Christian Djoos
2021 Statline
Games Played:
Goals: 2
Assists: 9
+/-: -13
Preseason Projection
Bottom pairing/backup defensemen
2021 Season in a Nutshell
Steve Yzerman picked up Christian Djoos on waivers from the Anaheim Ducks before the season started. In Djoos, Yzerman had yet another left-shot defensemen, except Djoos provided offensive upside that was lacking on the roster.
Djoos started off the season decently, finding a comfortable spot as one of the only competent power play quarterbacks on the team. However, Djoos lacked defensive competency through the first half of the season. For a coach like Jeff Blashill that preaches defensive perfection at the expense of offensive output, Djoos was not a great fit. As a result of the early defensive struggles, Djoos became a regular healthy scratch, replaced by defenseman more responsible on the back end.
However, as the season continued, Djoos got better defensively; he finished with a 47.9% CF%. But the stronger defense was not enough to break back in to the roster regularly, even after the trade deadline. He was surpassed by Gustav Lindstrom and Dennis Cholowski on most nights, and even Alex Biega on occasion. Soon after the season ended, Djoos left the NHL for the Swiss National League.
They Said It
“I think Christian has done a solid job. He’s kind of come as advertised. He’s a really good puck mover. He’s got really good poise with the puck. He’s a little different than what we have in a lot of ways on the back end. We have a lot of guys that are good defenders that are fine with the puck. He’s a really good passer, has good poise. I think he’s had fairly good smarts on the power play. I think he’s somebody that can help our power play be better. Overall, I’ve liked him.”
-Jeff Blashill via the Detroit Free Press