Coach Blashill pushed Wings to sign physical, versatile Luke Witkowski

DETROIT - Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill knew what his team needed and he knew exactly where to find it.
After trading Steve Ott to the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline, Blashill felt that the Wings were missing a bit of the physical, sandpaper element.

When Blashill was the head coach at Western Michigan, he coached Luke Witkowski, a hard-nosed defenseman who liked the physical aspect of hockey.
"I pushed hard for him," Blashill said Monday. "It was something that we wanted to go out and find and we wanted to make sure that, not necessarily every night, but there's certain nights where you need some more toughness. It's hard to ask one guy to do it on a nightly basis, you'd like to have two or three or four guys that can do it and he's a guy that can bring some of that to the table."
Last season Luke Glendening led the team with 150 hits in 74 games. Justin Abdelkader was second with 144 in 64 games and Ott was third with 101 in 42 games.
Witkowski had 81 hits in 34 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Danny DeKeyser not only played with Witkowski at Western Michigan, they were defense partners and even roommates for a year.
"Back in college in Kalamazoo we played at Lawson Arena and the Lawson Lunatics are one of the best student sections in all of college hockey and Luke was one of the guys on the team who would definitely get them to their feet," DeKeyser said. "He would throw his body around, he would throw his weight around. He's a big boy, he can make some noise out there and the Lawson Lunatics used to love him.
"So, that's one thing he brings to his game is energy and physical presence that I think we'll be happy with it."
The other thing that led Blashill to Witkowski was seeing the defenseman move up to forward for Tampa Bay when the Lightning had injury issues.
"I thought he did a real good job," Blashill said. "I think the fact that he can play forward and D is a real positive. I see him playing lots of forward for us."
On a conference call with the media after signing Saturday, Witkowski said he was open to both roles.
"I would like to do whatever is best for the team," Witkowski said. "For instance, last year we had some injuries at forward, right wing. I slid up and I felt very comfortable. Some games I'd be going one shift playing right wing, next shift I was playing right D. The transition is not as difficult for me personally, others may be. It just feels like somehow I can make that change and I feel comfortable doing it. I like playing both positions. I think my skating helps me be able to do that.
"As far as where I'm going to start, who knows? I got to earn my spot on the roster and I'm looking forward to doing that."
Although Witkowski played just 34 games with the Lightning and 19 with their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, Blashill sees Witkowski playing in Detroit.
"We signed him to be a Red Wing," Blashill said. "Again, part of that is the versatility, he can play forward or D so when you're against the cap, as most teams in the NHL are, having that versatility from a player certainly makes him more attractive. Our thought process was signing him to be a Red Wing, changing momentum in games through his physicality, changing momentum in games by his ability to hold onto the puck because he's a big, big man that can skate and bringing us an added element of toughness."
While DeKeyser didn't actively recruit Witkowski to the Wings like Blashill did, he was definitely pleased when he saw a report on Twitter on June 30 that the Wings were interested.
"After I saw that tweet, I shot Luke a text and said, 'Hey, what's going on? Tomorrow is free agency day and I just saw the Wings may be in the mix to get you. I was wondering if there was any truth to that?'" DeKeyser said. "He said, 'They called me along with a few other teams.' He told me he wasn't really sure how it was going to go down until the next day. He had no idea if he was going to sign or where he was going to sign, so he had to wait until the next day to find out for sure. I'm glad that we signed him."
DeKeyser said while playing with Witkowski for three seasons at Western Michigan, the two got very comfortable as a pair.
"He's a big, physical presence on the ice but he's also such a good skater for how big he is that he can get up into the play and he can join the rush and that kind of thing, too," DeKeyser said. "We just kind of had a good tandem back there. Neither of us is super offensive, obviously, but we just try to move the puck well out of the D zone and then we always try to have one of the D jumping up into the play, whoever it was. It kind of worked out well for us."
In four years at Western, Witkowski played in 152 games, scoring seven goals and 31 assists.
DeKeyser played 118 games in three seasons as a Bronco, scoring 12 goals and 37 assists.
DeKeyser said he enjoyed rooming with Witkowski for the one year.
"He was a pretty good roommate," DeKeyser said. "He always did his dishes, for the most part. He didn't really like cleaning his silverware though, so a lot of the silverware ended up piling up in the sink. But I'm not going to hold that against him. At least he cleaned his plates and bowls."
When Witkowski isn't playing hockey, DeKeyser said his friend likes to spend time outdoors hunting or fishing.
"I live on the east side of Detroit area so I get out on Lake St. Clair a lot," DeKeyser said. "I'm sure once he gets to town he's going to be pretty interested in joining me on some fishing trips. He just likes to be outdoors, be outside and kind of enjoy his time when he can."
OUELLET BACK IN THE FOLD: While the Wings are likely done signing unrestricted free agents, they are now in the business of getting their restricted free agents signed.
They took the first step Monday, signing defenseman Xavier Ouellet to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1.25 million.

"I think Xavier is another guy that can challenge for ice time on our blue line and challenge to help make us better," Blashill said. "I think Xavier has a plan this summer to put himself in a better position than he even was last year. I think Xavier did a good job and I think like the rest of our team, he's looking at how can I make that next step, how can I make the Detroit Red Wings a little bit better. I look forward to seeing where Xavier's at come September."
Blashill said Ouellet is focused on improving his quickness this summer.
"Quickness can come in a number of different ways," Blashill said. "You can gain it one, through continuing to push his body to an elite NHL athlete type body and I think also through work off the ice and through work with a skating coach. I know he's working with Stacey Barber, who's a skating coach in the area here who does an outstanding job. I actually know her and I actually recruited her son, Riley, who plays in Washington's organization. I know he's doing the things that it's going to take to continue to get just that little bit better."
DeKeyser said he's been working out with Ouellet and a group that includes Dylan Larkin, Jimmy Howard and even Michigan native and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler.
DeKeyser said Ouellet has already changed quite a bit.
"He looks a lot stronger in the weight room, I know he's lost a little bit of weight and he looks definitely a lot quicker and I'm excited to see him on the ice this year because he's a smart player out there and if he's taking his conditioning to another level like it looks like he is this summer, then he's going to be really good for us," DeKeyser said.
Ouellet and his fiancee, Elizabeth, are expecting a baby girl, due July 20.
Art Regner contributed to this report.