Arbitration is nasty business. Two relevant parties enter and one leaves with a sour taste in their mouth. It isn’t the worst news in the world that DeKeyser is heading there but it doesn’t bode well for the Red Wings. After the team’s spending on Canada day, surely Dekeyser feels like he deserves a piece of that pie.

First reported by the Free Press’ Helene St. James, Ken Holland told the Free Press that they expect him to file for arbitration.

While no evidence really points towards the Red Wings being big into analytics, this looks like it could be inspired by them. DeKeyser has had an up and down career since coming into the league. Never really a force possession wise, he may not warrant an investment longer than this year. Luckily for the Wings, if it does reach arbitration, his deal cannot go into unrestricted free agent years, so they are currently looking at a one-year deal.

St James believes that DeKeyser is seeking a deal that is in the range of 5 million dollars annually. 

If that is the case, um, good luck with that Danny.

I am sure a team will be willing to pay that but it shouldn’t be the Red Wings who should allocate their resources elsewhere. He can still be a player in the NHL today, he is just playing below what his current reputation is around the league.

The Wings continue to fall in love with veteran players that have been evaluated improperly. They have an opportunity to change that with DeKeyser. Are we going to see some change for once or is this just a chance to pinch a few pennies?

It feels like the latter, considering how they evaluate defensemen. They are just delaying the inevitable. In reality, they need to remove themselves from a player that is just another contract albatross waiting to happen.