Detroit Red Wings should steer clear of Kevin Shattenkirk
By Bob Heyrman
Kevin Shattenkirk is living proof that things don’t always turn out the way you’ve planned them. The New York Rangers recently bought out the 30-year old defenseman who had two years remaining on his deal; he’s now an unrestricted free agent. But the Detroit Red Wings should steer clear of Shattenkirk.
Kevin Shattenkirk fulfilled his childhood dream of playing hockey for the New York Rangers. He was born in New York. Things just happened to end abruptly for the once highly touted defenseman. The move will clear up just over $5-million in cap space for the Rangers. The Detroit Red Wings were linked to Shattenkirk a couple of years ago. The Wings needed a right-handed shot on their blueline and dipped a toe in the water before he was dealt from St. Louis to Washington.
Shattenkirk made an average annual salary of $6.65 per season. Not a horrible deal considering the contracts that are being thrown around now merely a couple of years after he signed his deal. The problem is after immediately after signing the lucrative deal his game seemingly began to spiral downward. His first year in New York he only played half the season appearing in 46 games. He recorded 5 goals and added 18 helpers totaling 23 points and was a minus -14. He averaged 20:16 TOI per night but didn’t seem nearly as comfortable as he had in the past with the Blues.
Perhaps playing with a couple of great, talented, mobile defenseman in Jay Boumeester along with Alex Pietrangelo covered up some of his flaws. Last season he played 73 games with the reeling Rangers only scoring twice, compiling 28 points though, yet again he was a minus -15 and only averaged 18:56 TOI per game; a career-low.
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It appears the 30-year old defenders best days are behind him. The New York Rangers are in the same situation as the Detroit Red Wings; rebuild mode. If they don’t want him, Detroit shouldn’t either. The Detroit Red Wings struggled mightily at times last season in their own zone. Why bring in another offensive dependant defenseman who would impede the growth of some of the younger players trying to develop at the NHL level? I don’t think Shattenkirk is finished; it appears a change of scenery will do him some good but not in Detroit.
If the Red Wings didn’t have Mike Green, Trevor Daley, Johnathan Ericsson, and a pending Niklas Kronwall, the opinion could be much different. Yes, three of those players are entering the final year of their contract, and one is mulling over if he wants to retire or play one more season. Adding Kevin would limit another young player from playing in Detroit when four old placemats are already collecting dust. He just doesn’t fit in Detroit this year.
Next. Yzerman has his sights set on Torey Krug. dark
The Wings are much better off to continue to draft and develop young players. Leave some NHL ice freed up for the young players to gain much-needed experience at the NHL level. If Shattenkirk was to put the franchise ‘over the top’ making them a contender that would be different but the last thing we should want is to watch him skate around paired with Johnathan Ericsson as the teams’ third pairing while Filip Hronek, Dennis Cholowski, Oliwer Kaski, and Madison Bowey are all playing in Grand Rapids.