Confirmed Signing with Link: [DET] Danny DeKeyser (6 years, $5M AAV)
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Dotter
THE ATHLETIC IS GARBAGE
This thread proves Danny Dekeyser is extremely, extremely underrated on the forums. Mike Babcock (one of the best hockey coaches in the game) has nothing but glowing things to say about Dekeyser. He calls Danny the "Human Eraser; the guy that can make other players mistakes disappear.
$5 million per year is a very fair deal. I think he'd easily get $6 million on the open market if he decided to test the UFA market.
IMO, he took a MILLION per year discount.
$5 million per year is a very fair deal. I think he'd easily get $6 million on the open market if he decided to test the UFA market.
IMO, he took a MILLION per year discount.
What? Of course not. Jesus. He's 26, has 3 seasons under his belt, and is a UFA for 83% of the years this contract covers.
If he were a true #1 defenseman, a deal that covers his prime years at 26-32 would cost $7M for a 26 year old signing with a team that relies on him to cover up all of his partners mistakes.
What is mind boggling are the "average second pairing" comments, the "secondary pieces" statements, the "lol wut" posts, the Polak and MacDonald comparisons.
Dekeyser is a suspect #2, an indisputably worthy #3. The hilarity that this thread invokes for me is the, at worst, 50/50 sentiment after Petry signed his $5.5M per deal. Hell, resurrect the MacDonald thread and there will easily more people commending the AMac signing than there are the Dekeyser contract, yet Dekeyser is younger, worlds better as a skater, smarter, and plays a bigger role team-wise than anything AMac did.
Dekeyser is not a shut-down defenseman. He's a two-way guy.
Dekeyser is not a secondary piece. He's been Detroit's #2 man for THREE years running.
Dekeyser is not Girardi or Polak, using their physicality to hide their average skating. He's a smart, mobile player.
Dekeyser is not Mattias Ekholm playing with Ryan Ellis behind Josi and Weber. He's been responsible for resurrecting Kyle ****kng Quincey's career for what amounts to 80-90% of his own NHL lifespan.
Dekeyser is a 2/3 who has carried ****** partners on an average team for his entire NHL life. He is not some superstar. He is not some ready-to-break-out offensive phenomenon. But he is as solid as they come and the first guy Detroit fans want on the ice to defend their lead, or at pretty much any other time.
Abdelkader is a prime candidate to depreciate rapidly. Physical and without the intelligence to buoy him over time. He might be worth his deal this year. We'll see. Id guess he isn't worth it for over 50% of its lifespan. Regardless, it's indefensible given that he received it after ONE year of being anything more than a tertiary piece.
As for Abby being deployed on the first line....and? First of all, he's a forward. There's literally 50% more diversity there than on D lines.
Second, and more importantly, he's the leech, not the rock. Abby isn't carrying Sheahan and Jurco - he's banking off (and literally been banked off of) the likes of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Nyquist and Larkin.
Conversely, Dekeyser is the mainstay in his setting. He's the rock; he's been made to be the martyr. If the world were fair, Quincey would be paying 20% of Dekeyser's new contract...
I advocated for Dekeyser at 4.5 for 6-7 years. He is absolutely worth 4.5M in any context. That would have been a great deal - a boon for Holland. $5M I see as good market value for a UFA like DD. And inevitably, HF would come to revere and love Dekeyser simply due to his impending FA status if this were the spring of 2017. Regardless, a solid but not phenomenal deal for DD in this situation is about $4.75 here. The issue I have is with the reactions. Someone even asked "who?" These are not the reactions to a deal where the player is realistically overpaid by 250k for the duration of his prime years.
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An entirely fair deal without favouring the team. He would, of course, earn less in Nashville and Anaheim etc because he wouldn't play anything like the same minutes due to the vastly superior d-cores they have. And if he is paired with Mike Green this year as per the original intention, his production should increase, even without power-play time.
The fact is, he's the only member of the wings D with the potential to be a #2 d-man at his peak, and is the only one worth locking up. There are of course better contracts (even taking UFA years into account) around the league. But there are plenty of worse ones too.
