Welcome to a new summer series on Last Word On Hockey. In preparation for the NHL Expansion Draft on June 21st, LWOH’s Detroit Red Wings Department will be going in depth on every Wing that is eligible to be picked by the newest NHL squad, the Vegas Golden Knights, who will begin play in the fall. The team will likely follow the seven-forward, three-defensemen, and one goalie format of protecting players. This series will follow suit with that. For a brush-up on the expansion draft rules, click this link. Without further adieu, we will continue this series with Nick Jensen, a surprise riser this season who was rewarded with a two-year contract for his play with the big club.
Nick Jensen
Defense, Shoots Right
6’0″, 195 lbs
Age: 27 (This September 21st)
Cap hit: $812,500 per season (two years left)
Reasons for Protection
Jensen was not expected to get a shot for Detroit this season or really in his professional career as he was passed up the depth chart constantly since getting drafted in the fifth round all the way back in 2009. He was 27 games into his fourth AHL season when Alexey Marchenko, Brendan Smith, Mike Green and Brian Lashoff were all injured in late December. He wouldn’t look back and ended up signing an ultra club-friendly deal to stay for two more seasons. His play forced the Wings to expose Marchenko and Lashoff to waivers. The former was picked up by the Toronto Maple Leafs. They Wings saw more of an offensive upside to Jensen.
Though 49 games is a small sample, Jensen seemed to thrive in Blashill’s system. Like Xavier Ouellet, he played two seasons in it. Jensen also enjoyed modest offensive success this season. He scored four goals and 13 points while rounding out a 50.45% corsi-for percentage, fourth best on Detroit minimum 700 minutes. He placed 4th as well in Corsi-for and against per 60 minutes. The on-ice goals against at a 2.97 rate per 60 minutes is sour, but the .896 save percentage didn’t do him many favors.
His offensive output despite his low role tied for second on the group with Niklas Kronwall who played eight more games and exceeded Danny DeKeyser‘s despite playing 33 less contests. On a power play that needs some type of spark from the back-end from other than Green, slotting Jensen on as a right-handed shot option on the second unit would provide more of an opportunity for him to score some points, though he was never a big producer on the PP in Grand Rapids.
Reasons for Exposing
There is little risk in exposing Jensen to the Golden Knights since there’s a low probability of him being selected, and the Wings have insurance if he does in fact go to Vegas with Ouellet pending his protection/selection as well as Joe Hicketts, Robbie Russo, Vili Saarijarvi, Filip Hronek, and Dennis Cholowski down the road. The Wings will likely want to protect one of their high-priced assets in addition to Mike Green; such as Danny DeKeyser despite his overpriced cap hit. Since they made a commitment, they will likely want to see it through, giving him the stamp of “building block.”
This makes Jensen expendable in terms of selection and the third spot will likely come down to him or Ouellet for that third slot unless the team goes the way of term again. Besides, he is 26 and it was his first season in the NHL, not even a full 82-game slate. What’s to say he can do it again?
Verdict
Protect Him.
Yes, you read it right. The Wings have an opportunity here to unload money from the back end in the form of one of their defensemen getting selected by Vegas. Yes, it’s highly unlikely that anyone other than DeKeyser gets a sniff. Up against it, the Wings would likely welcome any opportunity for the chance to open up some space. Besides, Jensen is a low-risk option. He would be gone after two years on a low-paying contract if the team doesn’t lose any defensemen in this draft. He could be a bargain if given the minutes. He’ll likely get increased duty when Green gets traded next season (pending he waives his no-trade clause). Green is entering the final year on his contract. If the organization is going to commit to Jeff Blashill as their head coach, then they might as well commit to players who fit in his system.
Check back tomorrow as Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Rookie of the Year Anthony Mantha gets evaluated on his promising first full season.
Each link is a gateway to analysis of each player.
Updated Protection List
Forwards:
Henrik Zetterberg (May 25th)
Frans Nielsen (June 1st)
Gustav Nyquist (June 3rd)
Tomas Tatar (June 6th)
Defensemen:
Mike Green (May 26th)
Xavier Ouellet (June 5th)
Nick Jensen
Exposed:
Justin Abdelkader (May 27th)
Niklas Kronwall (May 29th)
Darren Helm (May 30th)
Danny DeKeyser (May 31st)
Jonathan Ericsson (June 2nd)
Advanced stats courtesy of Puckalytics.
Main Photo:
