I definitely agree that Gus showed enough to make the team next season (and that I had a point with Smith
), but it's not like Nyquist was playing lights out hockey for most of his time with the Wings last year. 3G/3A in 22 GP during the regular season wasn't mind-blowing, and while he looked good in the playoffs (the play against Seabrook & Crawford obviously comes to mind), he put up about the right # of points you'd expect from a complementary scorer. A nice PO run from a rookie, but not setting the world on fire.
If you're right and Gus is looking at 3rd line duty with Tatar duking it out for a spot on the 4th line, then Kenny must be planning to have a busy and productive offseason of bringing in scoring help for the top 9. Flip seems to be gone, uncertainty on Brunner re-signing... not much left in the cupboard when it comes to skilled scoring wingers.