Detroit Red Wings: How Will Brian Rafalski's Retirement Affect Defense Pairings?

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Most Detroit Red Wings fans went into this offseason with some big questions that needed to be answered.

But no question was bigger than, "will Nick Lidstrom retire?"

Obviously now know that Captain Nick will come back for another season, but his longtime partner on the ice, Brian Rafalski will not return.

Rafalski announced his retirement in May, foregoing another year of hockey which would have seen him make $6 million.

Some Red Wings fans, myself included, were initially surprised by Rafi's decision to hang 'em up, but in hindsight, Rafalski's injuries caught up to him and he made the right decision to retire while he was still on top (with a top five ranking in defensive scoring).

The big questions that face the Wings going into training camp revolve largely around who will be imported into the Red Wings defensive corps to try and fill the shoes of Rafalski, as well as the departed Ruslan Salei.

I will attempt to summarize what look like the best options for the Red Wings and suggest what I believe to be the best pairings on the back end.

Lidstrom/Ericsson

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So, for the record, I have a strong dislike for Jonathan Ericsson.

He seems fairly clueless on the ice to be honest, and I have no idea how he managed to attain a positive plus/minus rating (plus-eight) last season.

The number of penalty minutes that he took last season (87) is far too many for someone on the Red Wings, as he led the team by 16 penalty minutes over the next closest, Todd Bertuzzi.

Having vented my frustrations about him, maybe this season will be the season that he turns it around and Wings fans see his point total rise over his career high of 15 points.

I really did not want to put Ericsson on the same defensive pairing as Nicklas Lidstrom, but who better to learn about excelling as a defenseman, than the best (waiting for some controversy on this statement) defenseman in the last 20 years?

Lidstrom and Ericsson could complement each other nicely; Lidstrom with the finesse moves on defense and Ericsson's big (but surprisingly sparsely used) frame.

Ericsson needs to hit more; end of story.

If Ericsson were to use his frame to actually hit people instead of skating by them and letting them get right to the net, the former ninth-round pick could actually become a dominant force on the back end.

Lidstrom's point total will likely dip by playing with Ericsson as opposed to Rafalski, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Ericsson hit 30 points this year if he plays the majority of his ice time with Lidstrom.

Stuart/Kronwall

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The physical tandem of Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart will be at it again this season.

These two bruising, shot-blocking, battering rams will likely see increased ice time this season with Lidstrom getting older and Babcock trusting Kronwall and Stuart more and more each season.

Kronwall broke into the NHL with Detroit back in 2003-04, with Lidstrom showing him the ropes then.

He has grown a lot as a hockey player, especially on the defensive side.

He put up 37 points last season (a far cry from his career high in 2008-09 of 51 points) but remains one of the top 10 shutdown defensemen in the league.

Paired together with the shot-blocking machine Brad Stuart and the Kronwall/Stuart defensive pairing has seen great days over the last couple seasons.

Look for this pairing to be Babcock's favorite line to put out for any situation, special teams included.

Kronwall and Stuart are both excellent penalty killers and their bombs from the blue line are also good on the power play.

White/Kindl

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Ian White, fresh over from San Jose will be a welcome sight for Detroit's third defensive pairing.

White split time last year with Carolina and San Jose, putting up 20 points between the two clubs.

His career high (which he has matched twice) is 26 points, the last time in 2009-10 with the Maple Leafs.

His tough, gritty style will be a welcome site for Detroit fans as White is not afraid to hit or drop the gloves.

His partner should be Jakub Kindl, but Kindl's offensive production last year consisted of four points in 48 games, so don't be surprised to see Mike Commodore be inserted into the lineup if things do not go well for Kindl.

Kindl has had all kinds of success in lower leagues, posting 33 points in back to back seasons with the AHL's Griffins, and 55 points in 54 games with the Kitchener Rangers.

Kindl will be given all kinds of opportunities this season to stay in the starting lineup for the long term.

The Red Wings are hoping that he can take monumental strides and be a more regular defenseman and point producer in the lineup than he was last season.

Who Will Be Left Out?

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The 6'5" 228-pound Mike Commodore could be the seventh defenseman on most nights if Kindl makes the lineup for good.

Commodore was waived by the Blue Jackets last season, and ended up being bought out by Columbus on July 1st.

Commodore brings a physical aspect to the game that the Red Wings have not really had from any defensive pairing except for the Kronwall-Stuart pairing.

He could be used in circumstances that would call for a bigger lineup, or simply to create matchup problems if Babcock ever used him up front.

As for Brendan Smith, some have him making the Red Wings roster (he had 32 points in 63 games last year with the Griffins) but I think he would struggle to adapt to the NHL.

His large number of penalty minutes (124) seems to make him more of a liability than part of the short-term solution, and another year in the AHL would probably serve him well with less pressure on him.

I believe that Smith will be a key piece in the Red Wings future, and he might get called up a few times this season if injuries should arise, but he should definitely spend one more season in the AHL to hone his defensive skills a bit more.

Red Wings GM Ken Holland has hinted that Smith might be in the roster sooner rather than later, but another year in the minors never hurt anyone.

 

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