Rating the Defense through 6 games

[matthewdanna 143]

It's been only 6 games, but during the off/preseason fans on LGW were bemoaning how bad our defense was.

Well I think it has been pretty good. Of course, it helps that our goal tending has been great and many of our forwards are playing good defense, making it easier on the defensemen... but here is how I rank our defensemen's play thus far:

1. B.Smith - he has been awesome on both ends

2. DD - most consistent in the D-zone

3. Kronner - solid, with some turnovers

4. Q - has played pretty fricking good and is competing

5. Glendening - has played better D that the last two

6 (tie) - Kindl/Ericsson - flashes of good play, followed by some head scratchers. I think Kindl has actually out-played Ericsson

[frankgrimes 1,836]

It's been only 6 games, but during the off/preseason fans on LGW were bemoaning how bad our defense was.

Well I think it has been pretty good. Of course, it helps that our goal tending has been great and many of our forwards are playing good defense, making it easier on the defensemen... but here is how I rank our defensemen's play thus far:

1. B.Smith - he has been awesome on both ends

2. DD - most consistent in the D-zone

3. Kronner - solid, with some turnovers

4. Q - has played pretty fricking good and is competing

5. Glendening - has played better D that the last two

6 (tie) - Kindl/Ericsson - flashes of good play, followed by some head scratchers. I think Kindl has actually out-played Ericsson

1. B. Smith he looks much stronger and has been awesome

2. DD - way to go Danny our most reliable defender guy is just a machine

3. Kronwall - solid start so far.

4. Glendening - plays solid D and is starting to get involved into the physical stuff too love it

5. Quincey - competes hard I like that

6. Kindl - better than I thought but only because of...

7. Ericcson - wow does this guy need to get his game together, slow breakout passes, give aways and looks a bit sluggish

[AtlantaHotWings 974]

I wonder how much of E's issues are finger related. More mental than physical

[joesuffP 1,746]

It seems everyone is buying into Babs system and playing great team defense. If we can add a better puck mover then we get better offensively and defensively. Also the defense needs to contribute offensively. There's no reason for us to be bottom of the league in power play and defensive scoring

Smith

Kronwall/DD

Kindl/Quincey

Ericsson

[nawein 324]

3 comments deep and nobody has mention that Glendening isn't a defenseman yet. He's a center.

[Hockeymom1960 5,107]

3 comments deep and nobody has mention that Glendening isn't a defenseman yet. He's a center.

That's how awesome he is

[Dominator2005 558]

Smith and Deke are our best Def so far

Kronwall: has changed his style of play... he's not going for the big hits anymore...

Quincey: has been very, very solid

Ericsson and Kindl: I wouldn't mind getting them package with some prospects for Bogo or Buff

LG: I like what he's bring, need some muscle (Gazdic) on his line.

[Hockeymom1960 5,107]

Smith and Deke are our best Def so far

Kronwall: has changed his style of play... he's not going for the big hits anymore...

Quincey: has been very, very solid

Ericsson and Kindl: I wouldn't mind getting them package with some prospects for Bogo or Buff

LG: I like what he's bring, need some muscle (Gazdic) on his line.

TBH, that's not true. I was at the home opener and he went after the big hit but didn't pan out. He went after the big hit last night also. When the opportunity arises, he goes for it. May not always be successful but teams still have to keep their heads up when he's out on the ice.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Hockeymom1960

[DickieDunn 2,571]

A lot of Kronwallings would be suspensions now. He's had to tone it down. The much maligned d is definitely not an issue though.

[VM1138 1,921]

Exactly. Kronwall can't get away with Kronwalling people anymore. So he saves them for opportune moments. A couple a season.

Our defense has been surprisingly good and I don't think the bad defensive scoring numbers are their fault. The whole team isn't scoring, and the defense is doing their job in setting up some sweet chances.

[frankgrimes 1,836]

Smith and Deke are our best Def so far

Kronwall: has changed his style of play... he's not going for the big hits anymore...

Quincey: has been very, very solid

Ericsson and Kindl: I wouldn't mind getting them package with some prospects for Bogo or Buff

LG: I like what he's bring, need some muscle (Gazdic) on his line.

