ozone draws. He's making more mistakes and he's less able to recover from them.
Frk, B- - Young guy near the minimum. He scored 11 goals in limited time and put up more points than Bertuzzi in the same minutes. But Frk got a ton of first unit PP time and didn't do much with it. Having Glendening as his center most of the year doesn't do much for him. Another Blashill mistake.
Bertuzzi, B+ - Spent the last 20 games on the top line - though he never really deserved that callup -- and he's been really good. He has 13 points in 19 games since the end of February. Works hard. Plays the boards well without being dirty or undisciplined. Has the intelligence in the Ozone to play with topline guys, and has soft hands. Skating wise, he's never going to be the guy you want carrying the puck. He's also too scrambly in his own end. But he's been good.
Glendening, C - Glendening continued to be a beast on faceoffs and play the PK. Unfortunately, he was stuck on an incoherent fourth line with Marty Frk - and that limited his icetime. Played well on the PK.
Daley, C- - Was at his best when Mike Green went down (the first time). But spent most of the year chasing guys around his own zone, and not looking very look doing it. Hopefully the Wings can move him next season and not wait til the deadline of his final year.
Jensen, C- - Constantly abused in his own zone. Looks like a player on the rush once every 10 games or so. But he's a cheap player. Expectations are low.
Ericsson, C - At times, Ericsson has looked surprisingly good this year. Then there were games like last night. His +/- has been abused over the last three weeks. He's -9 in 11 games.
Dekeyser, C+ - Dekeyser stabilized his game after a brutal year last year. He managed to be, barely, a plus player. Dekeyser's strength was skating, and he's lost a lot of that as he's bulked up for the NHL game.
Ouellet, C - Didn't play much. Not sure why. Not NCAA enough for Blashill. What a waste. There's no reason this kid doesn't play 18 minutes a game on a shitshow team like Detroit.
David Booth, C - Hard to complain about Booth. Scored a little. Wasn't as physical as he was in the preaseason.
Svechnikov, C - After a rough start at least looked competent. Kid desperately needs to improve his skating. But that was true last year, too. He's going to be in the KHL soon if he can't improve his skating.
Witkowski, C- - Lots of dumb penalties. Not much else.
Howard, C- - Great start. One of the worst goalies after the opening six weeks.