Of the course of the summer, I have questioned the wisdom of signing Chris Chelios at the age of 46 years old to a one-year contract to be the Detroit Red Wings seventh defenseman.  It didn’t make sense to me to bring him back for one year when you had three young defensemen who were capable of filling that role and developing into better NHL defensemen for the experience. Further it pushed the Red Wings into a roster and salary cap situation where they could lose as many as two of these defensemen in order accommodate Chelios’ desire to play another season.
So far the Wings have been able to tap dance around the roster and salary cap space issue for the most part because Chelios has been injured since the start of the season and only returned to the lineup on Saturday night against Phoenix.
One of the young players who may have been capable of filling the role of the seventh defenseman was Kyle Quincey who the Wings lost after placing him on waivers at the start of the season. Quincey is 23 years old and had been in the Wings organization since 2003. He played 13 regular season games over three years, but gave a real indication of the player he could be in 13 playoff games while subbing for an injured Mathieu Schneider in the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs. Since joining the Kings Quincey has 18 points in 26 games and is logging more than 22 minutes of ice time per game. Now because of the cap space the team was able to clear by placing Chelios on the long-term injury (LTI) list as well as now placing Darren McCarty on the LTI, the potential for losing a second young defenseman due to salary cap restrictions has been minimized. Otherwise the team was going to face a similar situation with Derek Meech. The third defenseman who could have possibly filled the role of the seventh defenseman is Jonathan Ericsson in Grand Rapids. His situation is different from Quincey and Meech in that he did not have to clear waivers in order to be sent to AHL, so there was no risk of losing him. Prior to returning to the Red Wings lineup Saturday night, Chelios went to Grand Rapids on a conditioning assignment, and his brief time with the Griffins erased my quarrels with the wisdom of his re-signing with the Wings.
Here is an excerpt of an article written by Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids Press on Chelios’ brief stint with the Griffins and the impact it had on the future Red Wings: When Chris Chelios skates with the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night, it will give one of the team's young defensemen a unique opportunity: The chance to be paired with a Hall of Fame player for at least one game. "It will be real interesting to see who's he's going to play with," Jakub Kindl said. "I'm pretty sure all of us would like to enjoy some ice time playing with Cheli out there." That includes Kindl and Jonathan Ericsson, two of the Red Wings' top prospects on the blueline, who skated with Chelios as practice players during Detroit's Stanley Cup run last spring. Ericsson also played with Chelios in his NHL debut on Feb. 22, and said the work ethic of the 11-time All-Star rubs off on everyone. "He was always around the locker room, always the first guy there, last guy to leave," Ericsson said. "He's been through everything a hockey player can go through. He's just a big role model for everyone." Kindl said skating with Chelios helped him build confidence. "I had a chance to play with him this training camp," Kindl said. "He looked like he trusted me."
For the complete story from Zuidema and the Grand Rapids Press click here. |
