As I watched the Sabres cement their 3-1 win over the Toronto last Friday. At the end of the third, defenceman Christian Ehrhoff not only made a game-saving block off a Leaf shot headed for an unattended Sabre net, he then followed it up by firing the puck down the ice to notch the insurance marker.
It wasn’t long ago that Erhoff was one of the poster boys for everything wrong with the Sabres. He became a big name for his play in Vancouver and San Jose, earning a large-money deal as a free agent in 2011—a contract that still has seven years left at $4 million per season. He then promptly failed expectations. The prominence of the deal inflated Erhoff’s profile and made him a big target for unhappy fans. But now, as Buffalo changes gears with a new coach and revamped front office, Erhoff can quietly go back to being the player he used to be: A good, solid defenseman, but not the focal point on any NHL team’s blueline.
It got me thinking about other big-money deals that seemed like expensive flops, but—in the long run—came good.
– James Wisniewski was a comparable situation to Ehrhoff in the summer of 2011. He struck it rich with the Columbus Blue Jackets with a long-term contract at $5.5 million dollars per season. Then, before his first season in Columbus even started, Wisniewski became the first “victim” of Brendan Shanahan’s disciplinary sanctions, incurring an eight-game suspension in preseason. The season started as an on-ice disaster for the Blue Jackets and continued that way throughout the season—same went for Wisniewski.
Two years later, the 29-year-old leads the Blue Jackets in assists (14) and points (16). He logs a solid 22 minutes on average and is a valued member of the Blue Jackets top defense trio with Jack Johnson and Fedor Tyutin.
– Jiri Hudler got off on the wrong foot last season with the Calgary Flames for unfortunate reasons. After signing a surprising (to many) four-year, $16-million contract with the struggling Flames, Hudler missed the first few games due to the death of his father. For the Flames it became yet another disappointing season and Hudler was viewed (not entirely fairly) as lacking in bang for the buck. Things are different this season, as the 29-year-old Hudler leads the Flames in assists (14) and points (21). Even more impressive is how Hudler has assumed a leadership role off the ice, helping to instill the winning ways he learned with the Detroit Red Wings.
While those deals are all about overrated players finding their feet under the weight of elevated expectations, on the flip side of the coin, every now and then a deal makes you realize the value of going underrated.
– Jay Bouwmeester—fairly or unfairly—became the symbol of being the best defenseman on teams that don’t make the playoffs. That had been the case for 10 NHL seasons with the Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames. He was looking at an 11th consecutive playoff-free season last year before the St. Louis Blues grabbed the 30-year-old for a first-rounder and a couple of prospects. Lacking any of the hype or expectations that came with his big free-agent deal in Calgary in 2009, Bouwmeester quietly fit into a successful role with Ken Hitchcock’s Blues.
Things remain sweet in St. Louis for Bouwmeester, who’s just signed a five-year, $5.4-million extension: He’s logging an average of 25 minutes, has 16 points (one goal, 15 assists) and is second on the team (behind Alex Steen) at plus-10 so far this season.
Note: NHL general managers have learned to be leery of throwing big free-agent money at anyone paired with the underrated Canadien Andrei Markov. Along with Wisniewski, both Mike Komisarek (Toronto) and Sheldon Souray (Edmonton) struck it rich as free agents after being putting up great numbers in their time sharing the blueline with Markov. After flopping for their new teams, both had their contracts bought out.