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Detroit Red Wings: The door is swiftly closing on Martin Frk

By Bob Heyrman |
DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 04: Martin Frk #42 of the Detroit Red Wings follows the play against the Tampa Bay Lightning during an NHL game at Little Caesars Arena on December 4, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. The Lightning defeated the Red Wings 6-5 in a shootout. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 04: Martin Frk #42 of the Detroit Red Wings follows the play against the Tampa Bay Lightning during an NHL game at Little Caesars Arena on December 4, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. The Lightning defeated the Red Wings 6-5 in a shootout. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

It seems Detroit Red Wings forward Martin Frk’s days are numbered.  The return of Helm to the Wings lineup bumps Frk back up into the press box.

Darren Helm returned to the Detroit Red Wings lineup last night and immediately had an impact.  Helm recorded the first goal of the game.  After being sidelined for an extended amount of time with an injured shoulder, I can’t think of a better way to make yourself feel comfortable again.

With the forward returning to the lineup, someone had to come out.  Jeff Blashill decided Martin Frk would be the odd man out.  I don’t always agree with Blash’s roster decisions, but this one makes a little bit of sense.

I would like to see Frk in the lineup, yet he isn’t very good defensively.  The Detroit Red Wings are lacking a tremendous amount on the backend due to injury.  With Mike Green, Danny DeKeyser and Trevor Daley all out, the Wings need the help out the group with reliable forwards.

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As much as I prefer Frk’s offensive upside over the likes of Jacob de La Rose and Christoffer Ehn, having those two forwards on the fourth line limit the scoring upside but they are very reliable defensively.

de La Rose has notched 3 goals and 4 assists and is a minus -5 in 29 games this season, while Ehn has 1 goal and 3 assists and is a minus -1 thru 25 games.

Frk is not one of Blashill’s favorites to start with, he only has 1 goal and 4 assists in 23 games and is a minus -8 on the season.  He’s just playing 8:36 TOI per game and 70% of his five on five shifts start in the offensive zone.

He is an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, and the Detroit Red Wings I expect will have no desire to resign him.  The only chance the franchise brings him back is if he doesn’t get many looks from other teams and the Wings decide to sign him and send him down to Grand Rapids to help the farm team.

Perhaps at 25-years-old, the clock is ticking to become an NHL regular, but a player like Frk has the ability to score 30 in the AHL.  It wouldn’t be a horrible thing to have a mid 20’s aged scorer with some NHL experience playing alongside some young Wings prospects.

Martin Frk‘s lack of production makes him nearly impossible to trade unless a playoff team becomes stricken by injury or is in desperate need of a fourth line forward who can play on the power-play.

I’ve always liked Frk’s scoring “upside” it seems he has taken a step backward this season. Some fingers could be pointed at Jeff Blashill who was deemed to be a player development friendly coach.  Frk would probably be the first to tell us sometimes the finger needs to be pointed at yourself too.

Over the last couple of games prior to being scratched last night, I’ve thought Martin had some jump.  He was out there working hard and finishing his checks, he seemed to be really putting out the effort, but the results failed to follow.

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Another decision will need to be made once Anthony Mantha returns and at that time if everyone remains healthy it would be Ehn out, and Frk bumped back another spot in the pecking order.

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