As reported by George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press, defenceman Niklas Kronwall has been nominated by the Detroit chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association for the Masterton trophy.

The Masterton is given out to the player “who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey” and each team’s PHWA chapter nominates one player from said team.

Kronwall has played 869 games for the Detroit Red Wings and earned his 400th point and 80th goal on Tuesday night in a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. This season he has 4 goals and 22 points in 74 games and has been averaging 18:31 of ice-time a game – the lowest time-on-ice he has played on average, in 14 years.

His time split between partnering with Mike Green or Nick Jensen, his time with the team this season has been one of the more uplifting stories coming from the Red Wings.

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The longest-tenured defenceman on the Red Wings, has been battling a chronic knee injury the past several years and has tried stem cell procedures to dull the pain.

Battling back from a serious injury and playing a near-full season when no one expected him to, is why Kronwall is deserving of this nominee over anyone with the Red Wings. The Swedish blueliner has fought through this season and he deserves to be admired for that.