Debunking Klefbom’s Comments On Hall
As reported earlier today, Edmonton Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom had some interesting (and somewhat unfounded) remarks about former teammate Taylor Hall when asked about the blockbuster trade earlier this summer that sent Hall to the New Jersey Devils for a potential new defensive pair mate for Klefbom, Adam Larsson. As translated from Kelfbom’s native Swedish, he stated that “Taylor has been our best player in recent years, but it’s also hard to tell what he has contributed. He never played his best games against the tougher teams, when we really needed it. However, he was fantastic when we met the little inferior teams.” That is a lot to take in, as Klefbom both praised and criticized the 2010 first overall pick, who had been met with mostly praise and little criticism during his time in Edmonton. While it’s easy to take a teammate’s word when it comes to the analysis of a player, that’s not always fair. Instead, we have numbers. Take a look at each of Klefbom’s arguments from a statistical point of view:
“Taylor has been our best player in recent years” is hardly up for debate. Hall was taken #1 in the 2010 NHL Entry draft and stepped right into a top six role as the new face of the Oilers. In his rookie year, he led Edmonton in goals with 22 and was tied for second in points with 42, just one notch behind Jordan Eberle. In 2011-12, Hall again finished behind only Eberle, recording 53 points in 61 games. The lockout-shortened 2012-13 season proved to be the breakout campaign that Hall needed to assert himself as the best player on the Oilers and an elite NHL power forward. In 45 games, Hall scored better than a point per game, leading the team with 50 points, 12 points more than Sam Gagner in second and 13 more than Eberle in third. Hall continued to produce at more than a point per game clip in 2013-14, with 80 points in 75 games, good enough for sixth in the NHL in scoring. Meanwhile in Edmonton, only Eberle was able to finish within 20 points of Hall. Hall suffered his first career setback in 2014-15, as injuries limited him to just 53 games and 38 points. Astoundingly, 38 points was all he needed to finish third on the team in points, behind Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. He got back on track last season, leading the team in points with 65, and greatly improving his defensive game and physicality with career highs in hits, blocked shots, and penalty minutes. Six straight seasons of finishing in at least the top three in scoring in Edmonton and even finishing in the top ten in scoring in the NHL twice means that there is no question that Taylor Hall has been the Oilers’ best player in recent years.
“It’s hard to tell what he has contributed” and “he was fantastic (against) inferior teams” are two statements that can only be taken with a grain of salt. The numbers clearly show what Hall has contributed to the Oilers in his first six seasons, but Klefbom is not incorrect in implying that those contributions have not been enough to change the success of the team. The highest that Edmonton has finished in the NHL league standings since drafting Hall is 24th, and that was the lockout-shortened season. It was also Hall’s best per-game season to date, so there may actually be some correlation there that proves Klefbom wrong. Other than that though, the Oilers finished last in Hall’s rookie year in 2010-11, have two second-to-last (29th) finishes, and have two third-to-last (28th) finishes. The fact is that as good as Hall has been, it has not been enough to single-handedly right the ship in Edmonton. Did anyone expect him to do so? Hall was the first of four first overall draft picks that the Oilers have had in the past seven years, and only now does one of those players, Connor McDavid, actually have the pieces around him to maybe turn the franchise around. Hall entered a situation where even as a rookie, he was hands down the best player on the team, and no talent was ever brought in that could rival his. Had the Oilers taken Tyler Seguin (selected #2 in 2010) instead of Hall, the results likely would have been the same in Edmonton, and Hall would likely be a valued piece of the Boston Bruins’ core. Questioning what Hall has contributed because his strong numbers have not made the Oilers a playoff team is more of a commentary on the ineptitude of team ownership and management than anything.
