Wideman suffers from the same thing Engellland and Smid do: unrealistic expectations form a portion of the fanbase / posters on this site.
He's a 4/5 offensive d-man who's going to put up points while being mediocre in his own end. He's also getting up there in age, and isn't going to be the best skater.
If he was as well rounded (tighter in his own end) as some people would like, he'd be a top pairing d-man and making several million more.
I think he's fine for where we're at now. When his contract runs out he's going to be past his best and we'll have gotten some good mileage out of him.
For now he's heating back up and fuelling offense, and the people talking about waiving/buying him out / shooting him into space need to grab a clue and put their expectations in check.
|