Danny DeKeyser will look to bounce back from a disappointing 2016-17 campaign with the Detroit Red Wings.
It wasn’t DeKeyser’s year with the Red Wings last season, the defenseman posted career lows in multiple stat categories and at times struggled defensively.
Player Info
Position: D
Jersey Number: 65
Age: 27
Home Country: United States
Career Outlook
After completing a successful stint with the Western Michigan Broncos, DeKeyser signed with the Wings and has been a member since the 2012-13 season.
His best season to date, offensively, came in the 2014-15 campaign when he produced 31 points in 80 appearances.
DeKeyser signed a six-year contract in the summer of 2016 as he looks to remain on the roster for the long-term.
This past May saw DeKeyser participate in his second IIHF World Championships. He made eight appearances for Team USA in the 2017 tournament.
Last Season
It was the worst offensive season for DeKeyser in his National Hockey League career last season as he only produced 12 points in 82 games played. Additionally, he finished with a -22 plus/minus rating which was a career low and was also the first time in his career he’s finished lower than zero.
He had two notable droughts in the season which included no points between Dec. 6 and Jan. 14 and Feb. 4 to March 14.
Two game-winning goals was a stat that was notable as well as appearing in all 82 regular season games.
Next: Detroit Red Wings 2017-18 Player Profiles: Frans Nielsen
Looking Ahead
Hopefully, last season wasn’t an indicator of things to come in DeKeyser’s career. The Michigan native has had a good career thus far and last season was the first blemish on otherwise decent numbers in a four-year career in the NHL.
Look for him to try and improve defensively. The -22 rating was certainly not a good stat line and was likely motivation to better himself in the offseason. He will need to be more offensively productive in the attacking zone as the Wings will need all the help they can get from their defensemen.
With the addition of Trevor Daley, the Wings picked up a key defenseman and DeKeyser and the other defensemen may feed off of the veteran. His presence may help give DeKeyser and the other young players a spark moving forward.