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Originally Posted by zukes
I will start this by saying that I don't want to pay Russell as much as McKenzie is suggesting and actually think that if he does re-sign it'll be closer to $4million.
That being said, I do not understand the majority opinion here on Wideman and Russell. These guys are our #4 and #5 defenseman. Yes Wideman is overpaid when he is not scoring, but last year he was probably on par with what he is paid, especially with his improvements on D. He has learned how to position himself pretty well to make up for his total lack of speed. Russell is a shot blocking machine that makes good first passes. Sure he has his defensive blunders, but most do as well.
What does everyone think other teams have a #4 & #5 defenseman? Very few teams have the luxury to have a guy as good as either of these 2 as a #3, and we have them at #4 & #5.
If your argument is you'd rather have a guy like Nakladal or Wothersppon and use the money saved to get a few better forwards, I can understand that, but people thinking that we can somehow improve the D by shedding these and save money are out to lunch in my opinion.
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Russell and Wideman are our #3 and #4 defensemen. Hamilton is our fifth as measured by TOI. You might disagree with how much Hartley is playing them but the numbers don't lie. Engelland received more ice time than Hamilton in Wideman's first game out but not in the Leafs game.
IMO there is a big drop in quality after Gio and Brodie. And other than Russell, the cap hits for #3 through #7 are exceeding their play this year. That has to change for this team to improve.