The Detroit Red Wings have a hard decision to make this offseason in determining whether to “fish or cut bait” with one Madison Bowey. The 6’2,” 205-pound defenseman is a restricted free agent at 25 years of age, and his last season with the Wings was really his first full NHL campaign (53 games, 3 goals, 14 assists and a -16).
Detroit needs to determine whether they want to bring the fledgling pro back for another season, or whether Bowey’s inconsistencies as a puck carrier might mean that the team should give slightly younger players a bigger chance to play.
DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines Bowey’s 2019-2020 season “numbers” today, and her discussion of Bowey’s significant figures helps establish some of his “intangibles”:
14 – With 14 assists, Bowey set a new career high, passing the 12 assists he had with the Capitals in 2017-18. He was tied with Andreas Athanasiou for seventh on the team in that category.
17 – Bowey’s career-best 17 points was second among team defensemen. Larkin led with 53 points and Hronek led the blueliners with 31, tied with Fabbri.
58 – Bowey had 58 blocked shots, which was fifth on the Wings. Patrik Nemeth led with 92. During the 2018-19 season, Bowey had 63, 41 in 33 games with the Capitals and 22 in 17 games with the Wings.
70 – Bowey had 70 shots, which was 10th on the team and third among defensemen. Larkin led all skaters with 223 and Hronek led the defensemen with 125. Nemeth had 89.
Continued; I’m not sure whether I would re-sign Bowey if I was Steve Yzerman, but he is a relatively young player who shows promise as a puck-moving defenseman with good skating skills, and he’s still in the process of establishing himself as a regular NHL player.
Would you give Bowey a qualifying offer, or would you walk away from him?