Wings fans are happy as their best D-man (unless Kronwall's knees recover fully) is inked for most of his likely peak years at a price only slightly inflated at the start of the deal.
As for Mrazek money, Franzen and Vitale taking their combined salaries onto LTIR should do it.
The fact is, he's the only member of the wings D with the potential to be a #2 d-man at his peak, and is the only one worth locking up. There are of course better contracts (even taking UFA years into account) around the league. But there are plenty of worse ones too.
Wings fans are happy as their best D-man (unless Kronwall's knees recover fully) is inked for most of his likely peak years at a price only slightly inflated at the start of the deal.
As for Mrazek money, Franzen and Vitale taking their combined salaries onto LTIR should do it.
LeafingTheWay
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- May 31, 2014
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Yeah, but I guess the real issue for Detroit is our #7 D is just as good as Doughty. Guess someone should call Blashill and let him know
Bud, if you read the top it says how they were used. Doughty as top pairing and Smith as a bottom pairing D. Doughty succeeded at top pairing and Smith succeeded at bottom pairing. That's it.
HERO charts should never be used to prove a point. But in this case, we can do our own research and conclude that there are many Dekesyer's comparables in usage that do well. To give him an excuse for his poor results and say 'well he played hard situations' is not exactly a good argument.
As of right now, we can say that Dekeyser should not be given the same usage he was given last year. Based on what I see, change up how he's used, because clearly he's not getting the results you want from someone playing those crucial minutes. What sucks is that Detroit is lacking D that can take those minutes (other than I think Green).
Pavels Dog
Registered User
Well said.
And he actually was Detroit's leader in ES TOI last season. He is very important to the Wings. He's not a 'true' #1 but he's currently the only d-man on the Wings that I wouldn't feel awful about deploying as a #1 next season. He's fantastic defensively and underrated in terms of puck movement and offense. If Detroit could acquire a legit partner for him, such as Shattenkirk, I suspect people's eyes would be opened as to how good he actually is. Ain't easy to look like a star when you're playing against the other teams best players constantly, together with Kyle Quincey.
Kraken Jokes
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DeKeyser is extremely underrated of these boards. He would have gotten $6+ on the open market. He's currently Detroit's top defender.
Heraldic
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It's a fair deal for Detroit. Not bad, but nothing special either. I would be happy if Sabres could have signed him with that same deal. He's a good top-4 d-man, and those don't grow in trees too much.
The problem is that he is likely forced to play in a role where he is going to be overwhelmed (first pairing or even 1#). It's not his fault, but he (and his contract) likely will look worse because of that.
Last season was the first season he was actually carrying a heavy load. Previous seasons he has been pretty much used behind Kronwall/Ericsson. So it's not a surprise that it seemed like he even took a step backwards.
IMO he doesn't have any specific elite skill, but he is pretty well-rounded. He is not a d-man who you should regularly face against top-opponents, but he has all the tools to be the type of defensive d-man, who will do great job in a second-pairing with good enough puck moving skills.
The problem is that he is likely forced to play in a role where he is going to be overwhelmed (first pairing or even 1#). It's not his fault, but he (and his contract) likely will look worse because of that.
Last season was the first season he was actually carrying a heavy load. Previous seasons he has been pretty much used behind Kronwall/Ericsson. So it's not a surprise that it seemed like he even took a step backwards.
IMO he doesn't have any specific elite skill, but he is pretty well-rounded. He is not a d-man who you should regularly face against top-opponents, but he has all the tools to be the type of defensive d-man, who will do great job in a second-pairing with good enough puck moving skills.
JimmyTwoTimes
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- Apr 13, 2010
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Birko19
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This thread proves that not many have watched DD, he's easily Detroit's best dman and a pretty good darn legit top-4 with potential to be a top pairing guy at some point in his prime. I think this is a good deal.
I don't really mind it to be honest. If he for some reason becomes injury prone or regresses then its a bad deal but if he maintains this play, then its going rate. Not a deal, not a rip off
izlez
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Not that it's a bad contract in the first place, but I really don't get the people that are SO against this deal.
Should we let good hockey players go if they want a little bit more money and just roll out a top pairing of Jonathan Ericsson and Jason Demers or something?
