Its hard to say whether or not Johan Franzen’s 20 goal season comes as a surprise or not. Throughout training camp and pre-season, Franzen looked poised for a big goal-scoring season, playing comfortably on the top line centered by Pavel Datsyuk. Some (perhaps overly) excited fans were predicting up to 30 goals for the 6’3”, 220lb forward. But a knee injury in only his second game into the regular season and the toll it took on Franzen’s skating and confidence made even a 20 goal season look out of the realm of possibility.  

With all the well-known and media-blitzed names on the Red Wings roster, Franzen isn’t a particular stand-out. He was drafted by the Wings in the 3rd round of the 2004 draft at the age of 24. Not much was expected of Franzen when he made the jump to the NHL the following season, but he’s certainly outgrown his expected role as a bottom line grinder.  

For those who aren’t familiar with Franzen, he’s a hard-working forward with great defensive awareness, impressive skating ability, and is strong on the puck - nothing you wouldn’t expect from your prototypical third line center. What most wouldn’t expect from him, however, are his soft hands. Recently he’s been showcasing his smooth passing ability and his knack for scoring both pretty and ugly goals. In fact, not many would guess that he’s been the Red Wing with the most goals of late, potting 8 goals and 11 points his past 7 games, rocketing him from a mediocre 12 goals to a 20 goal season in just 7 games.   

How did that happen? Injuries to the likes of Dan Cleary and Tomas Holmstrom have meant Franzen is getting some due top 6 minutes, playing wing to either Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg. And he hasn’t looked out of place. But perhaps more importantly, he’s slowly gaining more and more confidence, along with his knee being 100%. In Tomas Holmstrom’s absence, Franzen is staking his claim in front of the net on the powerplay, looking for garbage goal opportunities and deflections, and he’s done a good job of it as well. 

If there’s any knock against Franzen’s game, besides his offensive inconsistency, its that he needs to be a more intimidating player. He’s far from a soft player and has shown flashes of a could-be dominating physical game, but he’s leaving something to be desired with his inconsistent hitting game. Franzen currently ranks 6th among Red Wings forwards in hits with 73. Although his physical game has picked up recently, one can only hope that he’ll come through in the post-season as he did in the 2007 playoffs and make opposing players pay for their time with the puck.  

Notes: Johan Frazen is the 5th Red Wing to reach the 20 goal mark this season….Valterri Filppula sits at 19 goals with 9 games remaining….