As for “inferior teams” during Hall’s tenure in Edmonton: there are none. Oscar Klefbom entered the league in 2013-14 and since then could have only seen Hall and the Oilers play against four “inferior teams”: the Buffalo Sabres in 2013-14 and 2014-15, the Florida Panthers in 2013-14, the Arizona Coyotes in 2014-15, and Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015-16. However, if you total the points of all 30 NHL teams in the six years that Hall has been playing, no organization has been “inferior” to the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton has only 380 points during that time span, 40 less than the next-worst, the Sabres. In fact, only nine teams have been less than 100 points better than the Oilers since the start of the 2010-11 season. So in reality, nearly any team that Klefbom claims Taylor Hall has played “fantastic” against has been a superior team to his own.
Finally, there is the allegation that Hall “never played his best games against the tougher teams, when we really needed it.” Unfortunately for Klefbom and the Oilers, every team has been “tougher” for years now and they haven’t “needed” a win in the traditional sense of a playoff contender in a long time. However, if Klefbom’s belief that Hall does not play to the same level against playoff-caliber teams as he does against others holds weight, than that is a legitimate concern about Hall and a fair assessment by Klefbom, rather than just an insult hurled by a scorned ex-teammate. But that is simply not the case. Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, Boston, Anaheim, the New York Rangers, Washington, San Jose, Los Angeles, Detroit, Vancouver, and Tampa Bay make up the top dozen NHL teams in total points since Hall’s playing days began in 2010. Against those twelve teams, Hall has 135 career points in 175 career games, better than .75 points per game. If you take away a lack of success against some unfamiliar Eastern conference foes in the Bruins and Capitals, that rate jumps up to over .8 points per game. Counter to Klefbom’s assumptions, Hall has actually been dominant against some of the league’s best teams like the Blackhawks (22 points in 18 games), Sharks (20 points in 22 games), and the division rival Canucks (26 points in 29 games). While he has also been wildly successful against lesser teams like the Colorado Avalanche and Calgary Flames, there seems to be no noticeable drop-off in production over the course of Hall’s career between “good” teams and “bad” teams.
Klefbom has never been known to be outspoken or a locker room problem, and his comments may have been lost in translation or simply just misguided by emotion. Regardless, the positive remarks about Hall being the best player in Edmonton ring true, while the accusations that he plays poorly against stronger competition and better against weaker competition seem to be unfounded based on his scoring numbers. Sorry Oilers fans, Taylor Hall is still an amazing player, and will likely continue to excel in his new home with the New Jersey Devils.
Avs, Barrie Agree To New Deal
After all of the speculation surrounding the “contentious” relationship between the Colorado Avalanche and defenseman Tyson Barrie and the drama of the summer’s only arbitration decision, it seems as thought the two sides were able to agree to a deal just in time. Elliotte Friedman reports that Barrie has re-signed with Colorado, before the arbitration decision was handed down, for four years and $22MM.
The $5.5MM cap hit that the new extension carries falls, as expected, in the middle of the competing offers made to the arbitrator. The Avalanche had asked for a two-year contract worth $8.25MM ($4.125MM cap hit), while Barrie’s camp countered with a one year and $6MM. The eventual compromise falls closer the value that Barrie was hoping for, and based on a trend of preferential treatment towards players in NHL arbitration, is likely close to what would have been awarded. Instead of waiting for the one or two year arbitration deal and risking having to give Barrie another raise soon, the Avalanche were instead smart to finally agree to a new deal for a longer term.
The $5.5MM cap hit is in no way over-payment by Colorado. Having just turned 25, Barrie has put together three straight seasons of strong offensive production at a young age. He can be counted on for double-digit goals and 40+ assists each season and has not had any durability issues despite a modest 5’10” 190-lb. frame. The $5-$6MM is just the going rate for small, fast, puck-moving defenseman, as evidenced by Barrie and the earlier deals this summer handed out to Torey Krug ($5.25MM) and Alex Goligoski ($5.475). The signing puts the Avalanche less than a million dollars from the $73MM salary cap limit, but with a full roster and no more restricted free agents to sign, it seems as though Colorado should be ready to go for the 2016-17 season without much worry about the cap.
