He grew up a Detroit Red Wings fan. He attended their summer camp and played hockey with the son of Detroit's assistant general manager. There are a lot of reasons the Red Wings are considered the front-runner to sign Danny DeKeyser, but until it's official, all 29 other teams will keep trying.
Every year there's a hot, unsigned college free agent, and this year DeKeyser leads the list. He's a sophomore defenseman at Western Michigan University and developing nicely under the tutelage of former NHL coach Andy Murray.
He's also not committing to Detroit just yet even though many consider it a foregone conclusion.
For a full breakdown of the DeKeyser situation -- plus Craig's analysis of the Ryan Suter Shea Weber situation -- become an ESPN Insider.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
Follow Craig on Twitter: @CraigCustance
And fire off a few probing questions for his weekly mailbag while you're at it.
