I think he is the most important player to this teams success. I know alot of ppl may say Nick Lidstrom which is a valid argument but i feel like even without him our defense is still better than most teams in the league. Now that is nothing against Lidstrom because with him the wings defense is one of the best in the league.

With the puck possession style of the play the wings use, face offs are one of the most important parts of the game. Its simple dont win the face off and you cant set up the offense. Datsyuk leads the team by a wide margain in face off % with 56.1%. (http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20122DETSASALL&sort=faceOffWinPctg&viewName=summary) Winning the face off also is key to playing defense if you dont let the other team set up right off the face off the chances of scoring go way down. Just for example last night against Vancouver the goal they scored with 15 seconds left they won the face off and were able to set up the offense even though it took a great play from Henrik to Daniel to score it all came from winning the draw. In that situation with a a healthy Datsyuk he is taking that draw.

Its not just face offs Datsyuks play making allows the wings to keep possession longer and get more scoring chances because of his ice vision. His defense and takeaways also give the wings more of a chance to keep possession of the puck and make plays.

I really think there is a difference in the way the team plays with him in the lineup and without. I think this team is very good without him but i do not think they are good enough to win it all, i think he is the factor that pushes this team over the top into cup contender level.

What does everyone else think? agree? disagree?