The Detroit Red Wings are having an off year and Johan Franzen is no exception, although his point totals are comparable to past seasons the timeliness of his goals just doesn't seem to be there. He is a defensive liability and is only good for one thing. It just might be time to say goodbye to the Mule and move on. He will be 34 in December and has played for the Wings since 2005. He has scored 164 goals, 142 assists for 306 points in 513 games. He is +99, has 329 penalty minutes, scored 58 powerplay goals and 37 game winning goals. It isn't his regular season production I'm worried about it is his performance in the playoffs.
In the playoffs he has scored 42 goals, 37 assists for 79 points, 14 powerplay goals and 12 game winners. Franzen has amassed 76 PIM and is +29 in 100 playoff games. In the 2008 and 2009 playoffs he was unstoppable, scoring 25 of his 42 goals in those years. Recently he has become human and the aura surrounding him has disappeared. So far in the 2013 playoffs he has four goals, two assists for six points. He is -6, has six PIM, scored three powerplay goals and no game winners. In the 2010 playoffs he played the same number of games scored 2 more goals, ten more assists, he was +8 with 16 PIM, one powerplay goal and one game winner. In past years if the Wings needed a goal to tie it up late in a game or another goal to pad a lead Franzen was the man but the last three years he has scored a total of seven goals compared to 31 in the three years before that.
Franzen just isn't the same player he was in 2009-10, the fear he used to instill in opposing goalies is gone and defenseman seem to be able to push him around unlike previous years. In past seasons whenever he got the puck Detroit fans would expect him to score, especially if it was the playoffs. Now, their happy if he doesn't turn it over in their zone. The Mule has always been a one trick pony, he scores goals, has never been great defensively but now he is a liability. I'm sure he thinks he has some good years left but I wonder if those years should be with us. Unfortunately for the Wings they signed Franzen to a long term deal in 2009. That deal make him a Red Wing until 2020 when he will be 41. He made $5.2 million this year and is scheduled to make 5 million the next three seasons before it drops to 3.5 million in 2016-17, 2 million in 17-18 and 1 million the last two years of the contract. I think Detroit will be hard pressed to find a team to take on a contract that size, especially for a one dimensional player with a declining impact.
This year has shown the Wings have a strong cadre of young players in the minors ready, or nearly so, to step up to the big club. Tomas Tatar, for one, is ready to join the big club. He scored 23 goals and 49 points in 61 games with the Griffins this season. He played 18 games with the Wings this year and scored four goals and three assists. Tatar has been one of the last cuts in training camp the last three years and looks more then ready to make the jump, the only thing standing in his way is the lack of roster spots. If Franzen is moved then the Wings would have room for a player of the future.
Don't get me wrong, I love Franzen and harbor him no ill will. In 2009-10 he was one of my favorite players but if this year has shown us anything it is the NHL is a league for the young and Franzen isn't young any more. I believe our fond feelings and memories of the Mule are clouding our judgement and not allowing us to see that Franzen's time has passed and that the Wings and Franzen would be better served to move on.
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