Good defenseman don't hit FA. If they do, you have a 1/30 chance to land them. I'd rather have a few overpaid (which Dekeyser isn't) good hockey players, than a bunch of scrubs and a pile of cash sitting in my owner's pocket
Should we let good hockey players go if they want a little bit more money and just roll out a top pairing of Jonathan Ericsson and Jason Demers or something?
Good defenseman don't hit FA. If they do, you have a 1/30 chance to land them. I'd rather have a few overpaid (which Dekeyser isn't) good hockey players, than a bunch of scrubs and a pile of cash sitting in my owner's pocket
Dotter
THE ATHLETIC IS GARBAGE
Yes. That way the people trashing his contract can hope their team signs him to the same deal.
their usage metrics arent right tho, ive peronally looked into it (by looking up TOI's, linemates, o-zone/dzone deployments etc.).
Dotter
THE ATHLETIC IS GARBAGE
Well he was 81st in points among all defensemen on team that struggled to score. Considering Dekeyser is a defeneman dman, that's pretty darn good. His numbers are down from the 2014/15 season. Everyone expects to bounce back in terms of point producing.
He was 43rd among all NHL defensemen in total TOI with 1700:45
Those stats show he is a 2nd/3rd paring defeneman. Babcock calls him the "human eraser", because he makes other players mistakes disappear.
Dekeyser is extremely, extremely underrated. He does have the PK Subban flash, so nobody pays attention.
ArGarBarGar
What do we want!? Unfair!
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Dotter
THE ATHLETIC IS GARBAGE
I mean't to say he's a top 2 or an upper end top 3 defenseman right now. He just doesn't have the PK Subban flash so nobody pays attention.
Top 81 in points for all defensemen
Top 43 in total TOI. He is used against other teams top players and can play in all areas of the ice. PK, PP, D zone starts, A zone starts etc..
He's gradually becoming Detroit's best defenseeman. He would easily get near $6 million on the open market, so $5 million is a discount.
Top 81 in points for all defensemen
Top 43 in total TOI. He is used against other teams top players and can play in all areas of the ice. PK, PP, D zone starts, A zone starts etc..
He's gradually becoming Detroit's best defenseeman. He would easily get near $6 million on the open market, so $5 million is a discount.
jkutswings
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He's a #3 on a Cup contender, a #2 on an average to above average defense, and a #1 in Detroit, at least until they fix that dumpster fire on the back end. Nothing wrong with who he is, but claiming $6M on the open market is a bit silly.
The guy currently deserves $4M, but had all the leverage to get $5M. Not the end of the world.
The guy currently deserves $4M, but had all the leverage to get $5M. Not the end of the world.
Frk It
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This is pretty much exactly what happened.
And yeah, even as a Wings fan, I don't see the grounds to say he'd make 6 million on the open market.
No, doesn't change that he is OUR best D.
Should we weaken our already bottom 5D group over $500,000? People don't understand how hockey works around here.
izlez
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I don't know, just going off the first guy I could think of that was a "good" UFA defenseman,
Brooks Orpik is signed at 5.5 million per year cap hit.
He signed that at the age of 33 I think
His second highest point total in a season is 19. Dekeyser has more than that in all 3 of his professional seasons.
Dekeyser would have been 27-28(?) if he were to hit UFA.
Like I said, he scores more points
The cap will probably be higher than it was in 2014-15
6 million seems pretty reasonable to me
Brooks Orpik is signed at 5.5 million per year cap hit.
He signed that at the age of 33 I think
His second highest point total in a season is 19. Dekeyser has more than that in all 3 of his professional seasons.
Dekeyser would have been 27-28(?) if he were to hit UFA.
Like I said, he scores more points
The cap will probably be higher than it was in 2014-15
6 million seems pretty reasonable to me
Number1RedWingsFan52
Registered User
Sorry to burst you bubble here, But you're paying for most of Maatta's RFA years here and those tend to be cheaper. Maybe only 1 of those years covers UFA years that tend to be more expensive. DDK only had 1 more RFA year here and the other 5 years are UFA years that tend to be more expensive. Why're people having trouble understanding this.
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