What could have been an ugly situation in Denver has been avoided, as both sides should be happy with the extension and looking forward to four more years of production. If Barrie continue to put up 50-odd points a season from the blue line, the Avalanche will never regret giving in to the deal they signed today.
West Notes: Klefbom, Henderson, Benn
In a translated interview with Ola Winther of Hockey Sverige (Sweden), Oilers’ defenseman Oscar Klefbom was quoted talking about Taylor Hall and the impact he made last season: “He (Hall) never played his best games against the tougher teams, which we really needed it. However, he was fantastic when we met the little inferior teams.”
While this quote obviously might have been slightly lost in translation, the overall sentiment of it has been shared many times over recently by fans and media alike surrounding Hall’s exit from Edmonton. As seems to be the building tradition when a star player is traded or leaves in free agency, Hall’s weaknesses have drawn more focus than his strengths, despite his obvious offensive talent. New Jersey won’t be focusing on the weaknesses however, as they’ve created a solid young group of forwards that will be capable of putting up vast amounts of points next season.
For a team who ranked dead last in goals for last season, the Devils will take some defensive lapses to get Hall’s elite scoring ability. For the record, Hall scored 23 points in 28 games (0.82 PPG) against teams who finished in the top-10 of the league last season. He had 42 in the remaining 54 (0.78 PPG).
- In saddening news related to last season’s Dennis Wideman incident, there is now some doubt that NHL linesman Don Henderson will be able to continue his career on the ice. According to Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, friends close to the situation have told him that Henderson underwent surgery to repair two ruptured disks in his neck, and is unsure whether he’ll officiate another NHL game. The friend is quoted as saying “He attacked him from behind, the puck was nowhere near the two of them, and now Henderson’s career may be finished. I don’t see much difference between what he did and Wayne Maki cracking his stick over Teddy Green’s head.’’ Wideman is still involved in a dispute over the suspension that was shortened by an arbitrator last season.
- Many teams hoped that Jamie Benn was headed for free agency after next season, but after the Dallas Stars’ captain re-signed for another eight years, he’s sure to be in green for a while. Benn told Mike Heika of The Dallas News that he “didn’t have even one thought of leaving this place. I fell in love with Dallas, Texas ever since I got down here.” Benn ranked second in scoring last season, and has three straight 30-goal seasons. He’s under contract now through 2024-25, and should go down as one of the best Stars of all-time, should he continue his current path.
Snapshots: St. Louis, Barrie, Marner
Sixteen years ago today was one to remember for the Tampa Bay Lightning, as on July 31st, 2000 they signed Martin St. Louis after he’d been released by the Calgary Flames. One of the biggest little-men in NHL history, the 5’8″ St. Louis would go on to score 953 points for the Lightning, and helped lead them to their first and only Stanley Cup championship in 2004. Their all-time leading scorer, and a two-time Olympian, St. Louis finished his career with the New York Rangers and is currently #71 on the all-time points list. He’s got a good case for a hall-of-fame induction eventually, and it’s all because Tampa Bay gave the diminutive forward a second-chance in the NHL.
- The only player to have reached salary arbitration this year, Tyson Barrie had his hearing on Friday to determine his cost for the upcoming season. The arbitrator had 48 hours to make her decision, and that window will come to an end at 1:30pm today central time. We profiled Barrie’s case last week, and showed how well he compares to some of the elite offensive defensemen in the league. Now, with only a few hours left (as of this writing) to negotiate a deal, it’s coming down to the wire for the two sides to reconcile their perceived differences.
