George Sipple

Detroit Free Press

Some fans questioned the move when Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland gave Kyle Quincey a two-year, $8.5 million contract in July.

Quincey was coming off a solid season with the Wings and Holland was convinced the defensemen could continue to evolve.

"I think he turned the corner long ago," Holland said before a recent game at Joe Louis Arena. "The last 60 games last year, Quincey played 20 minutes a night for us."

Quincey's has had quite a journey since he was drafted in the fourth round by the Wings in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Quincey spent three seasons developing for the Wings in Grand Rapids before he was placed on waivers. The Wings had an overabundance of defensemen at the time and kept players such as Brett Lebda and Derek Meech over Quincey, who was claimed by the Los Angeles Kings.

Quincey spent the next four seasons as more of an offensive defenseman with the Kings, then the Colorado Avalanche. Quincey put up four goals and 34 assists for 38 points in 72 games for the Kings in 2008-09. He scored 11 goals and 42 assists for 53 points over 154 games for the Avalanche from 2009-12.

The Wings gave up a first-round pick to the Avalanche to re-acquire Quincey in 2012. Quincey has scored seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points in 147 games since returning to the Wings. He had four goals and nine assists for 13 points in 82 games last season, with 88 penalty minutes.

Quincey, who just returned from an ankle injury, has no goals and one assist in 11 games this season.

"Kyle Quincey, for us, he's become a good shutdown guy," Holland said. "Early last season he finally started to settle into his role on the Detroit Red Wings….a good defensive defensemen.

"I think he played really well the last 60 games last year and he got off to a good start this year."

Quincey just returned after missing four games with an ankle injury. He said he's enjoying his role with the Wings.

"Honestly, I loved my role on Colorado and L.A., but at the same time, we never had a Niklas Kronwall on our team," Quincey said. "So, there's a reason why I'm not playing 25 minutes here.

"Even when I was playing those minutes and playing on the power play, what really gave me pride and joy on the ice was shutting down the other team's lines."

Quincey has helped the Wings to a No. 9 ranking among NHL teams in goals-against (2.27). The Wings also rank second on the penalty kills (88.7%).

"We're up there," Quincey said. "At the same time, we need to continue to do what we're doing. At the same time, we have to figure out how to jump up, how to chip in…when we do that, that's hard to not win. We're going to focus on keep shutting the door and if we can chip in that's a bonus."

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple.