Seidenberg Back In The Picture?

(photo from nhl.com/hurricanes)



Well, we are two weeks in to the free agent signing period and most of the big deals have been completed. Now teams will be looking to fill holes and upgrade as best they can. While the economic crisis has not kept some teams from throwing around big money for "superstar" caliber players, there appears to have been a significant impact on solid middle of the road guys who were looking for significant raises on the open market.

One of those players who was looking for a pay hike was Hurricanes D-man Denis Seidenberg. Leading up to the free agency deadline, Canes GM Jim Rutherford seemed pretty sure that Seids would be lost on the open market, and seemed to have turned the page:

"Based on my conversation with his agent, and where they think he's at, he's a long way out of our reach"

This came from a story on Canes Now, posted just before the NHL Draft in late June.

(where have we heard this sort of rhetoric from Rutherford before...hmmmm?)

Well, it seems that the situation might have changed a bit over the last 3 weeks. Chip Alexander/Canes Now is reporting today that the Canes reopened discussions with Seidenberg's agent J.P. Barry over the weekend. Chip got this quote from Rutherford:

"We do have interest in Dennis... We had a conversation with J.P. on Friday and that door is open again....When we first backed away from Dennis, it had nothing to do with Dennis. It was with his initial request. We could not go to that level. He's been out there as a free agent and able to talk to teams, and now we're talking again."

My guess is that no one else on the market was offering anything near what Seids and Barry were looking for either, and suddenly a top 4 or 6 spot on the Canes blue line for a decent price does not seem all that bad.

Seidenberg is 28 years old, just coming into his prime as a quality D-Man, and had by far the best season of his career in 2008/2009. He set career marks in games played (70) and points (30 - 5G/25A). He was also top 20 in the league (17th/120) in blocked shots, and ranked third on the team in ice time (22:19 per game).

Seids can also have a bit of a nasty streak at times and is not hesitant in throwing his body around a bit if need be. While not particularly big or fleet of foot, 2008/2009 saw him make huge strides in his own zone. He still finished the season at a -9 overall, and was a -5 in the playoffs, most of that seeming to come against the Penquins in the Conference finals where he looked particualrly tired and/or slow (not unlike the rest of the Canes blue line).

The downside to his game over his career with the Canes has been his tendency to spend an awful lot of time on the injured list. Foot and ankle problems seemingly being the biggest bugaboo. He only played in 52 and 40 games respectively in his previous two seasons. But 2008/2009 was relatively injury free and the increased ice-time, along with the development and increased confidence in his game that comes with that, seemed to have brought out his best.

I would probably rate Denis as a borderline top 4 guy, but a solid top 6 defenseman. He made $1.2 million per season on his last contract and if the Canes could get him for a slight raise (say $1.5-$1.75 million?) on a one year contract (where he can prove that his injury-prone days are behind him - which is probably what is hurting his value on the open market), it would seem like a good deal for both sides.

For the right price I, for one, would welcome him back.

BTW, Bubba over at Canes Country posted a nice breakdown today on some of the remaining UFA defensemen left on the open market.

In today's Canes Now post Rutherford continued to claim that the Hurricanes are still looking at/for that "veteran defensemen" he has been alluding to for the last few weeks. I'm thinking that it has been more of a concept than any actualy player(s) so far. But what the hell do I know?

Rutherford also mentioned the distinct possibility of buying out the remainder of Frank Kaberle's contract to free up some room in the budget:

"It's not that we think Frank can't play anymore, but it would free up some cash and allow us to change the defense the way we want to and give it more of a physical aspect."

-m