- Mitch Marner, the sometimes-forgotten uber-prospect in the Maple Leafs system is in an interesting situation this season; the 19-year old is too young for the AHL, and must either crack the NHL roster or go back to junior to play for the OHL’s London Knights. When asked about his possible play at this year’s World Junior Championship, Marner intimated that he’s doing everything he can to stay in the NHL. “It’s not up to me. If I am in the OHL, then I am going to play and look forward to it.” Fellow top-prospect Dylan Strome was much less reserved about his hopes for next year when he was asked the same thing by Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: “I feel like I’m done with junior, and don’t want to be there next year, but if Arizona thinks it’s best for me, I don’t have a choice.” Strome and Marner were picked third and fourth overall in the 2015 draft, following Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, who have both already made an impact at the NHL level.
Anaheim Ducks’ Defense Crunch
When the Anaheim Ducks were eliminated this spring by the Nashville Predators in seven games, many pointed fingers at the poor performance of some of the top offensive options. Corey Perry had not scored a single goal, registering a -7 rating in the series, completely erased by a stifling Predator defense group. The Ducks’ defense, even in losing, were just as spectacular, keeping the Predators to only 14 goals in the series and moving the puck with relative ease from their end.
It’s this defense group though, that may be giving the Ducks’ front office the most headaches this summer, as there are furiously tough decisions to make in the coming months. Currently, it has seven men deserving of NHL spots, to say nothing of up-and-comers Shea Theodore and Brandon Montour, and NCAA transplant Andy Welinski.
The group consists of Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler, Kevin Bieksa, Clayton Stoner, Josh Manson, Simon Despres and Hampus Lindholm all solid NHLers, with contracts to prove it. The group, led by Vatanen, is set to earn $20.65MM next season, not even including Lindholm’s yet-to-be-signed deal that could push $6MM AAV.
While every team needs depth on the blueline, not many can afford to put millions of dollars in the press box every night, waiting for an injury to happen. While Fowler’s name has been bandied about since the Ducks were eliminated, nothing concrete has come out about Anaheim’s true desire to move him. Indeed, it would be a tough decision to move any member of the group, as each comes with their own strengths.
With Lindholm and Rickard Rakell still to sign, and under $8.5MM to do it, the Ducks will be tight to the cap if they head into the season with all seven blueliners under contract. They also risk losing one of their prized defensemen next offseason, when the Las Vegas TBAs get to pluck unprotected players from unsuspecting clubs in the expansion draft. Bieksa has a no-movement clause, and will therefor be automatically protected, leaving just two more defense slots (or three, if the Ducks choose to go with the eight-skater option and leave a young forward unprotected).
Fowler still seems like the most likely candidate for trade, but there is little doubt that teams would be more interested in the extremely cheap Josh Manson who, while earning only $825K per season, rates well at both ends of the rink and could become a building block for a new team on the right side.
With the pipeline that Anaheim has created, they would do well to leverage it into some help up front. Their current group is getting older, headlined by Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler who will all turn 32 in the next calendar year and are already starting to see cracks form in their production. Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg form a dynamic young duo, but represent the only two threats at forward under 26 years of age for the Ducks going forward.
Calculating Kucherov’s Potential Value As RFA
Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov is perhaps the best player still without a contract for 2016-17. Of course as a RFA without arbitration rights and given there is practically no chance another team would dare an offer sheet, Kucherov has almost no leverage to use in negotiations for a new deal. Regardless, Kucherov is going to get a significant raise over the modest $700K he earned in salary this year. That might not bode too well for Tampa, who has around $6.5MM in cap space with Kucherov and D Nikita Nestorov still to re-sign. Still, despite the relative lack of apparent progress, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman is quite confident a deal with Kucherov will get done, as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes.
Naturally, knowing a deal will get done and knowing what that done deal will look like are two very different things. Smith speculates that the six-year, $36MM ($6MM AAV) contract Filip Forsberg signed with Nashville serves as a good comparable.
