Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Menace
The fact the team is well under the cap is irrelevant, there is no way you can say he has played up to his contract. He is playing like a 750k guy.....and not having that extra 2 million will hurt us next season and does effect our decisions this season...
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I think you have unrealistic expectations about how much defensemen cost in the NHL. This isn't 5 or 10 years ago. The only guys costing less than a million are fringe NHLers and guys on entry level deals. Any good veteran defensemen who hits UFA status will make 2 million+.
UFA top pairing d-men: 7-9 million?
UFA 3/4 d-men 4-6 million?
UFA 5-7 d-men 2-3 million?
Those are approximately the ranges that as I see it. UFA's don't come cheap, especially defensemen. Go look through the transactions for the last few off seasons if you don't believe me. Go look at the salary cap numbers across the league. Philly had Andrew MacDonald in the minors for part of this year making what, 5+ million? Great UFA signing. Almost every UFA defenseman is overpaid. That's the reality.
Engelland's contract isn't the problem right now. Wideman's is and to a lesser extent Smid's. Plus the fact we didn't have any young d-men on entry level deals playing up this year. It won't be the same setup next year, I guarantee you that.