Look at the numbers when the Caps turned it around with Hunter and had success. He was 5th on their team in average TOI. He played sheltered minutes and the team was successful.
Even with the supposed dickish tone I find myself agreeing with your statements. I was super excited that the Flames got Wideman until I heard the contract terms. I want to get super excited about a new Flame. However, the contract is onerous in it's length and amount. Same thing you noted about Jankowski. I want to be a fan of these moves (and janko could very well pay off) but this feels to me like the beginning of the wheels falling off the Feaster era.
I remember listening to the radio the morning of the Phaneuf deal and the morning guys trying to talk up Hagman like he was a huge addition and Stajan like he could be a legitimate center for Iginla. It's eeriley similar reading posts explaining that Wideman would get this on the ufa market. Well sure he could, and the only team that should do that is one that needs an offensive dman to make a legitimate run at a cup. Wideman could impress us all but the guy (from most accounts) can't play top line minutes. He's a PP guy and a top 4 guy who is notorious for defensive lapses. 5 years is a long time to pay out that kind of money.
Further, from what i'm reading on blogs, and the posters here on hf boards, the caps are not that concerned with seeing him go. It should be disconcerning to us that I don't hear anything except how medicore he is defensively. Sounds like Jay Bo will have to be hanging way back if he pairs with Wideman.
Sabre fan here, this is a good signing. I wouldn't take any stock what any Oiler fan/Flame hater troll says, Wideman is the 2nd best offensive dman in free agency and is only 29. You gave up practically nothing and you secured a top 4 dman prior to free agency starting. I see Wideman as a perennial 45 point scorer and he will definitely generate some points on the back end. This is a very good signing and will definitely improve your team.
I don't mind the term, but I think $5.25M annually is too high. Then again, Wisniewski got a 6-year, $33M contract last year. And with the cap going up and high demand for defencemen, we're probably going to see a lot of these contracts. Makes me wonder what Suter will receive.
One thing I do love.
He's arguably the second best D-man available this summer, would have easily gotten 5.25-6 million a season by several teams this summer... but because Flames snag him, it's the worst move ever.
Flames get no love in the league no matter what the franchise does. He's 29 years old, and all kinds of offensive ability; played a ton of minutes this year... and yet of course it's a terrible move.
I think it's a solid signing, but I am a little apprehensive, just because of how it turned out the last time we signed a 40+ point UFA d-man.
Still, I trust Feaster and Weisbrod did their homework, Weisbrod especially since he had Wideman in Boston for a couple seasons.
Hopefully it works out on the ice. In the end that's all that matters.
Oh, I'll admit Wideman looked great when he broke out in Boston. But that was when he was playing with Chara, who really covered his porous D play.
I'm assuming the signing means that a Jaybo move is more likely. If not, and the plan is to retain both and use them together. Maybe... MAYBE, it could kind of work. But, still, the term goes into his 32+ years where Wideman's mobility will be effected, that's a fact, and this will likely in turn effect his production.
Why wouldn't we keep Bousmeester? Our defence was bad last year, just cause we sign one guy doesn't mean we have to get rid of another. This is simply a defensive upgrade.
If the abundant rumors that they Flames are trying to trade him have any truth to them, then this would be Feaster filling a hole on our top 4 and being proactive about it.
But I acknowledge I think it would be good to have them both. I just think his days are numbered, IMO.
Chiming in from Boston, Wideman is atrocious defensively and he will make horrific blunders in his own end. Yes, your powerplay will be improved, and he eats minutes but my gut feeling is you will want to get of this contract well before the five years is up. I thought that $5m plus is what you would want to pay a no.2 defenseman type and he is not that.
Chiming in from Boston, Wideman is atrocious defensively and he will make horrific blunders in his own end. Yes, your powerplay will be improved, and he eats minutes but my gut feeling is you will want to get of this contract well before the five years is up. I thought that $5m plus is what you would want to pay a no.2 defenseman type and he is not that.
He'll be paired with Bouwmeester, who's very good defensively. His true value will come offensively/on the PP.
