Quote:
Originally Posted by jayswin
Haha, you're describing Wideman like he's a fraud who's got away with playing in the NHL for years somehow. "Off the charts offensive IQ" is an NHL skill, and a coveted one at that. He's never been great defensively and everyone from fans to media to management knows that.
He's an offensive defenseman, and they typically range anywhere from terrible to passable at defending, and then teams decide whether their offense is worth lack of defense. In Wideman's case he has always received good money because he can put up serious points and drive offense at times.
Sure, Wideman could be awesome at defense, too, then he'd be a 50 point, offensive and defensive defenseman and would be winning the Norris trophy all the time, and would cost $8+ million a year. Sometimes you take what you can get under the cap, and Wideman has provided quite a bit to this team.
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I'm not calling him a fraud at all. I'm just saying he's great offensively and terrible defensively. He was a $5 million dollar defensman last year, if he doesn't produce at the same xlip, then he's not worth the money. If he produced at the same clip AND was stellar in his own end, then he would be a Norris trophy defenseman.
I'm fine with his defensive shortcomings if he produced offensively. Just like I'm fine with Engelland having zero offense as long as he limits his mistakes defensively and wins the majority of his fights.
I'm Honestly more upset with Giordano this year than Wideman. Wideman is what he is, Gio is not anything like what he was last year or what he's going to be paid to be starting next year. It's a scary thought if he's play continues like this.