Like Kucherov, Forsberg was coming off his ELC when he agreed to his new pact. In terms of offensive production, there are strong similarities between the two. Forsberg has averaged 0.33 Goals/Game and 0.73 Pts/Game during his 182-game NHL career. Kucherov counters with nearly identical scoring rates of 0.32 Goals/Game and 0.71 Pts/Game over 211 games. Forsberg’s deal certainly would seem to represent a fair comparable.
Yzerman is as patient as they come in his role as GM and he will only make a deal if he feels it fits into the club’s salary structure. Not long ago it seemed all but certain that Steven Stamkos would sign a contract worth close to $10MM annually, whether with Tampa or another club, as that is the going rate for elite players. Yet Yzerman sold Stamkos on his long-term vision for the program and convinced the star sniper to take a more palatable figure for the team.
After getting Stamkos’ name on the dotted line, Yzerman moved to sign franchise defenseman Victor Hedman a year before he would have hit free agency. Ultimately, Hedman and the Lightning agreed to an eight-year, $63MM deal many in the industry feel is a steal for a player of his caliber.
Yzerman might not be the perfect GM (the Ryan Callahan contract already looks like it’s going to be an anchor) but he has done a tremendous job getting most of his own guys to re-sign for fair-market value or less, allowing enough space to get his RFA’s done.
That being said, Kucherov’s representation might look elsewhere for comparable contracts to base their argument on. One such deal is the eight-year, $60MM pact Vladimir Tarasenko obtained from the St. Louis Blues earlier this year. If we again take into account relative offensive production over the last three seasons, Kucherov matches up fairly well with Tarasenko. The Blues winger is slightly more productive offensively, both in the goal scoring (0.37 goals-per-game) and points departments (0.75 points-per-game). But the difference is small enough that Kucherov’s camp could reasonably push for a contract somewhat closer to Tarasenko’s in AAV.
On the other side of the coin, Mike Hoffman, who recently inked a four-year extension with Ottawa worth $20.75MM ($5.1875MM AAV) could also be used as a marker for Kucherov’s value. Hoffman comes up just shy in terms of points-per-game (0.68) but is essentially equal as a goal-scorer based on rates. Hoffman has averaged 0.36 goals-per-game over the last two seasons while Kucherov has recorded 0.37 per, over the same time frame.
At the end of the day, the Forsberg contract is likely going to be close to what the two sides end up agreeing upon. Kucherov has outproduced Hoffman enough to justify an AAV higher than $5.1875MM. And while Kucherov isn’t too far off from Tarasenko offensively, the Blues winger is the more electric goal scorer and goals pay better than assists. Those factors combined with Yzerman’s ability to make deals on his terms point to the likelihood of something in the range of $6MM annually.
Free Agent Frustration: Kris Russell Is This Year’s Cody Franson
Nearly one full month into free agency, defenseman Kris Russell remains on the market and looking for his next employment opportunity. Russell is the highest ranking UFA still unsigned from Pro Hockey Rumors top-50 list and despite some earlier reported interest, there doesn’t appear to be much movement currently in his market. In many ways, the slow-moving nature of Russell’s free agency is reminiscent of the case of Cody Franson, who just last summer was forced to wait until September before signing a free agent contract.
Both players entered their respective free agency periods among the top options available at their position and with the expectation of signing lucrative, long-term deals. Like Russell, the market for Franson never seemed to materialize last summer and he ended up getting a two-year deal from Buffalo with an AAV of $3.325MM. It’s becoming more and more likely that Russell will end up having to do the same; ink a short-term contract for far less money than most pundits imagined at the outset of free agency. PHR predicted a four-year deal for the veteran defender with an AAV of $4.5MM. At this point it doesn’t appear Russell will be able to secure a pact anywhere near that total value.
Even though Franson and Russell are both defenseman and have experienced similar frustrations in free agency, albeit a year apart, the two players are more unlike than alike in terms of style and production. Franson was a darling of the advanced stats crowd due primarily to his strong offensive contributions at five-on-five. During the three-season stretch from 2012-13 to 2014-15, Franson tallied 0.94 Pts/60 in five-on-five situations, a figure better than that of Keith Yandle (0.91) over the same period. Of course we know Yandle is widely considered to be one of the top offensive blue liners in the game and was recently rewarded with a rich contract from Florida as a result.
