[Signing] Blues sign Bouwmeester to 5yr extension ($5.4 mil AAV)

[MisterJoji]

Originally Posted by moon

We could stick a pylon out there to replace Wideman without missing a beat.

Fairly sure even Feaster and Wisebrod could find someone to replace the garbage that Wideman brings.

Give me a break . Wideman is overpaid but he still brings an important element as and offensive D-man and PP QB. Yes his defense is a bit of an issue but he's not the complete liability your trying to make it sound like.

[Reggie28]

The Pietrangelo-Bouwmeester pairing was the cornerstone of one of the leagues best defenses through the end of last season.

[blender]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Wideman 581 NHL reg season games 44 playoff games..... 24 playoff wins

Bouwmeester 764 NHL reg season 6 playoff games 2 playoff wins

Wideman has a winning tradition as far as the Flames go. It was likely one of the prime reasons the Flames were motivated to overpay him as as a UFA.... he had a proven record as a top 4 d-man (if not top-2) on a playoff team.

By comparison best all-time Flame - Iginla in his 17 NHL seasons and 1232 reg season games has 69 playoff games. 33 wins.

Strange post. How does playoff wins measure a player's value in any meaningful way? It's a team game, and the teams Bouwmeester has played on just haven't been that good. He's got two playoff wins now; does that mean he is twice as good of a player than when he was traded to the Blues? If the Blues win any more playoff games over the next six years, his value is going to skyrocket!

[ThePrince]

Originally Posted by blender

Strange post. How does playoff wins measure a player's value in any meaningful way? It's a team game, and the teams Bouwmeester has played on just haven't been that good. He's got two playoff wins now; does that mean he is twice as good of a player than when he was traded to the Blues? If the Blues win any more playoff games over the next six years, his value is going to skyrocket!

No, 2 x 0 is still zero, so he sucks and will always suck.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Bouwmester better then Gio?

Larf.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Wideman 581 NHL reg season games 44 playoff games..... 24 playoff wins

Bouwmeester 764 NHL reg season 6 playoff games 2 playoff wins

Wideman has a winning tradition as far as the Flames go. It was likely one of the prime reasons the Flames were motivated to overpay him as as a UFA.... he had a proven record as a top 4 d-man (if not top-2) on a playoff team.

By comparison best all-time Flame - Iginla in his 17 NHL seasons and 1232 reg season games has 69 playoff games. 33 wins.

Wideman's defense in the playoffs can be absolutely cringe worthy. He was okay in the playoffs in Boston but we've seen that that means very little because as Karberle showed, playing with or behind Chara and in front of the Bruins forwards is a nice gig. In Washington, Wideman went from the leader amongst Capitals Dmen in even strength minutes in the regular season to 5th in the playoffs. That should tell you all there is to know. You can win in the regular season with Wideman, but you'll have a hard time winning the Cup with Wideman as part of the team's top 4.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by ThePrince

Really?

Defencemen by cap hit making over $5.4 Million (excluding Bouwmeester). I bolded those players that I think Bouwmeester (a) is currently better than, and (b) don't even have the potential to be better than Bouwmeester for the rest of their careers. Obviously my opinion, but I think a lot of board members would agree

1. Shea Weber
2. Ryan Suter
3. Brian Campbell
4. Drew Doughty
5. Zdeno Chara
6. Dan Boyle
7. Dion Phaneuf
8. Erik Karlsson
9. Mike Green
10. Kimmo Timonen
11. Brent Seabrook
12. Andrei Markov
13. Tobias Enstrom
14. Duncan Keith
15. James Wisniewski
16. Tyler Myers
17. Matt Carle
18. Oliver Ekman-Larsson

I think you could also make the argument for Boyle, Markov, and Myers. If so, that would make 10 of the top 18 cap hits that Bouwmeester is better than, making less money than any of them.

I would argue that Bouw is better than Green, Carle, Campbell (not the version from two seasons ago) and Myers and maybe Wisniewski and about even with Phaneuf.

I think Timonen, Boyle, Markov, and Enstrom are better. Timonen and Boyle are warriors and winners. Only problem is that they are aging and slowing down, but they remain a cut above Bouwmeester all around especially offensively. The same goes for Markov who finally stayed healthy and put up 10 goals and 30 points which is close to the 60 point average he had put up in the past. Enstrom is simply a more dynamic offensive player and deserves a higher cap hit than Bouwmeester. Bouwmeester's contract is not good value and only appears to be a decent value when compared to guys who have terrible contracts themselves.

[Murph]

In his 14 regular season games with St. Louis, Bouwmeester was on pace for a 40 point, +30 season. If he puts up those numbers while playing 25 minutes and killing penalties, $5.4M a year is a very good deal for St. Louis. Don't let the hate blind you.

[MrMastodonFarm]

The per year doesn't bother me, it's the 5 year addition. That's not six years the Blues have Bouwmester locked up. That's along time for a 30 year old whose done little in his career.

