By the Numbers: Alex Biega

By the Numbers will highlight the Red Wings' on-ice accomplishments in the 2019-20 season. Each week during the offseason, By the Numbers will profile a different player on the team, focusing on his statistical highs. This week we focus on defenseman Alex Biega.

The Red Wings traded prospect forward David Pope to the Vancouver Canucks for defenseman Alex Biega on Oct. 6.
It is always valuable to have a veteran defenseman around, especially when the Wings were losing so many of theirs to injury.
But one thing that Biega in particular brings to the table is perspective when it comes to rebuilding.
Biega played seven games for the 2014-15 Vancouver Canucks, who finished with 101 points (48-29-5) and finished second in the Pacific Division.
The following four seasons the Canucks fell to 75 points (31-38-13), 69 points (30-43-9), 73 points (31-40-11) and 81 points (35-36-11).
So Biega knew exactly what it was like to go through tough times while focusing on getting better on a daily basis.
Biega saw Vancouver improve through the draft, getting forwards Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat, along with defenseman Quinn Hughes.
Those players helped the Canucks make it through the qualifying round and first round before falling to the Vegas Golden Knights in this year's 24-team playoff in the bubble.
Right before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the NHL to pause the season, the Wings signed Biega to a one-year contract so he will continue to be that calming presence on the blue line when the 2020-21 season begins.
49 - Biega played 49 games for the Wings during the 2019-20 season, two shy of the career-high 51 he played for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2015-16 season.

200 - On Dec. 31, Biega played in his 200th career game, a 2-0 home victory over the San Jose Sharks. Biega played 13:46 and had four hits.
3 - In his 49 games, Biega had three assists. The first came Dec. 22, the primary assist on Tyler Bertuzzi's third-period goal in a 5-2 home loss to the Arizona Coyotes. The second was on Feb. 18, the primary assist on Andreas Athanasiou's third-period goal in a 4-3 home win over the Montreal Canadiens. The final one came March 2, the secondary assist on Anthony Mantha's first-period goal in a 2-1 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
115 - While not the biggest guy, Biega believes in finishing his checks and his 115 hits ranked third on the Wings. Luke Glendening was first with 147 and Adam Erne was second with 142.
46 - Biega was sixth on the team in blocked shots with 46. Fellow defenseman Patrik Nemeth led with 92.
55 - Biega had 55 shots, which ranked 16th on the Wings. Dylan Larkin led with 223. Filip Hronek led Detroit's defensemen with 125.
16:25 - Biega averaged 16:25 in ice time this past season. His career high is 17:40, which he achieved during the 2018-19 season with the Canucks.
-9 - A minus-9 plus-minus might not seem like a fantastic number but only Darren Helm at minus-6 had a better number among those who played 49 games or more.