I would do backflips on my balcony if he ever comes, great player

[Dominator2005 558]

Emelin is a constant hard hitting def and his hits are clean. I'm saying that Kronwall isn't going for the hits, once in a while...

I would do backflips on my balcony if he ever comes, great player

Who?

[frankgrimes 1,836]

Emelin is a constant hard hitting def and his hits are clean. I'm saying that Kronwall isn't going for the hits, once in a while...

I would do backflips on my balcony if he ever comes, great player

Who?

Agreed I've been a huge kronwall fan thanks to his his but they've become to rare

[Dominator2005 558]

Agreed I've been a huge kronwall fan thanks to his his but they've become to rare

This

You can't be occasionally physical.... and there are plenty of clean, hard hitting def. When your most physical defs are Smith and Q... you are in trouble.

[themcityblues 249]

I think the defense has been stellar.

1. D.D - I agree he's very consistent in his own zone. He's responsible, a big body, heavy on the puck, moves the puck well, and has high hockey IQ. He's so dependable in many ways which is why I list him as the Wings best D-man.

2. B. Smith - He's constantly improving his play in his own zone. Paired with his offensive gifts he's growing into a critically important piece of this team. I feel Smith has potential to get even better. I would like to see him put up more points and convert more opportunities into goals.

3 KFQ - He looked dumb last night, but so far a solid year for the whipping boy. I'm quite surprised. If he continues to be responsible in his own zone his durability and dependability becomes a huge asset. He's playing with heart lately which is a bit unusual for him.

4. Kronwall - Ever since Nick left he hasn't been as responsible with the puck in his own zone. He's so gifted athletically and is dangerous offensively such that he probably deserves to wear the "A" anyway. But how good of a year has it been for him compared to years past? Not stellar. I didn't think he was great last year, either.

5. Ericsson - His tree-root legs have been noticeable. If he's hesitant to use his body and afraid to take guys out of the play then his value really diminishes. I wonder if he is afraid to let loose because it's not "Red Wings"-style hockey. Is he being warned by the staff about instigating fights, igniting emotions and taking penalties? Why else is he not using his body like he used to? I put him #5 because I still see him cancel guys out in his own zone.

6. Kindl - He just doesn't seem to add much value. I guess, at times, he's looked good skating and moving the puck. He is a turnover machine and he seems to lack confidence to play in the NHL. I'm surprised he still gets opportunities. I think he's improving... slowly

Edited October 23, 2014 by themcityblues

[dirtydangles 1,328]

1. Smith - creating offence, jumping up in on the play, leading the rush, cut down on mistakes and turnovers, making good decisions.

2. Kronwall - still in his peak, playing more careful as the leader of the d group, a few more mistakes than we are used to but that comes from playing the hardest minutes

3. DD - very steady, moving the puck well, not making mistakes, not producing offensively yet and this needs to come along soon hopefully

4. Quincey - haven't really noticed him which is a good thing, hasn't made any crazy stupid decisions that I've noticed, not much offensively

5. Kindl - he has been sheltered a lot it seems, hasn't been too bad after the first couple of games, still not doing much to contribute

6. E - has been slow, error prone, softer than usual, zero offence, average defence - either he is having a slow start or he isn't aging well

All in all I would say Smith, Kronner, and DD are all mainstays for the future. I wouldn't mind picking up a Petry/Myers and then adding Ouellet and one of Jensen/Marchenko for next season. The following season we will probably see Sproul make the jump and then we have to make some tougher decisions. Sproul definitely needs to make this team eventually with his tools. I wouldn't mind shipping E out at the end of the year while he still has some trade value.

Kronwall - Smith

Dekeyser - Petry/Myers

Ouellet - Marchenko/Jensen

Lashoff

[gcom007 1,465]

I've never been as sold on Ericsson as some. I think he's overachieved at times. I'd be all for him playing as well as we've seen him, but I wouldn't be shocked if he struggled to do that consistently.

Overall, we can't complain about the D or goaltending for that matter too much at this point. The system is working pretty well and they're holding their own for the most part.

