Quincey emerging as one of Red Wings' steadiest D-men

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Kyle Quincey has his own method of assessing whether he's had a good game: Board battles.

For Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, player evaluations focus on who is delivering daily. Right now, that's Quincey and fellow defenseman Danny DeKeyser.

"I think the best pair we have on the team right now is DeKeyser and Quincey," Babcock said Monday. "The steadiest pair each and every day, the two guys playing the best. They've been really solid. They seem to play well together. Quincey kills penalties and plays hard, and is heavy and is making simple plays. DeKeyser moves the puck. They've been our steadiest pair."

A year ago, Quincey at one point hovered at minus-14, and he and then-partner Brendan Smith seemed to exacerbate one another's weaknesses. DeKeyser has proved a better fit, similar to how Smith looks better with Xavier Ouellet. Ouellet will stay with the Wings through this trip, as Jakub Kindl (wrist) remains on IR.

After 35 games this season, Quincey has six points, and is plus-2. His 56 hits lead the team's defensemen, and his 39 blocked shots rank third on the Wings. He's a regular on the penalty kill, which is among the best in the NHL.

"He's a steady defensive defenseman who gets the puck to the net in the offensive zone, who can make a good pass in the defensive zone, competes hard, plays hard," Babcock said. "He's been a good player for us."

Stats, though, aren't Quincey's cup of tea.

"If you look at numbers," he said, "you can look at them all day. But my game does not reflect numbers at all. If I'm minus-14, people are looking at me like, 'this guy is brutal.' But I try to win all my battles on the boards. That's how I differ for myself between a good game and a bad game. There isn't a stat for that.

"I try to control what I can control, and I can control my one-on-one battles, so that's what I focus on. I've been doing that for 10 years now. I haven't really changed too much."

Last summer, it looked like Quincey, 29, might change teams, as he became an unrestricted free agent. Then the Wings struck out three times trying to sign a defenseman who shoots right, something Babcock covets, and ultimately re-signed Quincey for two years, $8.5 million.

"At the end of the day, the grass isn't always greener," Quincey said. "I think it's worked out great."

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com . Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.