HFNHL Red Wings
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As has already been discussed, Detroit really lost out in free agency where Joe Nieuwendyk, Martin Lapointe, and Manny Legace all left for richer contracts and the team was unsuccessful in signing any immediate help to fill the voids.
Many expected the team to be very active in the trade market as a result but to date has only made one deal where Wes Walz was acquired for a couple of draft picks.
The waiver draft saw Detroit swap out Claude Lapointe who was only planned as a 13th forward for the cheaper Dan Lacouture. Lacouture had begun his HFNHL career with Detroit who had signed him 3 years ago as an undrafted FA.
The length of Lacouture’s 2nd stint with the Wings is already in question, however, as Detroit today announced the signing of gritty defensive forward Darcy Verot. Verot, a career AHLer does provide a good defensive presence and is a respected pugilist. Although Verot may get called up for injury duty it is more likely he will get an occasional call to step in as an enforcer in selected games and will be the team’s defacto 13th forward. Where this leaves Lacouture is yet to be determined.
The team also announced the long expected signings of Trent Hunter and Mike Van Ryn when the team agreed to terms with player agent Reggie Swingstein.
Hunter will step into the 3rd line RW position and Van Ryn is expected be used as a 7th dman/PP specialist for the upcoming season.
As it now stands Detroit’s defensive corps is it’s strength as it is balanced and versatile having a good mix of defensive and puck moving dmen with a little bit of grit mixed in plus boasts 4 right handed shots out of 7 dmen which is all so important on the PP.
The one player left out in all this is Cristobel Huet. Huet who has nothing left to prove in the minors and has good ratings remains without a HFNHL contract as there is no romm for him at the moment. It is widely speculated that Huet will be traded at some point in the season.
As it stands right now the opening roster would look like this:
Roberts – Stumpel – Guerin
Lehtinen – Draper – Knuble
White – Walz – Hunter
Barnes – Brown – Clark
13th forward – Darcy Verot/Dan Lacouture
Lidstrom – Sarich
Malik – Sopel
Boughner – Fisher/Van Ryn (will platoon based on opponent)
Kolzig
Markkannen
Many expected the team to be very active in the trade market as a result but to date has only made one deal where Wes Walz was acquired for a couple of draft picks.
The waiver draft saw Detroit swap out Claude Lapointe who was only planned as a 13th forward for the cheaper Dan Lacouture. Lacouture had begun his HFNHL career with Detroit who had signed him 3 years ago as an undrafted FA.
The length of Lacouture’s 2nd stint with the Wings is already in question, however, as Detroit today announced the signing of gritty defensive forward Darcy Verot. Verot, a career AHLer does provide a good defensive presence and is a respected pugilist. Although Verot may get called up for injury duty it is more likely he will get an occasional call to step in as an enforcer in selected games and will be the team’s defacto 13th forward. Where this leaves Lacouture is yet to be determined.
The team also announced the long expected signings of Trent Hunter and Mike Van Ryn when the team agreed to terms with player agent Reggie Swingstein.
Hunter will step into the 3rd line RW position and Van Ryn is expected be used as a 7th dman/PP specialist for the upcoming season.
As it now stands Detroit’s defensive corps is it’s strength as it is balanced and versatile having a good mix of defensive and puck moving dmen with a little bit of grit mixed in plus boasts 4 right handed shots out of 7 dmen which is all so important on the PP.
The one player left out in all this is Cristobel Huet. Huet who has nothing left to prove in the minors and has good ratings remains without a HFNHL contract as there is no romm for him at the moment. It is widely speculated that Huet will be traded at some point in the season.
As it stands right now the opening roster would look like this:
Roberts – Stumpel – Guerin
Lehtinen – Draper – Knuble
White – Walz – Hunter
Barnes – Brown – Clark
13th forward – Darcy Verot/Dan Lacouture
Lidstrom – Sarich
Malik – Sopel
Boughner – Fisher/Van Ryn (will platoon based on opponent)
Kolzig
Markkannen
