Detroit Red Wings add defenseman Christian Djoos to the mix

The Detroit Red Wings claimed defenseman Christian Djoos off of waivers from the Anaheim Ducks.

Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman opted to take a flier on defenseman Christian Djoos adding the Stanley Cup-winning defender to the mix.

The 26-year old projects as an NHL depth defender that will certainly be in the conversation for a place in Detroit’s top-eight to begin the 2021 NHL regular season.  One can assume there are five ‘lineup locks’ on Detroit’s backend to start the season; Danny DeKeyser, Patrik Nemeth, Filip Hronek, Marc Staal, and Troy Stecher.

That leaves the newly acquired Djoos to compete with 28-year old, former Michigan Wolverine Jon Merrill, who Yzerman signed to a one-year deal worth $925,000 this past offseason.  Alex Biega, along with Dennis Cholowski and perhaps Gustav Lindstrom, will all compete for the final few roster spots.  That is until Moritz Seider is ready to make his NHL debut.

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Djoos is a native of Sweden initially drafted by the Washington Capitals 195th overall in the seventh round of the 2012 NHL Entry Level Draft.

The left-handed shooting defender has played 119 career NHL games, recording five goals and accumulating 22 assists totaling 27 points.  Djoos is a career plus 25, with a point share of 6.1.  Djoos’ has maintained a very solid Corsi For Percentage throughout his young career of 51; not bad for a third pairing defender.  Over those 119 career games, Djoos has started nearly 60% of his five-on-five shifts in the offensive zone.

As previously mentioned, Djoos won a Stanley Cup back in 2018 as a member of the Washington Capitals.  The young defender appeared in 22 playoff games as a 23-year old averaging a mere 10:51 of ice-time per game, recording one assist, playing as a plus five.  Something to be a bit concerned about is Djoos’ turnovers.  During that cup run with Washington, Djoos turned the puck over a whopping 13 times while only creating five takeaways.

Last season Djoos played in 11 NHL games, two with Washington and nine with Anaheim recording one goal and three points.  Djoos averaged over 21 minutes per game with the Ducks.

While the 26-year old surely hopes to make the Detroit Red Wings roster out of camp, he’s likely to be placed on the teams’ taxi squad, but that means he will need to pass through waivers first.

Djoos has one-year left on his current deal that pays him $1 million.  He will become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.