Detroit Red Wings: Three restricted free agents to avoid re-signing
By Bob Heyrman
Madison Bowey
The Detroit Red Wings added Madison Bowey as the ‘throw-in’ piece of a transaction that sent defenseman Nick Jensen to the Washington Capitals. The deal centered around the Red Wings obtaining a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Level Draft.
Although Jensen had been enjoying a breakout season at the time of the trade, it ended up being a successful deal Holland made acquiring a second-round pick for Jensen’s services. It’s Detroit receiving good value for a reliable third pairing, right-handed defender. Jensen is more of a shot-blocking penalty-killing defender. Yzerman will have the opportunity to add a top-60 player through the draft.
Bowey’s ceiling is a third-pairing defender, who is also a right-handed shot similar to Jensen. He’s much more offensive-minded than Jensen, but with that comes plenty of irresponsible defensive awareness. Playing on a bad team that already gives up way to many shots against, allowing too many odd-man rushes is problematic.
At times Bowey is wholly lost in the defensive zone, regularly struggling to identify defensive zone coverage. The Wings struggle to find a reliable exit pass out of their own territory, which often leads to a devastating turnover. Sure, it’s not just Bowey, it’s nearly every one of their defenders, but Bowey appears to make way to many mistakes in the defensive zone.
Bowey, who turns 25-years old in April, is a player Yzerman will likely move on from. In 53 games this season, Bowey has earned 17 points, three of which are goals. He’s a minus -16 on the season to go with an atrocious 44.4 Corsi For Percentage (CF%), which is lower than the team’s average of 45.5%.