2009 NHL Free Agents Big Board: Defencemen

by James Mirtle on Jun 29, 2009 12:21 PM CDT in Free Agency Comment 19 comments

I haven't heard a lot of buzz about this year's class of free agents, but looking through the list of UFA blueliners, it's a pretty decent year if your team's in need of a depth defenceman. There are a few good options for No. 3 or 4 blueliners, and if a lot of teams are strapped against the cap, prices might not even be outrageous.

At least on some of these guys (sorted by minutes played per game):

	PLAYER	TM	Age	Cap hit	GP	Pts	Min
1	BOUWMEESTER, JAY	FLA	25.8	4.875	82	42	27:00
2	NIEDERMAYER, S.	ANA	35.8	6.750	82	59	26:55
3	BEAUCHEMIN, F.	ANA	29.1	1.650	20	5	24:54
4	ZUBOV, SERGEI	DAL	38.9	5.350	10	4	24:18
5	SEIDENBERG, D.	CAR	27.9	1.200	70	30	22:21
6	AUCOIN, ADRIAN	CGY	36.0	4.000	81	34	22:16
7	SPACEK, JAROSLAV	BUF	35.4	3.333	80	45	22:16
8	OHLUND, MATTIAS	VAN	32.8	3.500	82	25	21:34
9	~~BLAKE, ROB~~	S.J	39.6	5.000	73	45	21:16
10	SCHNEIDER, M.	MTL	40.0	5.625	67	32	21:00
11	MORRIS, DEREK	NYR	30.8	3.917	75	20	20:53
12	ODUYA, JOHN	N.J	27.7	0.600	82	29	20:53
13	ZANON, GREG	NSH	29.1	0.725	82	11	20:51
14	KOMISAREK, MIKE	MTL	27.4	1.700	66	11	20:38
15	SKRASTINS, KARLIS	FLA	35.0	2.400	80	18	20:34
17	BOUCHER, P.	PIT	36.3	2.500	41	9	20:08
18	SKOULA, MARTIN	MIN	29.7	1.800	81	16	19:58
19	MALIK, MAREK	T.B	34.0	1.250	42	5	19:10
20	SCUDERI, ROBERT	PIT	30.5	0.713	81	16	19:10
21	MARA, PAUL	NYR	29.8	1.950	76	21	18:58
22	LEOPOLD, JORDAN	CGY	28.9	1.500	83	24	18:48
23	HUSKINS, KENT	S.J	30.2	0.625	33	6	18:47
24	SYDOR, DARRYL	DAL	37.1	2.500	73	15	18:13
25	MURPHY, CORY	T.B	31.4	0.825	32	16	17:57
26	GILL, HAL	PIT	34.2	2.075	62	10	17:54
27	VAANANEN, OSSI	VAN	28.9	1.000	49	11	17:54
28	KALININ, DMITRI	PHX	28.9	2.100	73	17	17:40
29	NUMMINEN, TEPPO	BUF	41.0	1.850	57	17	17:30
30	~~WEAVER, MIKE~~	STL	31.2	0.700	58	7	17:17
31	BERGERON, M-A	MIN	28.7	1.254	72	32	16:54
32	CULLIMORE, J.	FLA	36.6	0.830	68	10	16:48
33	~~ERSKINE, JOHN~~	WSH	29.0	0.538	52	4	16:46
34	WALKER, MATT	CHI	29.2	0.600	65	14	16:38
35	BOYNTON, N.	FLA	30.5	2.950	68	21	16:35
36	BOUILLON, FRANCIS	MTL	33.7	1.875	54	9	16:29
37	HEDICAN, BRET	ANA	38.9	0.871	51	6	16:18
38	MONTADOR, STEVE	BOS	29.5	0.800	78	21	16:10
39	BRISEBOIS, P.	MTL	38.4	1.500	62	18	15:54
40	ALBERTS, ANDREW	PHI	28.0	1.250	79	13	15:48
41	OYSTRICK, NATHAN	ATL	26.5	0.578	53	12	15:45
42	BACKMAN, C.	CBJ	29.2	2.300	56	7	15:39
43	HNIDY, SHANE	BOS	33.6	0.758	65	12	15:37
44	KLEE, KEN	PHX	38.2	1.250	71	11	15:27
45	DE VRIES, GREG	NSH	36.5	2.500	71	5	15:08
46	PARDY, ADAM	CGY	25.3	0.500	60	10	15:01
47	KOISTINEN, VILLE	NSH	27.0	0.700	38	11	14:42
48	~~TJARNQVIST, D.~~	COL	30.2	0.750	37	4	14:40
49	GAUTHIER, D.	L.A	32.7	2.100	65	4	14:32
50	FOSTER, KURTIS	MIN	27.6	1.025	10	6	13:35
51	SEMENOV, ALEXEI	S.J	28.2	0.650	47	8	13:03
52	~~POCK, THOMAS~~	NYI	27.6	0.668	59	3	12:43
53	STRUDWICK, JASON	EDM	34.0	0.650	71	9	12:38
54	DANDENAULT, M.	MTL	33.4	1.725	41	12	11:45
55	CHELIOS, CHRIS	DET	47.4	0.750	28	0	11:40

It's a big list, as you can see, with nearly two guys per team out there and available. Who do I like here?

Johnny Oduya could be an excellent buy if he can be pried away from the Devils, who are still trying to sign him, as could the likes of Dennis Seidenberg, Greg Zanon, Rob Scuderi and Paul Mara. Twenty-one of these guys played nearly 20 minutes a night last season, some of them for very good teams, and after the high-end dmen like Bouwmeester and Ohlund go for big dollars, there'll be solid role players to be had in the $2-million range.

Mike Komisarek may get all of the headlines, but someone like Zanon can be just as effective in a similar role and has a much lower profile.

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Comments

Boucher

I think you have his numbers wrong. He didn’t play anywhere close to 20 minutes a game.

by dtoddwin on Jun 29, 2009 12:24 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

ESPN.com and NHL.com both say he did so…

Blogging on hockey at fromtherink.com

by James Mirtle on Jun 29, 2009 12:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

He didn’t play anywhere close to 20 minutes a game.

Boucher only averaged 11:23 per game in the post-season, so maybe that’s why it looks unbelievable.

But really Boucher did play ~20 minutes a night (with Dallas and Pittsburgh) when he was healthy this season. He’s a decent option on the PP or PK, so that’s where he picked up a lot of minutes.

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Jun 29, 2009 1:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs