Franzen Earns His Bucks in the Playoffs

When the Detroit Red Wings signed Johan Franzen to an 11-year contract extension back in April, reactions were mixed. Some folks, like a number of the commenters at the Hockey's Future boards, thought the Red Wings were out of their minds for signing a soon-to-be 30-year-old forward to an 11-year contract. Others, like the good people at Abel to Yzerman, applauded general manager Ken Holland for not messing around when it comes to keeping the guys he wants.

We're only a month into the new deal, but the early results are stellar. Franzen has continued to excel as one of the better power forwards in the NHL, and has proven himself to be one of the best playoff, big-game goal-scorers the NHL has seen in quite some time.

Since the start of last year's playoffs, no player has scored more postseason goals than Franzen (20) after he tied for the league-lead in 2007-08 (13 goals, also a franchise record) despite playing in just 16 games due to a concussion. According to STATS LLC., via RedWings.com, his current postseason goal-scoring run of 20 goals in 25 games is the best since Theo Fleury had a similar run in the 1990s with the Calgary Flames. Of course, it's worth pointing out that Fleury's outburst of 20 goals in 24 games spanned four different seasons (1992-93 to 1995-1996) while Franzen's performance has come over a stretch of just two.

Currently, Franzen is fifth in the NHL with seven goals this postseason, trailing Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Eric Staal and Patrick Kane, while all of those players have been involved in more games. If we break it down to a goals-per-minute level, only Kane and Phil Kessel have been more efficient when it comes to putting the puck in the net.

Playoff Leaders: Goals Per Minute Player Goals Time On Ice Goals/Minute Patrick Kane 8 173.43 .046 Phil Kessel 6 134.54 .044 Johan Franzen 7 177.13 .039 Sidney Crosby 10 266.44 .037 Eric Staal 9 247.34 .036 Michael Ryder 5 142.00 .035 Jussi Jokinen 6 176.04 .034 Alex Ovechkin 10 304.25 .032 Henrik Zetterberg 6 199.22 .031 Marc Savard 5 174.33 .028 Patrick Sharp 5 194.30 .025 Martin Havlat 5 201.50 .024 Corey Perry 6 240.04 .024 Evgeni Malkin 6 260.09 .022

Of course, that's not to say that Franzen is a better player than Crosby or Ovechkin (or even Staal, Zetterberg or Malkin), but it's nice company, and an impressive postseason stretch. After being a third-round pick in 2004, and mucking around as a third-liner the first two years of his career, Franzen has developed into a legitimate 30-goal scorer and, according to the numbers, an unstoppable force in the postseason.

Playing in Detroit, he's obviously a cog in a well-oiled machine and surrounded by some of the best players in the world. Would he have as much success playing for, say, Vancouver? Maybe. Maybe not. But he fits in Detroit, and he's the type of player you need to pay the price and get the garbage goals around the front of the net. Then again, as we've pointed out before, he has plenty of skill in that 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame as well, so it's not just about banging in loose pucks in front of the crease.

Perhaps the biggest concern, however, is durability. Throughout his four-year career Franzen has never played a full 82-game campaign, and only once has played more than 80 games. He's prone to injuries, and his style of play would seem to welcome the types of bumps, bruises and other various ailments that would keep a player out of the lineup.

Franzen's deal runs through the end of the 2019-20 season, at which point he'll be 40 years old. It's unlikely that he'll still be lacing up his skates in the NHL. In the meantime, the Red Wings look like they have another bargain in terms of salary/production.