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New Defenseman Bowey Brings Offensive Upside, Youth |
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The first trade shoe dropped for the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. The team traded defenseman Nick Jensen and a 2019 fifth-round draft pick to the Washington Capitals for defenseman Madison Bowey and a 2020 second-round draft choice. The fifth round pick was originally acquired by the Wings from Buffalo in the Scott Wilson trade.
Bowey, 23, a 6-2, 185-pound rearguard, posted 1-5-6 numbers in 33 games for the Caps this season. But he showed significant offensive upside in junior with the WHL Kelowna Rockets, with back-to-back 60-point campaigns and a 21-goal output in 2013-14.
“I like that he can skate,”Wings GM Ken Holland told Mlive.com. “I think it’s a league where it’s important to be able to skate. He’s a guy that put up offense in junior. When you play pro hockey, do you run a power play or do you kill a penalty? Is he going to be a guy that can come in here and put up offense or is he a guy that we’ve got to kind of get him to focus in on killing penalties and the defensive side of the puck.
“We’ve got to get him in here, we’ve got to observe him for a little while, talk to him and then try to figure out how we can turn Madison into a regular NHL defenseman for us.”
Bowey was a second-round draft pick of the Caps in 2013. He’s five years younger than Jensen, who was headed to unrestricted free agency, but instead signed a four-year $10-million deal with Washington.
It’s uncertain as to when Bowey will see his first action as a Red Wing.
“He’s coming here tonight and we’ll watch him,” Holland said. “He’s landing at 5:30, will come to rink, he’ll be on the ice for practice tomorrow and then it’ll be up to Jeff Blashill whether he wants to put him in the lineup Sunday or wait until Tuesday.”
Holland indicated there’s been little progress in contract talks with Detroit’s two other impeding UFAs, goalie Jimmy Howard and right winger Gustav Nyquist.
“I would say to you that just going to see what happens on the trade front between now and Monday,” Holland said. “Have I got teams kicking tires? Yeah. I don’t know what the tire kicking means. I’m going to know between now and Monday but I don’t know what it means.”
Sick Bay
Howard is the latest Wing to be afflicted with some sort of virus that is working its way through the team. Howard was scratched for Friday’s game with the Minnesota Wild and Hari Sateri was recalled from AHL Grand Rapids to back up Jonathan Bernier.
Forwards Frans Nielsen and Nyquist each missed a game with the illness and Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm were both afflicted and missed a day of practice.
I don’t know if you’re really supposed to call some of it the flu,” Detroit coach Blashill said. “Really it’s more a stomach virus.”
Ehn Down
The Wings sent center Christoffer Ehn to Grand Rapids to allow him to get some increased playing time. Blashill was planning to scratch Ehn on Friday anyway.
“He’s played good,” Blashill said of the rookie center. “He’s played good for sure. But again this is all about continued development.
“Rather than sit here, they’re two hours away.”
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