Numbers Game: TSN Looks at Rafalski Signing
Rafalski has made 3 All-Star squads
Flickr photo: Love the 214
The TSN series Numbers Game looks at Detroit’s acquisition on the blueline to replace Mathieu Schneider. The article focuses on Rafalski’s relatively low amount NHL mileage given his age and his durability:
Though he is approaching his mid-30s, Rafalski doesn’t have the same kind of mileage on his legs as his contemporaries because he followed up his college career by playing a lighter schedule in Europe for four seasons, so he has played just 643 games, including both regular season and playoffs, in his NHL career.
Rafalski has also been durable, playing 75 or more games in six of his seven NHL seasons. He’s undersized as a defenceman, at 5-foot-10, 195 pounds, but doesn’t play a particularly physical style of game, so as long as he has his legs, his mobility will allow him to be an asset, particularly on the power play.
Yesterday I speculated that Detroit could have six 20 goal scorers. I forgot about Mikael Samuelsson, who scored 23 goals in 2005-06. He put up 14 goals last season, but that was due to suffering a broken foot, which limited him to 53 games. If he played 75 games he likely would have potted 20 goals.
So there are seven players who have a shot at scoring 20 goals: Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, Dan Cleary, Samuelsson, Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula. I didn’t include Igor Grigorenko because it’s impossible to guess what his production will look like considering he hasn’t played a single NHL game in his career.
There has been speculation that Red Wings general manager Ken Holland would like to sign a top-6 forward, but he has lately suggested he will wait until the prices start to drop and see who is available at that time. If Detroit cannot find a forward who really fits what they are looking for they could put together two decent scoring lines with current players and see how they perform. If for some reason the team doesn’t score enough they can always make a trade at the deadline to acquire a forward like they did last season.
Last year’s second line of Todd Bertuzzi, Robert Lang and Kyle Calder combined to score a total of 36 goals and 63 assists over last season. Obviously Bert didn’t play much last season, particularly in Detroit. Here is how the top two lines could look this upcoming season if Detroit cannot sign a top-6 forward.
Pavel Datsyuk - Hank Zetterberg - Tomas Holmstrom
Mikael Samuelsson - Valtterri Filppula - Jiri Hudler
If the Red Wings want to split up Datsyuk and Zetterberg so they can both play center you could re-arrange the lines like so:
Valtteri Filppula - Pavel Datsyuk - Tomas Holmstrom
Mikael Samuelsson - Hank Zetterberg - Jiri Hudler
And here is how the power play units might look.
Top PP Unit
Pavel Datsyuk - Hank Zetterberg - Tomas Holmstrom
Nicklas Lidstrom - Brian Rafalski
2nd PP Unit
Dan Cleary - Valtterri Filppula - Jiri Hudler
Niklas Kronwall - Mikael Samuelsson
It would be nice if the Red Wings could acquire a power forward before training camp who would be relatively cheap. That just doesn’t seem likely to happen. If Brendan Shanahan gets squeezed out of New York given the big contracts the Rags used to sign Scott Gomez and Chris Drury there might be a chance he could sign, but I think that’s pretty unlikely. A Red Wings fan from Finland posted over at HF Boards that Jeff O’Neill could be a good fit and I’d agree with that suggestion.
Ansar Khan also has his latest scouting report up over at MLIVE. Today he takes a look at Tomas Kopecky.
Kopecky’s time arrived last season, when it was a make it or break season for this 6-3, 200-pound Slovakian forward. Coming off his best pro season in Grand Rapids, where he notched 32 goals and 37 assists, Kopecky realized the only way he would stick with the Wings was by reinventing himself as a fourth-line plugger.
He has the size and the abrasiveness to be effective around the opposition’s net and battle in the corners and along the boards. He does, however, need to bulk up more.
…
The Wings aren’t asking much from Kopecky: Just provide a physical presence without taking bad penalties and don’t be a defensive liability.
One good sign is that he got ice time in the playoffs even though he missed the bulk of the season with a broken clavicle. He has the size and the skating ability to be a solid forechecker who can force turnovers in the offensive zone.
Brendan Shanahan Brian Rafalski jeff oneill Red Wings3 Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
I agree that the Wings could definitely have seven 20-goal scorers, but I think Johan Franzen is more likely than Dan Cleary. I think the Cleary-Draper-Maltby line was the Wings’ best line in the Calgary series and Cleary has proved he is a fantastic grinder. And remember that the vast majority of his twenty goals came during a single hot streak which coincided with excellent play from his center, Robert Lang. I guess if Cleary is a regular with Datsyuk or Zetterberg, it could happen, but I think Franzen will get more top-line opportunities than Cleary. I think both of them will end up in high-teens for goals though.
Pete, I agree Franzen could score 20 goals, but I think his career high is like 10. So that didn’t seem as likely as Filppula since most indications are that Filppula will play on a scoring line.
Part of the reason I went with Cleary is I think he’ll get a regular shift on the 2nd power play unit. He potted 6 PP goals last season and if he is a fixture on the ice with the man advantage I can see him chipping in 10 or more goals on the power play.
[…] The other day I took a look at Red Wings forwards who could - not will - but could score 20 goals next season. Here’s a look at the number of players on each team in the Western Conference who scored 50 or more points last season. […]