Your Underappreciated-Yet-Not-Quite-Spacegoat Players Thread

[RedWingsfan55]

I think witkowski is the perfect guy to be the 7th defenseman and 13th forward. And should get more opportunities to play.

 

[RedMenace]

That's why I added the "Not a Spacegoat" qualifier. There are guys you expect to perform, guys who exceed expectations, and guys who underperform.

The Spacegoats are the underperformers. The guys you expect to succeed are usually the top line players.

The underappreciated guys are the ones who get little fanfare, who aren't expected to succeed, and/or to an extent, the who exceed expectations yet aren't "big name" guys.

 

[Ezekial]

Hard to appreciate a lot of the players more than I do. Only a handful deserve appreciation and I feel I'm generous enough to all of them.

 

[Martinez]

Frk, zadina picked his game up in GR when frk joined him

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

Helm . Love his speed and intensity. I'm clearly a fanboy but I honestly don't think he's as overpaid as some claim he is. I wish he didn't have hands of stone, though.

 

[jkutswings]

Ericsson frustrated fans because he never lived up to the rookie hype and his big frame meant he could be exposed by speedy players. But the guy was a total pro, class act, and gave everything we asked him to give.

Sometimes I wonder how I can live through the same events and have such wildly different opinions on them.

By the time Ericsson's previous contract was nearing its conclusion, I wanted him cut loose altogether, not re-signed as if he was a staple of the defense.

In the last few years, he's had times of playing better than I expected, but I guess I never had much for initial expectations.

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

Sometimes I wonder how I can live through the same events and have such wildly different opinions on them.

By the time Ericsson's previous contract was nearing its conclusion, I wanted him cut loose altogether, not re-signed as if he was a staple of the defense.

In the last few years, he's had times of playing better than I expected, but I guess I never had much for initial expectations.

Big E is absolutely horrible and I just can't defend his play anymore and it's only gotten worse

 

[ricky0034]

Nielsen by far

sometimes people trash on him,sometimes people forget he exists but he's just quietly one of the better players on the team

says something about how bad the team is too I suppose but still

really don't agree with guys like De La Rose or Ehn,they're fine I guess but the reason people don't talk about them much is because they're fringe NHLers

 

[KJoe88]

Neilsen and Helm for me. Decent third liners who can play. Especially Neilsen. Guys gets constantly **** talked it’s baffling.

I also feel like Green is starting to fall into this category. I love Green.

 

[newfy]

Love to see Witowski back, let him play every 6th or 7th game.. plays solid. And will hit and fight anything.. need guys like that on the roster even if they don't play every game. When he is on the ice he doesn't stick out like someone who can't handle the modern day game. Love his character and willingness to protect his teammates.

I think witkowski is the perfect guy to be the 7th defenseman and 13th forward. And should get more opportunities to play.

I'm partial to his style of play but I agree with you guys. When hes out there playing D, he doesnt make any fancy plays but he usually makes the simple play that doesnt cause any issues. When hes a 4th line winger he'll get a few chances. I dont think the line up is downgraded by playing him and he brings something different

 

[Shaman464]

Nielsen by far

sometimes people trash on him,sometimes people forget he exists but he's just quietly one of the better players on the team

says something about how bad the team is too I suppose but still

really don't agree with guys like De La Rose or Ehn,they're fine I guess but the reason people don't talk about them much is because they're fringe NHLers

Neilsen and Helm for me. Decent third liners who can play. Especially Neilsen. Guys gets constantly **** talked it’s baffling.

I also feel like Green is starting to fall into this category. I love Green.

The problem with Nielsen is he's kind of suffering from Weiss syndrome. Coming in with the expectation of solidifying the top 6 scoring center position, and couldn't live up to it.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Nick Jensen...

 

[Bench]

Sometimes I wonder how I can live through the same events and have such wildly different opinions on them.

By the time Ericsson's previous contract was nearing its conclusion, I wanted him cut loose altogether, not re-signed as if he was a staple of the defense.

In the last few years, he's had times of playing better than I expected, but I guess I never had much for initial expectations.

If you didn't feel this way, he wouldn't make my underappreciated list.

You might think he's been awful, but he was legitimately the only option to help the top pairing and PK for years. They tried other options and always came back to Ericsson.

It's not his fault he was playing above his head. It's management for literally having nobody better. All things considered, I think he held it down pretty well. There's a dozen Wings defenders that have come and gone that couldn't fill in as well as E did.

Big E is absolutely horrible and I just can't defend his play anymore and it's only gotten worse

Well he's 35, has a ton of wear on the tires, and suffers from an injury that's had him contemplating retirement for years.

And even with all that, the Wings have struggled to find NHL defenders to replace him. That's why he's my underappreciated guy. He's still out there grinding.

 

[RabidBadger]

I'll go with Helm. The motor is always churning even if it doesn't always yield results. I feel like he is THE guy who never folds during some of the slaughters the Wings have endured this year.

