Why Stats and Scouts Disagree on Danny DeKeyser

Danny DeKeyser is about to receive a new contract from Ken Holland and the Detroit Red Wings. Preordained as the future of the Red Wing blue line it will probably contain a hefty raise spread out over many years. Scouts and executives believe he is worthy of such a deal and that the big smooth skating defender is a new age defensive defenseman. However the statistics are not so kind to DeKeyser, some making him appear to be more qualified for the press box than the top pairing. With the Red Wings already spending $9 million on aging defenders Ericsson and Kronwall, Holland cannot afford to make another mistake with this defense.

Is Mike Green Damaged Goods?

This off season Ken Holland got his right-handed defenseman when he signed Mike Green to a 3-year deal. Despite playing a reduced role, Green scored an impressive 45 points in only 72 games making him seem like an ideal fit for the Wings. However, some critics bemoaned the deal, pointing to Green’s playoff struggles against the New York Rangers. Some believe the Rangers’ comeback was due to targeting and exploiting Mike Green. If the Rangers found the book on Green, Ken Holland may have paid good money for a diminished asset.

Scouting Report: Brad Richards

In every men’s league game, you are sure to find the one player. The older gentleman who could play in the 40+ league, but still laces them up with the 20 and 30 year olds. Lacking speed and strength he continues to wrack up the points and be an effective player. Now 35 years old, Brad Richard is this older gentleman.

As he has aged the biggest critique is Richard’s lack of speed. Interestingly, when watching the tape his top end speed is much better than I had expected. The problem is that he rarely uses this burst, electing to save his energy for the one time it is absolutely necessary. Similarly, his game lacks any sort of physicality, rather than engaging in the battle, he waits for the puck to come loose. Due to these physical deficiencies his wingers do a lot of the dirty work. His wingers were almost always the first ones on the forecheck and the backcheck. Even in the defensive zone the wingers come down lower than most, preventing the opposition from exploiting Richard’s lack of foot speed. However, against a threatening cycle this can cause Richards and the defenders to run around the defensive zone, opening up opportunities for the opposition.

Despite these deficiencies Brad Richards remains an extremely effective player because of his incredible on-ice intelligence. He does not need to work particularly hard defensively because he is almost always in the right spot. In addition to always being in the opposition’s passing lane, he is incredibly skilled at knocking pucks out of the air, breaking up passes and disrupting the opposition’s attack. Since he lacks the speed necessary to create opportunities for himself, he relies on his ability to find the dead areas of open space. When he has the puck his vision and patience is elite, particularly on the powerplay. He is an incredibly skilled passer, so skilled that he has a tendency to over-pass despite possessing a very good shot. In addition to always finding his teammates he is excellent at putting the puck into open spaces where his teammates are sure to get to it first.

Thankfully for Richards and the Red Wings he is perfectly suited for Detroit's roster and style of play. Although his lack of physical attributes make him more of a complementary player, the Wings have an abundance of top 6 wingers, particularly if Datsyuk and Zetterberg play together. Playing with two skilled, speedy wingers like Tatar, Helm, Nyquist or Abdelkader should hide Richards’ weakness while allowing opportunity to demonstrate his strengths. While not the same player point per game player he once was, Richards is a great addition to the team and Ken Holland deserves a lot of credit for bringing him to Hockeytown.

Scouting Report: Tampa Bay's Speed, Skill and Space

The playoffs are finally here. Despite taking nearly all 82 games to clinch a playoff spot, the Red Wings accomplished their goal and made the playoffs for a 24th consecutive season. The team’s prize for this historic accomplishment, a road trip to face Steve Yzerman’s offensive juggernaut, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dominant at even strength, the biggest hope for Detroit may be Tampa’s struggling special teams.

Scouting Tyler Myers

Recently it was put out there by Helene St James that Tatar's improved play may make him a key trade piece as the Red Wings continue to pursue another d-man. Oddly specific, she mentioned that it may take Tatar, Kindl and a 2nd to get Tyler Myers. Initially I felt this was a horrible deal for Detroit, as I discussed on twitter (@D2D43) Myers remains a huge gamble. While everyone loves the combination of size and speed his numbers continue to be horrible. In addition I am generally hesitant of bigger players as management in the NHL has a general fascination with trying to find the next Chara or Lucic. That being said, since Buffalo is historically bad with regards to possession stats it becomes challenging to determine Myer's true value. As a result I took a look for myself and went back to the game tape and reviewed Myers' play over the last season and a half.

Systems Analysis: How the Bruins Beat the Wings

Heading into the season defense was a major question mark for the Red Wings. After striking out in free agency the talk of attempted upgrades (Tyler Myers anyone?) have followed the team all season. Despite this talk, the Wings started the season playing extremely well defensively giving up the least amount of shot attempts per 60 at even strength (45.7). So in one corner, the stats suggest that the strength of this team is defending. However, the eye test says that the Red Wings were dismantled by the Boston Bruins on Monday night due to the lack of skill on our back-end. I'll show how the new defensive systems have somewhat allowed the team to cover up the lack of elite defenders, but how this weakness can still be exploited by the league's elite.

System Analysis: We Lost to the Sabres?!?

Last night the Red Wings dominated possession but a inability to finish as well as a few defensive miscues allowed Buffalo to hang around and steal the win. After the game, Smith was asked about the two goals against the Red Wings. Te reported hinted that since they were the result of scrambles in front, the blame falls on the defensemen. Smith was very quick to disagree with him and talked about how it was more about getting pucks out of the zone and problems with their defensive system than the D clearing out bodies in front. I'm going to take a quick look at the goal and I’ll show you why I think this instance, Smith is absolutely correct.

Red Wing's PP System Analysis

Exactly one month ago I broke down how the Red Wing's PP was able to stay competitive without a right handed shooter. While most fans assume that the skill of the Red Wings should result in PP goals, the pieces simply do not fit together like the elite units in the NHL. In addition, with a full season to study coaches smarter than myself were able to determine how to shut down the Wings. I showed you how it works, now I'll show you what the opposition is doing to shut them down.

The Red Wings PP: No Righties Required

The other day Justin Bourne continued his excellent breakdown of each team's unique trait. His unique trait for the Red Wings was their extreme use of the slot to breakout, you can check that out here http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/56932. However, for this I’m going to use his breakdown of the Philadelphia Flyer’s elite power-play from last season. As you can see from the diagram he put up, the Flyers are in the perfect situation for a 1-3-1 power-play. With Claude Giroux as the primary puck handler, they have four elite scoring options.