Kent Huskins - A Poorly Researched Scouting Report
So Detroit’s new D man is Kent Huskins. If you’re like me, you’ve heard of Kent Huskins but couldn’t tell you which sport he even played let alone a fair scouting report on the fellow. If I was a respectable NHL reporter, I’d find out what a NHL scout has to say about him and analyize his statitics before writing a scouting report on him. However, since I’m not, I’m going to see what a quick Google search and Twitter has to say. You know, the right way. Starting with the Hockey News’ bio:
ASSETS: Plays a safe brand of hockey that keeps the mistakes to a minimum. Is very dependable and will play through injuries.
FLAWS: Lacks the overall skills to contribute on offense consistently. Does not use his good size nearly enough. Is injured a lot. (!?!?!?!?)
CAREER POTENTIAL: Depth defenseman.
Great, so we can expect one game out of him before he goes down too.
Mathew Danambassis @MathewDanam
I've seen Kent Huskins play before; he's like a poor man's Brad Stuart, but a lot more physical and blocks a ton of shots.
Jeremy Pellek @JeremyInToledo
Wings fans being cynical, but Huskins shut down the Wings with both Anaheim and San Jose. He's a good player.
Hit the jump for more on Huskins:
Pwnasaurus on HFboards
He is nicknamed "Husky" because of his dog-like appearance. His family were big fans of the hit American tv show "Benson" and thus a logical progression was to name him Kent, after former Hoosier star Kent Benson thereby completing the circle.
Snarktacular on HFboards:
Good 6/7. Last year he played well enough we thought he could be a #4, or at least a #5 (anchoring the 3rd pairing). This year he's seriously regressed. Fast skater, has shown a Bobby Orrian end-to-end skill, but only a few times. Not particularly good at decision making with the puck though.
Matt Saler @onthewings
I'll counter anything positive you may have to say about Huskins with: nobody had signed him before today. This is a meh move of necessity.
TheTripleDeke @TheTripleDeke
Kent Huskins wasn't signed before today because of the league-wide anti-Huskins agenda and I for one was f#cking appalled by it.
My friend at work who’s a huge St. Louis Blues fan:
Kent Huskins…hmmm, I think he played for the Blues, but I can’t remember him at all.
Bleacher Report Random List of 10 Best Still Available Free Agent Defensemen on 10/1/12
An ankle injury prevented Kent Huskins from playing the majority of the season, but he still has the skills at age 33 to make a contribution. Huskins is big and strong at 6'4" and 210 pounds, and he is not afraid to use his fists if he has to. While he is not a huge offensive threat, he is responsible defensively and he has had a positive plus-minus figure in each of the last five seasons. He can make a contribution as part of a bottom-pair defensive duo.
It should be noted that the guys ahead of them, I had heard of about half…
So basically, we’ve learned that he’s a defenseman who has played in the NHL (we think) and is 1 million times better than Kyle Quincey. Take it as you will.
LGRW and please, for the love of Lidstrom, stop getting hurt.
the wings got drew miller under the same circumstances 2 years ago. injuries forced them to add a forward and he was available (through waivers). they took him because he was the kind of guy you could put on the ice and not worry that he'll make a bad play that costs the team. my friend texted me after we signed miller and asked "who's drew miller?" so if kent huskins works out as well as drew miller did, this will be a good signing.
Surprised Holland didn't trade to get the amorphous blob that was LebMeech back as the 3rd pairing.
