Detroit Red Wings: 3 restricted free agents to avoid re-signing
By Bob Heyrman
Madison Bowey
The Detroit Red Wings acquired Madison Bowey in a deal that sent Nick Jensen to the Washington Capitals. Bowey was the ‘throw in’ as the Red Wings received a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft for Jensen.
Bowey plays with plenty of grit, which we like, but struggles mightily in his own zone. Bowey’s proved to be a defensive liability producing a putrid 44.4 Corsi For Percentage (CF%) last season. If you want to blame that on how bad the Red Wings were this past year, his career average is 44.5%.
During the 2019-20 season, Bowey recorded a career-high 17 points, scoring three goals. Bowey also arranged a career-high 17:54 time on ice. It shows just how bad the Wings were last year. Bowey is best-suited playing as a sixth or seventh defenseman, but the Wings were forced to play him as a second-pairing defender.
The Detroit Red Wings will have a Filip Hronek, Danny DeKeyser, Patrik Nemeth, Alex Biega, and hopefully Dennis Cholowski, Gustav Lindstrom, Jared McIsaac or Moritz Seider emerging for a roster spot next season.
If the Red Wings are looking for a gritty defender, they have options with Joe Hicketts or big Dylan McIlrath, they can plug into a third pairing. The Red Wings also have veteran Brian Lashoff as a reserve.
I’d expect the Detroit Red Wings to try and land a top free agent to plug into their top-four defense corps. The team may have an opportunity to make a splash by landing either Torey Krug or Alex Pietrangelo.