Going into next season, the Red Wings currently have 3 NHL defensemen under contract, Niklas Kronwall, Brad Stuart and Jakub Kindl. They are still waiting to hear whether or not Nicklas Lidstrom is going to return (which I think he will) and are counting on top prospect Brendan Smith making the team next year. They also offered Jonathan Ericsson a contract of a little more than $2 million per season but it’s still possible that he looks elsewhere to find a better deal. With Brian Rafalski retiring and his $6 million contract coming off the books the Wings now have a definite need on defense with money to spend.
The problem this off-season is the UFA pool is relatively light meaning the Wings probably won’t be able to replace Rafalski to the fullest extent.
There are some good options out there though.
Ansar Khan of Mlive.com believes that the best option out there to replace Rafalski is Michigan native James Wisniewski. Khan goes on to highlight several reasons why Wisniewski would be a good fit for the Wings which include…
- His ability to move the puck and produce offensively and on the point during the power play
- He plays with alot of grit despite his modest size (5-foot-11, 208 pounds).
- He shoots right handed meaning you could pair him with Lidstrom on the power play.
- Like I mentioned before he was born in Canton and played for the Plymouth Whalers so he has big connection to the area to say the least.
- He is still young (27) with his best days still ahead of him.
This past season, Wisniewski made $3.25 million and had career highs in goals (10), assists (41) and points (51), splitting the season between the New York Islanders and Montreal. Furthermore he also 29 points on the power play which ranks him second for most points on the power play among UFA defensemen. Nicklas Lidstrom had the most points on the power play among UFA’s with 39.
I really liked Wisniewski while he played for Anaheim. He was gritty, played the puck very well and was a guy you hated simply because of how he played the game.
Other options for the Wings on defense include Carolina’s Joni Pitkanen, a trio of Vancouver defensemen including Kevin Bieksa (although Vancouver is going to push hard to re-sign him), Christian Ehrhoff and/or Sami Salo. They may also go after Boston’s Tomas Kaberle, Tampa Bay’s Eric Brewer or Montreal’s Andrei Markov.
Source: Mlive.com, NHLNumbers.com, YouTUBE