[kipwinger 8,500]

Our zone coverage has been really good. Our passing and transition game from the back end has been horrible, to the extent that our beat writers were discussing our "turnover problem" by about game 3 of the season. Two of our loses are directly attributable to massive defenseman turnovers that led to goals. Also our defense has produced a combined 7 points, so anybody ready to pat them on the back for "creating offense" should think again. So let's not sing kumbaya just yet eh boys?

[Aznknight 139]

I'm just happy that our D as a unit has figured it out.

Now just the forwards to score.

[rick zombo 3,739]

Our zone coverage has been really good. Our passing and transition game from the back end has been horrible, to the extent that our beat writers were discussing our "turnover problem" by about game 3 of the season. Two of our loses are directly attributable to massive defenseman turnovers that led to goals. Also our defense has produced a combined 7 points, so anybody ready to pat them on the back for "creating offense" should think again. So let's not sing kumbaya just yet eh boys?

Weird. I know there’s been a few hiccups (Ericsson in game 1 comes to mind) but I feel like the D to F puck movement has been much improved and has probably had an enhancing effect on team speed. If you look at analytics, the Wings have had really good possession stats through these first 6 games. Some of that has to be because of decent puck movement from the D.

[kipwinger 8,500]

Weird. I know there’s been a few hiccups (Ericsson in game 1 comes to mind) but I feel like the D to F puck movement has been much improved and has probably had an enhancing effect on team speed. If you look at analytics, the Wings have had really good possession stats through these first 6 games. Some of that has to be because of decent puck movement from the D.

Not necessarily, a faster team will generally have better possession stats than a slow one (us a year ago) because your forecheck creates more turnovers and you get to more loose pucks. It's basically a team wide version of the same theory that has Helm on the powerplay right now. He's faster than everyone else so he gets to more loose pucks (i.e. keeps possession for the Wings). Babs was commenting on how much faster our team is this year. My guess is this attributes MUCH more to those possession stats than defense to offense transitions.

Against Montreal it was really obvious. ALL our decent scoring chances came as a result of the forwards mixing it up and making it hard for Montreal to get through the neutral zone. Even Datsyuk's "goal" (which came from deep in our d-zone) was passed up by Zetterberg and not a dman. Our defense is terrible at gaining possession in our zone, and getting the puck to the forwards competently (the aforementioned "turnover problem").

[gcom007 1,465]

Our zone coverage has been really good. Our passing and transition game from the back end has been horrible, to the extent that our beat writers were discussing our "turnover problem" by about game 3 of the season. Two of our loses are directly attributable to massive defenseman turnovers that led to goals. Also our defense has produced a combined 7 points, so anybody ready to pat them on the back for "creating offense" should think again. So let's not sing kumbaya just yet eh boys?

But look at the defense we have!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I think we have great defense, but relative to what seems reasonable to expect from this squad, they've done a pretty good job of keeping the other team from scoring goals. The games have been tight and we've been in nearly all of them.

And we still have Kindl in the lineup, who hasn't been good, but he's hardly been terrible.

If we can find a way to add a solid 3-4 d-man via trade at some point this season, we're going to be in pretty damn good shape in the grand scheme of things. It's not going to be great anytime soon barring something dramatic, so again, I'm going to try to judge them relative to what's reasonable to expect out of this specific squad.

It could be a lot worse.

[DickieDunn 2,571]

They have 3 2nd pair guys now, they need a top pair d or nothing.

[Richdg 267]

2 pages and no one has mentioned our best defender yet: Howard. He is back to his steady solid self. Being healthy helps a lot. DD continues to develop. he was already our best defensive Dman and you see the signs of development on O. Smith is also continuing to grow. These 2 should be paired together and by the end of the year they will be a legit top pair in the NHL. Cheap too!

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

2 pages and no one has mentioned our best defender yet: Howard. He is back to his steady solid self. Being healthy helps a lot. DD continues to develop. he was already our best defensive Dman and you see the signs of development on O. Smith is also continuing to grow. These 2 should be paired together and by the end of the year they will be a legit top pair in the NHL. Cheap too!

Actually there was a Howard(hating) thread. Didn't last long...with good reason...lol