March 10, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall (55) during the first period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The Red Wings’ defense has been called into question this entire season. Which, of course, is no surprise. You don’t recover overnight from the loss of one of the greatest defensemen of all time. You’re going to see all the mistakes, all the tiny fragments that seem to be coming unraveled. And in a condensed season, everything is magnified beyond reason.

The defense, however, is not as terrible as everyone thinks. Yes, it is still sub-par, especially for Red Wings standards, but it could be a heck of a lot worse.

The main problem this season has been the amount of injuries plaguing the blue line. With Carlo Colaiacovo going down early and staying out until just a few games ago as well as Brendan Smith missing some games and Kyle Quincey suffering a broken jaw, the Red Wings had to scramble to find suitable replacements, resulting in picking up Kent Huskins, who was traded before the deadline to the Philadelphia Flyers, and calling up Brian Lashoff.

With the addition of Danny DeKeyser, there are one too many defensemen to choose from. It’s a constant rotation. Every game is a dance of “Which defenseman is sitting out this game?”

There’s little to no consistency.

Niklas Kronwall‘s plus/minus rating is the second lowest on the team at -9, tied with Dan Cleary and just ahead of Brian Lashoff. That’s not to say that their play is sub-par at all; Kronwall’s actually looked solid this season and Lashoff has seemed more sure of himself with every passing game. And for quite a while this season, Quincey was leading the team in plus/minus.

Smith, while not as good as many had hoped, has been relatively solid, save for those moments of rookie mistakes. Ian White has been a little shaky, but he’s also had a lot of time to talk to the media with every game he’s been scratched. And I wrote an article earlier about Jonathan Ericsson and how much he has improved this season; he’s just the perpetual kicking horse of the team (or one of them) and sometimes it’s hard to see the quality defenseman beneath those mistakes we all like to put under a microscope.

DeKeyser has only played two games and was on the ice for St. Louis’ only goal in last Sunday’s game. Aside from that, he seems to play with a cool head. He makes the simple plays, doesn’t try to get too fancy with anything, and skates very well. Give him some NHL time under his belt, and we could have a Brian Rafalski/Brad Stuart mix of a defenseman on our hands again. That’s something we sorely need in the near future.

The defense is not completely lost. There are still moments of brilliance, moments that we like to reflect on and sigh a little. If the organization can find some sort of consistency in the next game or two – or at least be able to tighten everything down and be able to hold onto a one-goal lead – then all hope is not lost.

A tighter defense and a more consistent offense and this team will float into the playoffs.

Up next on keys to the Red Wings’ playoff push: Goaltending!

January 22, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings Kent Huskins (3) and Dallas Stars center Ryan Garbutt (40) battle for the puck in the first period at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

When far too many of the Detroit Red Wings defensemen fell to injury within the first two games of the season, GM Ken Holland knew he had to find a veteran defenseman to fill a void.

While it set the Red Wings Twitterverse on fire with crazy defensemen theories (Nicklas Lidstrom coming out of retirement?! Andreas Lilja?! Or dare we even think it… Brett Lebda?!), the defenseman turned out to be Kent Huskins. Which led to more than a few people scratching their heads, saying, “Um, who?”

Huskins was signed on January 22 to a one-way contract and has been playing with the Red Wings since their third game against Dallas. He has been playing on a pairing with either Jakub Kindl and Brian Lashoff.

In the four games Huskins has played as a Red Wing, he has been a solid force on the blue line. While he has no points and 2 PIMs, that does not mean he’s been doing nothing. He has become a staple on the penalty kill, especially while Darren Helm was sidelined for a few games.

With Huskins on the penalty kill and both Helm and Patrick Eaves returning from their respective injuries, the Red Wings penalty killing has improved, successfully killing 19 of 21 chances. That’s definitely much better than just nine successfully killed out of 16 from the first two games of the season.

It’s not unlike the Red Wings to sign a veteran player to bring some experience into their ranks, even if it doesn’t always work out or puts the fanbase on edge. However, it seems as though Huskins is fitting right in to the roster.

Huskins was not signed to be an offensive defenseman. He was not signed to be the next Lidstrom or to fill Lidstrom’s spot all by himself. He was signed to simply fill in the gaps left by the injured Red Wings ranks. If you look at his signing in that light, how do you think he’s fared?