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Paul Kukla Kukla's Korner

Published on Thursday, July 22, 2021

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One Less Left Handed Defenseman For The Wings

from Max Bultman of The Athletic,

In Detroit, meanwhile, the selection has two ripples: First, it means Troy Stecher is staying put. The 27-year-old right-shot defenseman signed a two-year deal with the Red Wings last fall but had been considered the favorite for Seattle to pick due in part to his favorable advanced-metric profile. The Kraken front office has an analytics-driven reputation, so the thought was that Stecher would have made for a natural pick, and that belief only amplified throughout the day as Seattle’s defense picks leaked and many were tilted toward left-handed shots.

Instead, though, he’ll stay with the Red Wings, leaving Detroit with a deep right side between Stecher, returning minutes leader Filip Hronek, young defender Gustav Lindstrom and top prospect Moritz Seider, who is expected to make his NHL debut this season.

Cholowski’s departure does leave a hole on the left side, though, with just Danny DeKeyser and newly acquired Nick Leddy under contract for this season.

Detroit certainly could opt to play one of the four right-shot defensemen on their off-hand if those six are the players they want in the lineup, but they also have room (and the cap space) to sign at least one free-agent defenseman, whether it be for depth or as a projected regular.

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