panoo

Scott Cullen
7/5/2007 12:45:17 AM

After losing defenceman Mathieu Schneider to Anaheim in free agency, the Detroit Red Wings acted quickly to fill the void.

Numbers Game takes a look at the Wings' addition of Brian Rafalski.

The Red Wings Get: D Brian Rafalski

Rafalski, 33, scored a career-high 55 points in 2006-2007, so he should be a good fit as a replacement for Schneider, who put up 52 points in Detroit last year.

Though he is approaching his mid-30s, Rafalski doesn't have the same kind of mileage on his legs as his contemporaries because he followed up his college career by playing a lighter schedule in Europe for four seasons, so he has played just 643 games, including both regular season and playoffs, in his NHL career.

Rafalski has also been durable, playing 75 or more games in six of his seven NHL seasons. He's undersized as a defenceman, at 5-foot-10, 195 pounds, but doesn't play a particularly physical style of game, so as long as he has his legs, his mobility will allow him to be an asset, particularly on the power play.

While Rafalski led the Devils in turnovers last year, he also led the team in ice time, playing more than 25 minutes per game, something he may not necessarily be required to handle in Detroit, where the defence corps is a little deeper, which will allow Rafalski to focus on a puck-moving role.

New Jersey faces an uphill battle after losing Rafalski. Their defence corps has been gradually depleted since Scott Stevens retired and Scott Niedermayer departed for Anaheim, and now the loss of Rafalski costs them their best on the blueline yet again.

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