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Originally Posted by nieuwy-89
I remember how excited I was when Sutter signed him. Adding Bouwmesster to a defense that already included Regehr, Gio, and Phaneuf made us the envy of the league that summer. Edmonton was incredulous that their local boy and the biggest UFA on the market chose the hated rival. That signing was the last high point for the franchise, we all know what has happened since.
Bouwmeester is a talented defenseman and an excellent skater. I think he reads plays well and rarely (if ever) gets beaten one on one. However his lack of drive and emotion, especially in big games, has been one of the most frustrating things to watch over the past three years.
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Hindsight being 20/20, I think the most frustrating part of him was the fact that he was stuck in Sutter's system. One of the biggest round hole-square peg situations I've seen in a while. Even in 30-odd games under Hartley, it's obvious that when Bouwmeester is allowed to pinch, he's a much more adept player at driving the offence and has more ability than the "soft minute logger who kills offensive plays" that this forum roasted before the lockout. Is he still passive? Yeah. I don't think anything is going to change the fact that he'll sometimes let the forward drive the play and will probably never ramp up his game.
But I think we were seeing what Florida got from Bouwmeester when he was allowed to move around more. Probably still a little worse on his own blue line given that Hartley has been a disaster defensively (as in: when was the last time the defence was this porous? I can't even remember Keenan playing so fast and loose with so many scoring chances and odd man rushes against).
Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
His play this year was just okay. He was still below a 40 point pace. In terms of +/- he was the worst d-man on our team. Yes he was on the ice for more time than other d-men and had greater opposition, but he was paid to be more.
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UFA are generally overpaid as a whole. You're paying to not have to give up assets (picks, trading) to acquire one.
Jay Bouwmeester was the biggest name in his year. Many teams wanted him, so his contract demands shot up. My mind seems to land on 1.5-2.0 million over-payment based on the market demands.
At 4.5-5.0, his play seems about right (or maybe it's because our D earning in the same region, Wideman and Giordano, are messing up my view of 4 million dollar D). In short, his recent play really does feel like the defenceman, given the situation in which we got him, that was advertised and paid for.