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Tells
Two reads from today's move to put Chris Chelios in the lineup with Brian Rafalski injured.
First, Derek Meech isn't getting into any more games as a Red Wing. Being put behind Chelios has to be depressing for Meech, who really hasn't shown a lot, but hasn't been given a lot of opportunity to prove himself as a defenseman. At least not as much opportunity as Jonathan Ericsson was given. And with Ericsson and Jakub Kindl on the horizon, Meech doesn't have much future in Detroit.
Second, when Coach Mike Babcock discussed after the morning skate his power play without Rafalski, he talked about five defensemen -- Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Mikael Samuelsson as the first wave, Ericsson and Brad Stuart as the fill-ins. The omission of Brett Lebda struck me. He's not going to get any PK time and if he's behind Stuart and Ericsson on the PP depth chart, that's not a vote of confidence.
First, Derek Meech isn't getting into any more games as a Red Wing. Being put behind Chelios has to be depressing for Meech, who really hasn't shown a lot, but hasn't been given a lot of opportunity to prove himself as a defenseman. At least not as much opportunity as Jonathan Ericsson was given. And with Ericsson and Jakub Kindl on the horizon, Meech doesn't have much future in Detroit.
Second, when Coach Mike Babcock discussed after the morning skate his power play without Rafalski, he talked about five defensemen -- Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Mikael Samuelsson as the first wave, Ericsson and Brad Stuart as the fill-ins. The omission of Brett Lebda struck me. He's not going to get any PK time and if he's behind Stuart and Ericsson on the PP depth chart, that's not a vote of confidence.
posted by Chuck Pleiness at
6:32 PM
1 Comments:
In the games I've seen him, Meech hasn't been bad but also hasn't stood out. Much like Quincey, he won't really be missed if he has to leave but I'm sure he'll do well elsewhere.
As for Lebda, there isn't anything he can provide on the PP over Ericsson and Stuart. Stuart has a decent shot and has manned the PP on other teams before, and Ericsson has a rocket shot. I don't see Babcock's omission of Lebda as a bad thing. Not every single one of a team's defenseman is going to see time in all situations, especially when that team has guys who can play in all situations at the top of the depth chart. Lebda is probably never going to be a top 4 d-man in Detroit until Lidstrom retires, and maybe not even after then.
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