Russell, on the other hand, is more of an old school favorite. He blocks a ton of shots, leading the league by averaging 3.4 blocked-shots-per-game this past season. Russell is fairly mobile and produces enough offense to draw the description of puck-mover. However he struggles in the possession department, ranking 114th out of 124 defensemen who played at least 1,000 minutes at five-on-five with a Corsi For % (CF%) of 45.3%. Because of that, Russell doesn’t rate too well among the analytically-inclined.
It’s possible that Russell’s market has been adversely affected due to more teams utilizing advanced statistics in their decision-making process. Then again it was only five months ago that Dallas agreed to ship two prospects and a conditional second-round draft choice to acquire his services. Chances are there are plenty of teams that still value what Russell does well and that he’ll sign a contract soon enough. Like Franson a year ago, Russell has had to wait longer than expected and likely won’t get either the term or the money originally predicted, but he’s too good not to land on his feet somewhere before the start of the season.
Coyotes Sign Jakob Chychrun To Entry Level Contract
Craig Morgan of AZSports tweeted that the Arizona Coyotes have inked the second of their two, 2016 first-round draft choices, defenseman Jakob Chychrun, to a three-year ELC. Chychrun, selected 16th overall in last month’s draft, likely has only an outside chance at cracking the Coyotes roster on opening night as the club already has eight blue liners with NHL experience under contract. It’s far more likely the team will elect to return him to his junior club for more seasoning.
Originally slated to select 20th overall, the Coyotes moved up four slots in a deal with Detroit that also saw Arizona absorb Pavel Datyuk‘s $7.5MM cap charge. The trade allowed the Wings to clear significant cap space from their books while moving back just a few positions in the draft. Detroit also picked up a second-round choice, 53rd overall, which the team used on defenseman Filip Hronek. Meanwhile, Arizona put themselves in position to take a player they liked tremendously and had even considered drafting with the seventh overall selection.
Chychrun played his junior hockey with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. In 62 OHL contests, Chychrun tallied 49 points and boasted a +23 plus-minus rating. His father, Jeff, appeared in 262 NHL games, spending time with Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Edmonton and Pittsburgh in a career spanning parts of eight seasons.
First year GM John Chayka has been among the league’s busiest executives this summer. Chayka added D Alex Goligoski via trade and LW Jamie McGinn and D Luke Schenn as free agents to bolster a young but talented roster. He also re-signed team captain Shane Doan and restricted free agent defenders Michael Stone and Connor Murphy to new contracts. Whether these additions will help get the Coyotes back into the postseason or not remains to be seen but Chayka has shown he is unafraid to make impact moves so far.
Snapshots: Hossa, Barrie, Vesey
The Athletic’s Scott Powers writes that Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa is just fine with whatever comes his way during the 2016-17 season. The 37-year-old winger has slowed a bit since joining the Hawks in 2009-10 and had his lowest point total since the 1998-99 season. Powers reports that Hossa is cognizant of where he is in his career, and that the extra rest following a first round playoff loss to the Blues has recharged Hossa mentally and physically.
Hossa is comfortable with a more defensive-minded role, Powers adds. The gifted two-way forward’s impact on possession should remain stable even while his numbers decline. Underrated throughout the seven seasons of his Blackhawk career is the impact he has on the ice disrupting plays defensively, and then setting up scoring chances at the other end–oftentimes in the same shift.
Though he climbs in age, Hossa’s value to the Hawks is anything but diminished. If the Hawks are fortunate enough to land Jimmy Vesey, the offense that Vesey could generate would more than compensate for Hossa’s drop off. If anything, a full-out defensive minded Hossa would only ratchet up the Stanley Cup expectations in Chicago.
