Detroit Red Wings: Analyzing WAR For Possible 2019 Lineup
By Tyler Kotila
The defenseman had to be run a few separate times to spit out some different numbers, but using assigned positions and probable starters, I chose one set of combinations to dive deeper into for the 2019 season that provided the best WAR output.
- Pairing 1: 40% of TOI and 1.6 WAR
- Danny DeKeyser (LD) and Mike Green (RD)
- Pairing 2: 36% of TOI and 1.4 WAR
- Patrik Nemeth (LD) and Filip Hronek (RD)
- Pairing 3: 24% of TOI and -1.7 WAR
- Dennis Cholowski (LD) and Madison Bowey (RD)
NOTE: This leaves Trevor Daley and Jonathan Ericsson as healthy scratches, as Detroit Red Wings fans the hope is that the youngsters get the chance to play. This was the best way to improve the overall team WAR by “healthy scratching” Ericsson and Daley based on their 2018-19 Statistics.
Besides what is mentioned above, there can be some flaws in the WAR calculations since the general consensus would be that Hronek is going to be a reliable “Pairing 1” guy for the Red Wings this year through his calculations land him on the second line. Here’s the bottom line, this produces a 1.22 WAR towards the overall team total, which in turn brings wins.
Looking at the youngsters, both Cholowski and Hronek fared well in the analytical categories which both are candidates to improve upon these numbers on the 2019-20 campaign. Hronek showed his ability to be dominant at the IIHF Worlds and looks to up some of his offensive numbers like his 41 iSCF rating which was third behind Cholowski at 48 and Green at 51 for the Red Wings. Cholowski and Hronek combined had eight rebounds created (mostly Cholowski) and seven rush attempts (mostly Hronek) which bode well if Hronek is going to transform into this offensive defenseman.