Bouwmeester - Wideman
Giordano - Brodie
Butler - Smith
People here keep saying that Wideman was only good in Boston because he played with Chara. Well that's just not true, Wideman played very little with Chara during his time with the Bruins. Andrew Ference was Wideman's usual partner.
And Wideman is definitely not as bad as so many Bruins fans will tell you. He gets a bad rep because he has such great confidence, and not such great skating ability. He'll make plays in his own end that when they work, look beautiful and when they don't, well... But he doesn't make mistakes that much more than any other top-4 D, they're just easier to remember to an average fan.
This is a guy that'll play 25min / night (many times over that in Boston), PP and lots of PK too. He'll hit, block shots and by all accounts, is a great team mate. He seemed very liked within the Bruins team. Oh yeah, and he brought it every year in the playoffs with the Bruins. In his last year, he had great playoffs (easily a top-4 player) after being booed by idiotic Bruins "fans" in the regular season. With this salary cap, I don't think the cap hit is one bit too much. Seeing as Wideman was an UFA.
Chiming in from Boston, Wideman is atrocious defensively and he will make horrific blunders in his own end. Yes, your powerplay will be improved, and he eats minutes but my gut feeling is you will want to get of this contract well before the five years is up. I thought that $5m plus is what you would want to pay a no.2 defenseman type and he is not that.
Definitely overpaid. I wouldn't mind this as much if we can get rid of JBo. We would shed around a million for a dman that can actually put up 40-50 points. But that's a big if.
Definitely overpaid. I wouldn't mind this as much if we can get rid of JBo. We would shed around a million for a dman that can actually put up 40-50 points. But that's a big if.
I don't think this means the Flames have the luxury of trading Bouwmeester if they want to compete for a playoff spot next season.
Wideman is an improvement over Hannan & Sarich, but that's about it. If the Flames go into the season with Giordano, Wideman & Butler as the top three defensemen, then we'll probably get to see the Flames draft top five for the first time in franchise history.
Chiming in from Boston, Wideman is atrocious defensively and he will make horrific blunders in his own end. Yes, your powerplay will be improved, and he eats minutes but my gut feeling is you will want to get of this contract well before the five years is up. I thought that $5m plus is what you would want to pay a no.2 defenseman type and he is not that.
You're a little behind the times. An ever increasing cap means players salaries rise too. $5M is pretty standard for an offensive top four defensemen in the UFA market.
I don't think this means the Flames have the luxury of trading Bouwmeester if they want to compete for a playoff spot next season.
Wideman is an improvement over Hannan & Sarich, but that's about it. If the Flames go into the season with Giordano, Wideman & Butler as the top three defensemen, then we'll probably get to see the Flames draft top five for the first time in franchise history.
This. The notion that any top 4 D-man can just replace Bouwmeester is completely absurd. I don't understand how fans don't comprehend how much work he actually puts in every game. He is soft and hasn't had offensive success so far, but he is capable of playing #1 type minutes without embarrassing himself which is more than can be said for any other D-man in our organization.
People here keep saying that Wideman was only good in Boston because he played with Chara. Well that's just not true, Wideman played very little with Chara during his time with the Bruins. Andrew Ference was Wideman's usual partner.
And Wideman is definitely not as bad as so many Bruins fans will tell you. He gets a bad rep because he has such great confidence, and not such great skating ability. He'll make plays in his own end that when they work, look beautiful and when they don't, well... But he doesn't make mistakes that much more than any other top-4 D, they're just easier to remember to an average fan.
This is a guy that'll play 25min / night (many times over that in Boston), PP and lots of PK too. He'll hit, block shots and by all accounts, is a great team mate. He seemed very liked within the Bruins team. Oh yeah, and he brought it every year in the playoffs with the Bruins. In his last year, he had great playoffs (easily a top-4 player) after being booed by idiotic Bruins "fans" in the regular season. With this salary cap, I don't think the cap hit is one bit too much. Seeing as Wideman was an UFA.
I remembered him pairing up with Ference too... on the PP I think he was paired with Chara (at least in the playoffs). I'm glad I'm not completely out to lunch.
