In a breakout season for Seattle last year and now with Detroit, Daniel Sprong’s efficiency in a depth role makes him a versatile prospect who constantly raises questions about his usage. But is he a part of Detroit's long term future?
In a breakout season for Seattle last year and now with Detroit, Daniel Sprong’s efficiency in a depth role makes him a versatile prospect who constantly raises questions about his usage. But is he a part of Detroit's long term future?
Daniel Sprong is used to uncertainty.
He's been on five different NHL teams in his eight-year career, he's jumped up and down between lines due to his scoring knack, and he's signed a number of short-term contracts.
All the while, Sprong has become one of the most efficient scorers in the Red Wings lineup following a season after he did much the same thing for Seattle. And ahead of his homecoming against the Kraken in Monday’s game, his play in both cities has shown the complexities of his game that have shaped his present and future.
Sprong’s scoring knack is a calling card by now, and a salve for teams struggling with secondary scoring. Already this year, he has contributed 14 goals and 34 points with an abundance of shots in the slot and at the net front. Most of those have come in the Red Wings' bottom six, but he is also no stranger to other lines as he plays across the lineup when his teammates' injuries force adaptation. He’s also the rare fourth-liner who commands power play minutes — and cashes in, as he has for 10 points this season.
Such success means that Sprong is always the center of debates of whether he has earned a bigger role.
“There’s games he’s had 15, 16 minutes,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said Feb. 11. “Last night, he didn’t start on the power play the first two power plays, and he might have been looking at a seven, eight-minute night, but (Lucas Raymond) goes down. All of a sudden he gets a couple shifts in our top six, he’s on the power play, he puts one in the back of the net, so I think we’re very fortunate to have a player like that.”
Considering that production doesn't come at a fortune — just a tame $2 million contract — Sprong's potent scoring is a general manager's dream. Such was his story in Seattle, too, where Sprong's contract was within arm's reach of league minimum. Yet, he became a key piece of depth that helped the Kraken spark a playoff run. He tallied a career-high 21 goals and 46 points while helping Seattle spark a run to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. As he plots a similar path in the Motor City, Lalonde is right, the Red Wings are lucky to have Sprong.
But Sprong's success doesn't come without downside. He’s prone to cheating up too far on offense or missing his assignment in transition, even when he isn’t trying to make a risky play. Such defensive lapses are a large reason why Sprong doesn’t field more ice time even as he has proven he can score in even the most remote minutes. Lalonde noted that Sprong has a “will” to defend, but there are still flaws in Sprong’s overall defensive play.
“Sometimes I just don’t know if it’s instinctive for him, so he’s gotta maybe work a little harder to be responsible away from the puck,” Lalonde said Monday. “But at the same time, he’s that unique player where you wanna give him a little rope to do what he does. I think we’ve done that, and obviously Seattle did that last year and it was a big part of their success.”
Sprong's weaknesses are ones the Red Wings can contend with, even if they impose a limiting factor. Seattle dealt with this situation, too. If Lalonde can manage Sprong’s usage effectively and extract scoring without putting him in position to get burned, his production can be of service in the same way it was to Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. The limiting factor of defensive play has been with Sprong everywhere he’s gone, from his draft team Pittsburgh to Anaheim and Washington, too. To be clear, Seattle and Detroit both knew who they were getting.
But as much as Sprong can be an offensive “game-breaker” at times, as Lalonde called him, his risk also warrants the discussion of his long term place in Detroit’s lineup. Sprong has been a journeyman in his career largely because his defense restricts him to playing a depth role without a lot of wiggle room. While he fits on a roster that’s trying to eke into the playoffs through a wealth of depth — the Kraken and Red Wings, for example — that might not be the case when teams flesh out the roster with more complete players.
“Sometimes people just look at depth as four lines that can score,” Lalonde said. “I look at it sometimes as four lines you can trust. Especially on the road, you don’t get exposed on some matchups, you can maybe go a little more rhythm.”
Lalonde wasn’t referencing Sprong directly, but that comment is interesting fodder for discussion about Sprong’s long term role. With forward prospects coming in who will provide the same risk for a cheaper contract, perhaps Detroit will move on from Sprong this offseason. Grand Rapids forward Jonatan Berggren comes to mind as a potential replacement for Sprong, an elusive and efficient scorer whose defense has been spotty in his time with the big club.
Seattle also chose to move on from Sprong, not even tendering him a qualifying offer to avoid having to give him an arbitration payday. Rather, general manager Ron Francis saw the opportunity to spend that cap space elsewhere on more complete players. Perhaps Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman will feel the same way this offseason.
Regardless of the future, Sprong has made a valuable impact for Detroit this season, just as he did for Seattle. Even if there's uncertainty to his long term place in the organization, that's a situation he and the Red Wings are willing to contend with.
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