Red Wings Player Grades: Assessing Detroit’s Veterans

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - MAY 01: Danny DeKeyser #65 of the Detroit Red Wings skates against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Little Caesars Arena on May 01, 2021 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - MAY 01: Danny DeKeyser #65 of the Detroit Red Wings skates against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Little Caesars Arena on May 01, 2021 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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Valtteri Filppula

2021 Statline

Games Played: 38

Goals: 6

Assists: 9

+/-: -1

Preseason Projection

Bottom six forward/depth piece

2021 Season in a Nutshell

Valtteri Filppula was another veteran waived during the 2021 season. He played for the first two months of the season, but after a rough stretch of play near the end of February, Filppula became a regular healthy scratch/taxi squad member. In fact, he did not play in one game during the entire month of March, finally returning to the lineup throughout April.

Filppula scored inexplicably often based on his statistics. While he finished the season with a -4.1 corsi percentage, he tied Sam Gagner in points scored and finished in the team’s top ten in points scored. Although he failed to consistently make the everyday lineup, he did find a way to make a late season push in April to improve the stats of his 2021 season.

They Said It

“He’s been a great role model coming back here to Detroit. He carries himself like a great pro. He practices well. He cares a ton. He’s calm under pressure. So he’s just a really, really good model.”

-Jeff Blashll via the Detroit Free Press

Final Grade