Detroit Red Wings: Four Players Expected to Compete for One Job
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Red Wings, going into camp, have quite a few question marks throughout their roster that they will need answers too. One of which will be, who will be the starting sixth defenseman for the club?
The Detroit Red Wings are expected to have a healthy competition set to see who will become the sixth defender on the club, as training camp looms. As we already know, the defense production on the wings has been quite an issue ever since the great Nicklas Lidstrom has retired. Its been so bad in recent years, it almost makes you wonder if Lidstrom could still be their number one defenseman today at age 48.
After this up and coming season has completed, Niklas Kronwall and Nick Jensen will both become unrestricted free agents. To soon to tell but watching “Kronner” labor last year this could be his final season.
Detroit with an old group on the backend, will have to wait until the spring or summer of 2020 before a complete revamped newly named defense core is in place. Spring seems more probable with the likes of Mike Green along with Trevor Daley being tradeable pieces for playoff teams looking to add depth. Along with those two players, our friend Jonathan Ericsson’s contract is set to expire following the conclusion of the 2019/2020 season.
The future suggests the summer of 2020 will provide a complete back-end overhaul with the exception of Danny DeKeyser. DeKeyser, only 30 years of age by then, will be the senior of the defense core and Detroit with the hope of DeKeyser being a lot more reliable than he’s been in the last two seasons. Look for DeKeyser to bounce back this year and provide “top two” minutes on a nightly basis for the Red Wings.
That being said, this up and coming training camp along with the preseason will provide an intense battle for the starting 6th defenseman’s job. Let’s have a look at the early candidates for the job.