In his first venture into free agency as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, Steve Yzerman signed a defenseman known for being good in his own zone.
Patrik Nemeth was in the lineup when the Wings opened the 2019-20 season, along with Danny DeKeyser, Mike Green, Filip Hronek, Trevor Daley and Dennis Cholowski. That was the defense corps expected to carry the burden over a majority of the season, comprising veterans and rebuilding blocks, mixing stay-at-home defenders with those more skilled with the puck.
They didn’t even last a month.
Already challenged by a lack of talent, the Wings’ defense corps ended up going through so many iterations, a total of 14 players appeared in the lineup when the NHL shut down March 12 because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.