Detroit Red Wings Trade Deadline Chatter: Who is staying, who is going?

Nick Jensen – Staying

I believe the Detroit Red Wings are extremely interested in bringing the pending unrestricted 28-year-old free agent back.  Nick Jensen started the season as the odd man out even with all the early season injuries to the Wings back-end.  He was passed over by the Wings in the first game of the regular season after an underwhelming preseason performance.  The Wings opened the season with Filip Hronek, Joe Hicketts, Dennis Cholowski and Libor Sulak in the lineup while Jensen watched from the press box.

Jensen is in his third season with the Detroit Red Wings, his second as a full-time player.  He’s built good chemistry playing alongside Danny DeKeyser playing like the Wings second pairing.  Jensen has struggled to find any sustained offense with his game having only recorded 2 goals this season and none last year.

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Jensen is an above average skater; he can really skate when he gets the motor going but is reluctant to pinch in the offensive zone.  Some defenders don’t have that offense nose for the game even if some of the tools are in the tool chest. Just because you own a saw and a hammer doesn’t make you a carpenter.

Jensen leads the Detroit Red Wings 67 blocked shots.  He logs 20:49 TOI on average per night for the Wings and is second on average ice-time during the penalty kill only to Trevor Daley.  His play has been surprising, and he’s been one of the most underrated Wings this season.  I lobbied earlier in the season for the Wings to give a youngster a chance over Jensen and Ericsson.

I was dead wrong about Jensen, he’s earned his spot on this team and is likely to be resigned before the conclusion of the season unless a team is hunting for a third pairing, penalty killing, right-handed defenseman.  He isn’t worth a top round draft choice but it would probably take a third-rounder, or multiple late round picks to entice Ken Holland to move him.

The Detroit Red Wings currently have too many veteran defenders nearing the end of their careers rostered.  When the dust settles over the next two years and Kronwall, Ericsson, Daley, and Green have all moved on it would be nice to have Nick Jensen and Danny DeKesyer (no choice), as their third pairing (hopefully) and mentoring a handful of younger up and coming defenders.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were linked to Jensen earlier in the season, but the chances of that move have gone down significantly since they’ve acquired Jake Muzzin.  There is still an outside chance the Leafs come calling as he would be nearly a free rental with the majority of his 813k season salary already paid by the Wings.

Jensen will be reasonably priced and likely won’t command a long-term deal.  The combination of both should bode well for him to be resigned by the Wings franchise.

My potential landing spots: None, Toronto Maple Leafs (outside chance)