 

[Shaman464]

A lot of these post boil down to player usage, not the player themselves. Its not like the Wings went out and got Clarkson and he's not living up to expectations. Its that basically the team is full of players playing 1 to 2 lines above their skill.

 

[RedMenace]

This is a good discussion folks; exactly what I was looking for. Keep up the theme. Discuss the players you feel are underrated and why, and forget about the situation in which the Wings find themselves.

A lot of these post boil down to player usage, not the player themselves. Its not like the Wings went out and got Clarkson and he's not living up to expectations. Its that basically the team is full of players playing 1 to 2 lines above their skill.

The problem with Nielsen is he's kind of suffering from Weiss syndrome. Coming in with the expectation of solidifying the top 6 scoring center position, and couldn't live up to it.

Except Nielsen is obviously more healthy than Weiss ever was. What's the issue with him in your opinion? Is his usage the issue?

Clarkson is obviously an extreme example, but who do you feel is underappreciated on the current team?

 

[NickH8]

Definitely Helm as many have said, he only gets hate because of his contract.
If Mantha figures out how to be consistent he will be a key piece to our core. Even when he's not scoring he's actually surprisingly competent defensively.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

If you didn't feel this way, he wouldn't make my underappreciated list.

You might think he's been awful, but he was legitimately the only option to help the top pairing and PK for years. They tried other options and always came back to Ericsson.

It's not his fault he was playing above his head. It's management for literally having nobody better. All things considered, I think he held it down pretty well. There's a dozen Wings defenders that have come and gone that couldn't fill in as well as E did.

Well he's 35, has a ton of wear on the tires, and suffers from an injury that's had him contemplating retirement for years.

And even with all that, the Wings have struggled to find NHL defenders to replace him. That's why he's my underappreciated guy. He's still out there grinding.

Agreed.

He was the whipping boy at times and it was well deserved, but he was also the whipping boy for long stretches where it was just habit. Or where he was having to play above his head.

Shortcomings aside I've always thought he was underappreciated on the PK. And he's one of the few guys who can clear the crease.

The Wings took a dead last draft pick and turned a converted forward into a decent defensive D-man. Quincey, Kindl, Smith, Lashoff, XO. All gone. But Ericsson keeps chugging along.

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

Sadly in the NHL the days where a player only ever plays for one team is done, sadly. Especially if a Tavares decides to go somewhere else and a Taylor Hall gets traded (just examples)

I would love to see Helm be a DRW for the rest of the career but I have a feeling he'll either be traded or not re-signed by Hollands replacement

 

[masta8]

Fine if you like Bernier, but he has largely been dreadful in goal for us this season. For every good game, he has 4 or 5 quite bad ones. He just had a pretty good game against Montreal, and that only improved his numbers to, 3.33 and .899%, which is bad even on a bad team.

Mine our:

1) Darren Helm - A good defensive center who plays hard every night and gets **** on constantly on here, despite the fact that he is only slightly over paid, and is not even close to being the reason we are bad.

2) Christopher Ehn - Solid defensive player

3) Jacob de La Rose - same as Ehn.

I wouldn't say Helm is slightly overpaid. He is overpaid.

 

[SoupGuru]

DeKeyser. He's a great defender. He reads plays very well. His positioning is great. He plays odd man rushes better than anyone. He comes away with the puck from board battles most of the time. He does so many little things right in his own zone.

But he misses one pass and everyone thinks he's the worst guy ever.

 

[RedMenace]

I genuinely like the direction of this thread.

Mods, could you keep any Holland comments out of here, plzkthx?

 

[RedMenace]

Sadly in the NHL the days where a player only ever plays for one team is done, sadly. Especially if a Tavares decides to go somewhere else and a Taylor Hall gets traded (just examples)

I would love to see Helm be a DRW for the rest of the career but I have a feeling he'll either be traded or not re-signed by Hollands replacement

The thing is, Helm is at 3.85 for 3 more years, and he's a solid 3rd line guy. In my shitty opinion, that's borderline overpaid; and in a couple of years of Cap inflation when his contract is up, it will be a bargain 3rd-line guy contract.

Of course it's not a "bargain" now, but in a rebuilding scenario, you've gotta pay to have the roleplayers/mentors play.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

DeKeyser. He's a great defender. He reads plays very well. His positioning is great. He plays odd man rushes better than anyone. He comes away with the puck from board battles most of the time. He does so many little things right in his own zone.

But he misses one pass and everyone thinks he's the worst guy ever.

He plays like he’s made of linguini. Also, he’s probably a dick.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

The thing is, Helm is at 3.85 for 3 more years, and he's a solid 3rd line guy. In my ****ty opinion, that's borderline overpaid; and in a couple of years of Cap inflation when his contract is up, it will be a bargain 3rd-line guy contract.

Of course it's not a "bargain" now, but in a rebuilding scenario, you've gotta pay to have the roleplayers/mentors play.

If he were still a C and winning around 55% of his faceoffs I could get behind that. But as a bottom six winger? He’s probably at least a million overpaid.