[blender]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Bouwmester better then Gio?

Larf.

I'm not convinced that Gio has reached his full potential, and I hope to see him become a great player, but he is not (in my opinion, obviously) a better player than Bouwmeester.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

The per year doesn't bother me, it's the 5 year addition. That's not six years the Blues have Bouwmester locked up. That's along time for a 30 year old whose done little in his career.

I presume then you don't want Gio re-signed when his contract is up. He also has done very little in his career.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

I presume then you don't want Gio re-signed when his contract is up. He also has done very little in his career.

Not for 5 years, certainly not.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Murph

In his 14 regular season games with St. Louis, Bouwmeester was on pace for a 40 point, +30 season. If he puts up those numbers while playing 25 minutes and killing penalties, $5.4M a year is a very good deal for St. Louis. Don't let the hate blind you.

He got 1 assist in 7 playoff games. That translates to a solid 11 pt season,

On the Flames the huge false argument was that Bouwmeester played the tough minutes and played his strategic no hitting game to shut down the top-players that resulted in his -21.... In St.L he was sheltered behind Jackman and Polak.

When St.L needed a scoring hero..... while paying Bouwmeester to be the man... Jackman actually steps up.

How does Jackman (heart and soul of St.L franchise through the building years) react to Bouwmeesters lackluster effort and results when Bouwmesster is getting paid 2.4M MORE?

For 11 NHL seasons Bouwmeester was given every opportunity to step up and be the hero.... The highlight reel of Bouwmeester's heroic efforts is extremely thin.

[Murph]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

He got 1 assist in 7 playoff games. That translates to a solid 11 pt season,

On the Flames the huge false argument was that Bouwmeester played the tough minutes and played his strategic no hitting game to shut down the top-players that resulted in his -21.... In St.L he was sheltered behind Jackman and Polak.

When St.L needed a scoring hero..... while paying Bouwmeester to be the man... Jackman actually steps up.

How does Jackman (heart and soul of St.L franchise through the building years) react to Bouwmeesters lackluster effort and results when Bouwmesster is getting paid 2.4M MORE?

For 11 NHL seasons Bouwmeester was given every opportunity to step up and be the hero.... The highlight reel of Bouwmeester's heroic efforts is extremely thin.

Actually, they only played 6 games. And Jackman, really stepped up... 2 points. Pietrangelo got 2 points, as did Shattenkirk. Polak got 1 point, same as Bouwmeester.

But it's not the points. Did you watch any of the St. Louis games post trade? Bouwmeester played the tough minutes, and played them well. But oh yeah, I forgot, it was Pietrangelo who was carrying him...

Give it a rest. For whatever reason, Bouwmeester wasn't a 6.7M defenceman in Calgary, but all indications so far are that he'll be worth that money in St. Louis.

[Murph]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

The per year doesn't bother me, it's the 5 year addition. That's not six years the Blues have Bouwmester locked up. That's along time for a 30 year old whose done little in his career.

Maybe. He's proven to be durable, so there's little risk there. With his reliance on his skating, I think the biggest risk is that he slows down to the point where it can't make up for his lack of physicality. Personally I don't see that happening until the last year or two of the deal at worst. So in my eyes, this is a good dollar and length wise for the Blues.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Bouwmester better then Gio?

Larf.

This is a weird comment and i'm surprised to see it go unchallenged.

Giordano isn't a top pairing defender and Bouwmeester is a top pairing defender on just about every single team in the league.

Giordano is like a week younger than Bouwmeester and has played less than half as many games. I don't think Bouwmeester has missed a game he's been eligible to play in since he entered the league. Giordano wasn't a top 4 NHL defender until 3 years ago, while Bouwmeester was a top pairing free agent during the same time frame.

Giordano is getting progressively worse from his high-water mark while Bouwmeester seems to be the same or better than in previous years. They are essentially the exact same age and one guy plays 30 minutes a night and another struggles playing more than 20.

Bouwmeester is unquestionably better. At roughly a million more per year, it gets even sillier.

Sour Grapes at this point to think Giordano is on par with Bouwmeester.

[CSharp]

Guess if he would've signed with the Flames for what he signed with the Blues, there wouldn't have been any bitchin' in Calgary. Just hope the Flames didn't waste away that first rounder they got for JBo.

[flamesfan6]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

This is a weird comment and i'm surprised to see it go unchallenged.

It's because they won't listen

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by blender

I'm not convinced that Gio has reached his full potential, and I hope to see him become a great player, but he is not (in my opinion, obviously) a better player than Bouwmeester.

I like Gio. His ceiling is a #3 40 point Dman. He's reached it. There's nothing wrong with that. If that's all he remains for the rest of his contract, he does right by the Flames. Forcing expectations on him to be a #1 is only going to make the fans resent him.

[doctajones428]

2 playoff wins.

2 playoff wins.

2 playoff wins.

REALLY???

First everyone is on him for being a playoff virgin, and now this? Bouwmeester isn't the only guy on his team