(2) Alexei Yashin v. (15) Dion Phaneuf
by Scott Reynolds on Mar 28, 2011 10:33 AM MDT
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PrintFor the second day in a row, the lower seed was able to come out on top as Marc Savard defeated Shawn Horcoff in the closest vote of the tournament so far. Today's match is the last of the first round and is the second match-up featuring a player who's playing hockey in a league other than the NHL. Alexei Yashin may be gone, but (some of) his cap hit remains, and may well outlast his playing career. His opponent is the ugliest man in hockey. Arguments for each one after the jump.
Alexei Yashin
Over the next four years, this contract will take up about 5% of the Islanders budget for player salaries, and they will get absolutely nothing for it besides a good character reference to pass along to Evgeni Nabokov. Unlike all of these other bad contracts, there's absolutely no way out of this one, and that's why I've given him the second seed. If the Islanders had just decided to pay Yashin, this would have been his last year with the team, and given the tremendous success of the Islanders over these last four years... well, at least failing was cheaper.
Would you rather have this millstone of a contract or a cap penalty of 2.2 million dollars over the next four years? It's an interesting question because I think it's close. Phaneuf has struggled offensively since arriving in Toronto, but still has 29 points so far this year, and has also been playing in a much more challenging role than he has in the past, taking on tough competition at even strength, and playing a role on both the PP and the PK. He gets more ice time at evens than any defender on the team, and more ice time overall. His Corsi at even strength is just a mild negative, and he's also been very good (for a defenseman) at drawing about as many penalties as he takes. But is he worth $6.5M? Probably not. That said, if you're a cap team and you value Dion Phaneuf's next three years at $4M it's pretty close to a wash. So is Phaneuf worth more than that or less? Does the fact that you have an actual player despite the inefficiency make the deal better? It's a tough call.
The Bracket
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My first guess was Yashin, but that 2.2 million cap hit actually helps them stay at the cap floor. So I am gonna say Phenauf
without honor, victory is hollow
this is a “going forward” thing, the Islanders soon need to re-up their young players and 2.2 mill of empty, none-producing zero upside untradable dead weight isn’t going to help them in the least.
Rule #20
by JaredFromLondon on Mar 28, 2011 11:00 AM MDT up reply actions
Exactly. I can see the argument for the cap hit being helpful when it was higher than the cash outlay, but paying Yashin to do nothing doesn’t help this team at all.
The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.
by Scott Reynolds on Mar 28, 2011 11:01 AM MDT up reply actions
I don’t really like the guy but Phaneuf at $4M would be a steal. 29 points, plays a lot of hard minutes. He’s not worth $6.5M but I don’t think he’s overpaid by more than $1-$1.5M.
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
If you’re going to put an overpaid Leafs’ defenceman in the bracket, it has to be Komisarek. I’ve actually given serious thought to taking Scott Gomez for him.
Phaneuf’s gone from being massively overrated to sneakily a bit underrated. The percentages have turned back in his favour of late and while he’s almost certainly never going to be worth $6.5MM, as Chemmy points out he’s not killing the Leafs.
"[Phil Kessel]'s as streaky as a flipped coin" - Shift
by The '67 Sound on Mar 28, 2011 11:07 AM MDT up reply actions
I dont think he is riding the percentages. In fact his one ice sh% and sv% are exactly average. So he is actually having a good season!
without honor, victory is hollow
What I meant is the first half of the year he was shooting something like 1%, post all star break he has around 20 points. He’s riding the percentages recently which has brought him up to around average.
"[Phil Kessel]'s as streaky as a flipped coin" - Shift
by The '67 Sound on Mar 28, 2011 11:11 AM MDT up reply actions
At this moment he seems to me like a Whitney guy. A defacto number 1 defenseman. He is having a pretty solid season. But yeah he is overpaid, and by how much is the question!
without honor, victory is hollow
Yeah, that’s fair. A de facto #1. He’d probably look a lot better against second level opposition.
"[Phil Kessel]'s as streaky as a flipped coin" - Shift
by The '67 Sound on Mar 28, 2011 11:10 AM MDT up reply actions
most nights of late he looks pretty good against top level opposition
Rule #20
by JaredFromLondon on Mar 28, 2011 11:11 AM MDT up reply actions
I’d love to see his corsi stats broken out pre- and post-ASG.
Also he’s been carrying Aulie, who has a lot of potential but is after all a rookie facing top opposition.
"[Phil Kessel]'s as streaky as a flipped coin" - Shift
by The '67 Sound on Mar 28, 2011 11:13 AM MDT up reply actions
I’m not a Phaneuf booster, I spent most of the year blogging about how I hoped the next CBA had a buyout amnesty so we could ditch him.
His percentages have returned to normal and looking back he’s playing against top opposition with a rookie next to him and not looking bad. He’s putting up points and throwing big hits. Is he likely to win the Norris? No, but arguing if a guy is $1M overpaid or not vs. ALEXEI YASHIN seems absurd.
If you’d take Yashin’s buyout on your team rather than Dion Phaneuf I’m not sure there’s much left to talk about.
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
I’m amazed how well he’s handling top opposition actually given how sheltered he was in Calgary.
"[Phil Kessel]'s as streaky as a flipped coin" - Shift
by The '67 Sound on Mar 28, 2011 11:20 AM MDT up reply actions
If this were Yashin vs. Komisarek…
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
Yeah, Komisarek was an option I probably should have given more consideration.
The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.
by Scott Reynolds on Mar 28, 2011 1:00 PM MDT up reply actions
I’m guessing there would be a correlation between “most overpaid” and “most hated by his own fanbase”. Not perfect but pretty damn close in most cases.
"[Phil Kessel]'s as streaky as a flipped coin" - Shift
by The '67 Sound on Mar 28, 2011 3:01 PM MDT up reply actions
Is the “ugliest man in hockey” comment about context? It’s true that the company Dion keeps makes him look less attractive.
Oh, I'm sorry, just one moment. Is this a five minute argument or the full half hour?
It’s an old saw from his time as a Flame. The fans here called him “Ugly”.
The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.
by Scott Reynolds on Mar 28, 2011 2:22 PM MDT up reply actions
What’s with the past tense?
Writer for The Cult of Hockey, The Copper & Blue, and primary shareholder of Zorg Industries
"Never be ashamed of who you are" -- Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
by Bruce McCurdy on Mar 28, 2011 4:07 PM MDT up reply actions
Dion is the second coming of Scott Stevens. although overpaid, i would happily take him at 4.5M.
He sucks at fighting but man can he hit….
Watch his hit on Boogard before you vote! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWOBzAPK2pM
by One_Roy_Save_On_The_Calendar on Mar 29, 2011 12:02 AM MDT reply actions
Except Stevens knew how to play defence.
In theory, there is little difference between practice and theory, but in practice there is!
not as well as you’d think! He just had neidermayer making him look good
by One_Roy_Save_On_The_Calendar on Mar 29, 2011 5:45 PM MDT up reply actions
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