NHL Rumors: Danny DeKeyser to sign six-year extension with Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings and defenseman Danny DeKeyser have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a six-year deal worth $30 million.

Going into this offseason, the Detroit Red Wings needed to improve their blue line. One of their most important restricted free agents was defenseman Danny DeKeyser, who was second on the team in ice time per game during the 2015-16 season. Scheduled to have an arbitration case on Thursday July 28, the two sides have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a six-year deal worth $30 million. DeKeyser will have an annual cap hit of $5 million.

That’s a bit of a steep price for DeKesyer, even though DeKeyser does play huge minutes for the Red Wings. After getting a career high 31 points during the 2014-15 season, DeKesyer took a bit of a step back, only getting 20 points in 2015-16. However, it is worth noting that he scored a career high eight goals in 2015-16. He had an 11.1 shooting percentage on 72 shots on goal, so he likely won’t score eight goals again unless he starts shooting at a better rate. DeKesyer added one assist in five playoff games as the Red Wings lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.

In today’s NHL, it is best to give big money only to defensemen who positively affect possession. That hasn’t been DeKeyser, as DeKeyser had a -5.8 percent Corsi For percentage at even strength last season, which shows that the Wings were outshot by a fairly significant margin whenever DeKeyser was on the ice. DeKesyer has value and he’s only 26 years old, but he’ll have to develop his offensive game in order to live up to his contract.

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