Frans Nielsen looked like he’s starting to slow down, but don’t tell him that. He actually improved on his 2017-18 campaign by 2 points in 7 fewer games.

The 35-year-old has 3 years left on his 6-year deal. He’ll look to come back energized and ready for the grind of an 82 game season. If the Wings keep Andreas Athanasiou at center, Nielsen should continue to see easier minutes.

While Nielsen didn’t add any goals on special teams, he did add 9 assists, up from 4 in 2017-18. Overall, he had 6 fewer goals and 8 more assists than in the 17-18 season. Nielsen’s 35 points were 7th on the team.

Three of Nielsen’s 10 goals came in a game against The Lightning and former Griffins goaltender Eddie Pasquale.

 

I don’t see much changing for Nielsen next season. He should continue to hover around the 30-40 point mark while gradually slowing down. His role should stay the same, though his time on ice will be worth keeping an eye on.

Overall, Nielsen had a respectable season and the Red Wings will need his stability going into next season as the younger players in and joining the lineup continue to establish their game at the NHL level. If he hovers in that 30-40 point range for the rest of his contract as opposed to severely falling off to sub-20 point seasons, I think that could be considered a win at this point.