Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
It's all about what a player is worth to that particular team. Wideman might not be worth $5.5 million average to the Canucks, but he sure is for the Flames. Offense from the defense was an issue for this team.
Out of curiousity, if you think Wideman is worth a million less, what do you think Garrison is worth? Maybe $3 million average or so?
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I think a legit top 4 guy is worth about $4 mil base on last UFA period's reckoning. If you bring something extra, like a big shot, or a good breakout pass, or the ability to QB a first-rate power play unit, those are amounts to tack on. If you're suspect in an area (i.e. skating or positioning) you might take a value hit. For me, Wideman is a guy with a pretty solid first pass and makes a PP better - though he's not what you'd call "elite" in either department in the mold of a Kris Letang, say. He is suspect defensively - occasionally makes bad decisions and high-risk plays. That's the kind of player he is, not unlike Ehrhoff; with a high risk high reward defenseman you take the bad with the good. But all told, I pin him as a 2nd pairing guy who's better than average but not outstanding. So. 4.5 or so is fine.
Garrison is a solid top 4 D, so the base is $4Mil, who has a huge shot. He's also very solid positionally and a good skater - basically everyone looked at last year and said he was signed for 16 goals, but the year before he was actually one of the better shutdown guys in the league notwithstanding that Florida was terrible that year. He's a defensive defenseman with a big shot, not a scorer, and if you were expecting the same level of goal scoring from him as last season you were bound to be disappointed. On the defensive side of the puck he's generally been good. On the PP, the Canucks PP is screwed right now because Kesler is the straw that stirs the drink, and they haven't been able to get Garrison any open looks. I think that's a matter of getting comfortable in the system as much as anything. He won't score like he did last season but he should replace Salo's production, which would be about 8-10 goals, pro-rated to a 48 game season. All in all I think he's worth about 4.5M too, but was probably a bit overvalued in the offseason because of last year's goal total.
The difference between the two players is that one hit the ground running in terms of getting acclimatized to a new system. Wideman started playing at the top of his game right away. It also helps that his high-risk high-reward play has seen relatively few of the risks actually materialize to date. Garrison has been solid but doesn't look fully comfortable in some situations yet, the PP being the major one.
Like Enoch Root says, the value difference really doesn't matter unless it's blatant, i.e. when you've got a 6 million guy playing like a 4 million guy. A half a million in AAV to the good or bad doesn't make a signing into a steal or a bust. So to that extent it's kind of a moot argument.