Red Wings: Can Carter Rowney Be More Than a Depth Piece?

This offseason, the Detroit Red Wings added some depth to the roster by signing forward Carter Rowney. His role with the Anaheim Ducks last season was a depth winger that could slot in when injury necessitated it – will his time in Detroit be the same?

Age: 32

Right Winger

First Season With the Red Wings

Stats Snapshot:

Goals: 0

Assists: 6

CF%: 35.4

Pts/60: 1.3

ixG: 1.38

(Advanced Stats Courtesy of Evolving-Hockey)

Last Season With the Anaheim Ducks

Rowney role with the Ducks last season was as a depth forward. He only appeared in 19 NHL games in Anaheim and wasn’t very productive in that stretch. Offensively, he was a black hole. While he managed add six assists to his career NHL total, Rowney didn’t score a goal and he finished with a sub 40 percent corsi/for – 35.4. He can’t shoot and he can’t generate offense.

However, Rowney wasn’t deployed to score goals. As a fill-in for the bottom-lines of the Ducks, he was mostly deployed as a penalty killing, defensive forward that could stifle opposing lines.

In the end, while Rowney wasn’t great in 2020-21, he did exactly what he was asked to do. In that sense, he was a perfectly competent NHL depth forward: stepping into the roster and quietly holding splintered lines together.

Best Case Scenario This Season

Rowney is the go-to 13th forward on the team. When there’s an injury in the bottom-line or a shakeup in the roster, Rowney fills it with with safe and competent play that ensures the bottom-six stays cohesive.

He also finds a good amount of success on the penalty kill unit. Although Rowney won’t be a starter much this season due to his role with the team, he can be of use on a Detroit penalty kill that doesn’t really have a solidified unit yet.

Worst Case Scenario

Rowney is immediately surpassed by younger players and prospects in Grand Rapids (like a Taro Hirose). He becomes a regular healthy scratch and is eventually placed on waivers. Rowney only becomes of use to the team when injuries pile up. He appears in a handful of games with Detroit as a bottom-liner at the beginning of the season and that’s it.

The Prediction Part

Rowney is not going to see a lot of deployment this year. With so much talent coming through the pipeline, it’s hard to have the 32 year old forward become a mainstay on this year’s starting roster over younger wingers, even if he has a great year. He’s going to be consistently scratched, waiting for the opportunity to step up onto the team when a gap in the lineup makes it necessary.

Possibility of Becoming a Trade Deadline Target: Unlikely

Like depth on most team in the league, Rowney probably won’t find himself on the trading block because of his replaceability. Even if he has a great season, as a depth forward, he will probably find himself watching from the sidelines for a majority of the year. It’ll be hard for any teams to justify making a move for a player that was not a starter on a bottom ten team in the league.

The Bottom Line

Basically, insert what I wrote about Jordan Oesterle here – just replace the word defenseman with forward. In the grand scheme of things, Rowney’s performance in Detroit is not going to matter all that much. He was a depth signing and he’s going to be the Red Wings 13th forward for much of the season. There’s not a natural way that Rowney can force himself onto the starting roster – only injuries, COVID-19 and trades could free up the roster enough for a spot (and that’s assuming a younger winger is called up). But he’s a piece that can help the team by providing stability when instability arises and that is well worth the $825,000 price tag.