In other NHL news:
- Adrian Dater argues that the purported angst between Tyson Barrie and the Colorado Avalanche isn’t as bad as many think. He also shoots down the rumor that the Avs will deal the young d-man. Dater indicates that the Avs still own Barrie’s rights for another three seasons and wouldn’t dream of dealing him unless the trade package was significant. Dater writes that the Avs are in the “driver’s seat” when it comes to Barrie and that both sides see this negotiation as business, not personal.
- Dater also weighs in on the Vesey-to-Blackhawks speculation and claims that the Hawks would likely use Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane as recruiting tools to bring the young forward into the fold. With every organization being bound to the same financial constraints, Dater writes that the Hawks are head and shoulders above other teams because of their prestige and standing in the league. Vesey would also be an affordable top six forward for the Hawks. In true Dater fashion, he concludes by saying “he’s been wrong before.” Regardless, Dater joins the cacophony of voices reporting the Hawks’ high chance of landing the coveted winger.
Why is Jiri Hudler Still A Free Agent?
When PHR set out to rank the top 50 unrestricted free agents, Jiri Hudler was ranked 18th and expected to be snapped up at a reasonable price. Though some reports have him possibly talking to the Vancouver Canucks, the interest for the 32-year-old forward is tepid.
So what gives?
Hudler came up with the Detroit Red Wings, and was a strong contributor to their Stanley Cup winning season in 2007-08, and then again in 2008-09 when they fell short of a repeat championship. After a one-year hiatus in the KHL during the 2009-10 season, Hudler returned to the Red Wings until the 2011-12 season. At a glance, his numbers looked like this:
- 2007-08: 42 points (13-29)
- 2008-09: 57 points (23-34)
- 2010-11: 37 points (10-27)
- 2011-12: 50 points (25-25)
Though the Red Wings didn’t offer him another contract following the 2011-12 season, Calgary did at a tune of four years, $16MM. Hudler remained a solid contributor, hitting his career high in 2014-15 with 76 points (31-45). A season prior, he registered 54 points (17-37).
Hudler’s performance fell off in 2015-16, notching 35 points (10-25) in 53 games with Calgary before being traded to Florida. There, Hudler had 11 points (6-5) in 19 games before only adding an assist in six playoff games. He had 46 points in 72 games but it was a far cry from his previous season. Florida chose to let him walk.
So why, despite boasting better numbers than several free agents already signed, does Hudler remain unemployed?
Is it Inconsistency?
Back in 2013, several writers debated whether the Red Wings should have re-signed Hudler instead of letting him go to Calgary, where he would go on to have some steady seasons. The offer from Detroit was less than what Calgary offered by $800K per season.
With Florida, he was never even offered a chance back. Despite producing well, and apparently fitting in well with the Panthers following their acquisition, there wasn’t even a hint of an extension.
Some of the problem might be his lack of defensive responsibility. Hudler was paid to put up points, so when the scoring decreased, so did the interest. Back in June, CSN Philly’s Greg Paone wrote that Hudler would have struggled in Dave Hakstol’s system should he have signed with the Flyers. Two weeks ago, Tal Pinchevsky argued in an ESPN article that he would provide production at a discount, and his playoff struggle in Florida shouldn’t be an indictment on his overall postseason performance, pointing out that Hudler had 8 points in 11 playoff games with Calgary in 2015.
Perhaps Kevin Allen summed up what most teams debated before free agency: Would they be getting the 76 point Hudler or the 46 point Hudler?
Summarizing the theories, it appears that Hudler’s decrease in production, his defensive deficiencies, and an underwhelming playoff performance with Florida all had a hand in his current predicament.
The Czech winger should find a landing spot somewhere, especially since Sam Gagner is close to a deal with the Blue Jackets. Gagner’s deal will certainly gauge what Hudler could expect. The only certainty is that it won’t come close to what he made a season ago.