No it doesn't. But my point is that if those guys were on the Red Wings putting up as many points Jonathan Ericsson at even strength we probably would be wanting to get rid of them. Mike Green and Brendan Smith both create a lot of offensive opportunities and are able to skate back and retrieve pucks, and skate the puck out of their zone with ease and most people on this message board are ready to run them both out of town because they don't have 45+ points....overlooking the very things that you say make many other defensemen valuable, even without high point totals.
It would help if Smith didn't appear to have his head firmly entrenched in his rear for games on end. People are fed up with him for good reason. I have no idea why people dislike Green, though. Haven't noticed it really.
DeKeyser will score more when the team actually scores more. Nobody scored last year. It was pretty bad. Alas, he's not the answer to that solution. He needs help. And that's OK. The Wings didn't sign him expecting big offensive production.
But can they produce much more without a better blueline? If increasing production was key, having 3/5 of a our summer signings be Helm, Miller, and Ott doesn't look like the best move. Signing Hudler, maybe taking a flier on Pirri, would have probably been a better shot at producing more offense up front. Instead, it looks like another year of gutting out 2-1 wins.
With how weak our blueline will likely continue to be there should have been more focus on stocking the forward group with player who control the puck and the play. I think they did well in that regard with Nielsen and possibly Vanek, but we essentially gave up on that happening with the lower half of our lineup with the guys we'll likely be sending out there.