More to come after Detroit Red Wings place Martin Frk on waivers?

The Detroit Red Wings placed forward Martin Frk on waivers earlier today. What does it mean for him and how will the roster move effect other Wings?

The Martin Frk experiment in Detroit is all but over. The Detroit Red Wings decided to place him on waivers earlier today. If he clears waivers, he will report to the Wings minor league affiliate where he’s seen some professional success in the past, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Recently we published an article that basically mentioned Martin Frk was running out of time to leave an impact with the franchise. Although I didn’t exactly think Frk would be placed on waivers, I expected the team to try and land a late round pick for his services before the February 25th trade deadline. Another option would be just walking away from Frk all together this summer as he’s a pending free agent.

Frk has struggled mightily this season. It’s not for lack of effort but strictly lack of results. He hasn’t had an opportunity to play with skilled players, and he isn’t a grinder. Over the last couple of games, he’s played extremely sparingly struggling to play more than 6 minutes a game. In his most recent game, he played around 8 minutes and assisted on a Darren Helm goal with a nifty pass. He’s tried to bang the body but hasn’t been effective in that type of a role.

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Last season Frk was able to record 11 goals and add 14 assists. He scored 5 of those goals on the power-play. He added 4 assists on the power-play as well. This comes as no surprise because about half of his ice-time came when the Detroit Red Wings played with a man advantage.

If Frk had remotely the same success this season playing on the fourth line, he wouldn’t have been placed on waivers. This year he’s only been able to find the back of the net once, and he’s added four assists in 25 games. He’s a minus -7 on the year and his CF% is what you would expect, below average at 47.4%. In the games he plays in, he’s playing roughly two minutes less than he did last year.

Frk’s never been a favorite of Jeff Blashill, and this move has a minimal impact on the future of the franchise. But what does it mean? It means Tyler Bertuzzi is expected to be activated. By placing Frk on waivers allows the space needed to activate Tyler. When Bertuzzi rejoins the Wings lineup someone will come out, I expect that to be Ehn, but why not send Ehn down who has options?

Something else interesting is that the Wings decided to put Frk on waivers rather than Luke Witkowski. I like Luke, and enjoy watching him play. He brings a physical presence to the lineup, and it seems his teammates enjoy having him around. He’s played in 18 games and has recorded 2 assists. But why would the Wings keep 8 healthy defensemen?

I think it means there is a good chance one or two of the Wings defensemen could be on the move over the next two weeks. The Detroit Red Wings only use Witkowski as a last resort when the back-end is extremely banged up. If the Wings have any intentions of moving Nick Jensen or Trevor Daley, it makes sense to keep Luke rostered as the 7th or (emergency) defenseman.

At the moment he and Cholowski are in the press box, and Filip Hronek is only a phone call away. I understand Witkowski is a swing player who can play on the fourth line if needed, the Wings have used him like this in the past but have not this season. He’s played exclusively as a defenseman. He would likely go unclaimed if placed on waivers.

That being said Frk likely will too. There is an outside chance a team like Nashville claims Frk who has an expiring contract and need power-play help. The Preds are an outstanding team with a terrible PP, ranked 31st to be exact. Frk would be a low risk, low reward claim for a team like the Preds, and basically try him on the fourth line for nearly free.