Since signing with the Detroit Red Wings on July 1, 2016, Frans Nielsen has gone on a downward spiral and something must be done.
When the Detroit Red Wings signed unrestricted free agent forward Frans Nielsen on July 1, 2016 from the New York Islanders, expectations were high. He signed six-year, $31.5 million deal which included a modified no-trade clause. In Nielsen’s two seasons with the Wings, the 34-year-old has not lived up to the hype or contract value.
As a member of the Islanders, he was around a 45 point per season player as well as an assistant captain. However, since joining the Red Wings, Nielsen has been on a linear statistical decline. In his first season with Detroit, the 2016-17 season, Nielsen played 79 games and had 17 goals, 24 assists and 18 penalty minutes. This past season, the 2017-18 season, he played 79 games, scored 16 goals, tallied 17 assists and recorded 14 penalty minutes.
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When the Wings signed Nielsen, it seemed like a good signing getting a goal-scoring forward who was coming off of a 52 point season. Unfortunately, Ken Holland did what he is notorious for and that is signing players for too much and too long. When Nielsen’s contract expires at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, he will be 38 years old.
With the amount of promising youth in the Red Wings’ organization, it is hard to implement them in the lineup with overpaid and aging players like Nielsen.
Although Frans has been an all-star with the Wings in 2017 and one of the bright spots for the Wings the past two seasons, he is not a long term piece. However, since he is signed long-term, Detroit must find a way to trade him or dump his contract.
Since Henrik Zetterberg is retired and the Wings are in need of leadership and it could be good to have a veteran presence in the lineup. However, Nielsen has yet to prove himself as a leader and that is shown as he is not an assistant captain, a role he once filled with the Islanders. It is a young mans game now and the Wings need to understand that and move on from Nielsen.