In signing an 8 year contract worth $64 million, John Carlson surpassed Dion Phaneuf as the highest paid second pair defenseman in league history.
We like Carlson. A lot. He is a great powerplay quarterback (that is, he shoots right handed) who lays down precise passes to #8. His slap shot is hard and accurate. He is a good skater. Quite frankly, he is the model of defenseman that seem to be all the rage these days.
What he is not, though, is a top pair blueliner. Why he is paid that way is beyond me.
Carlson, for all his worth, is not a complete defenseman. The coaches recognize this: he has never ranked above third in ice time at evens. He has a negative career corsi, despite playing in an offensive role for a three time President's Trophy winning perennial contender. In fact, his career relative corsi is also negative, meaning, the team has better possession stats when he is off the ice rather than on. The same is true of fenwick, both his personal and his relative numbers are below par.
The team consistently scores more goals at evens when he is on the ice, with the Caps controlling 53% of the goals throughout his career. That is driven by outstanding goaltending play behind him, along with well above average on ice shooting percent, not by Carlson's positional dominance.
John Carlson is a very good defenseman, and deserved a considerable pay raise. But beware of the contract year fallacy: players with expiring contracts who perform exceedingly well above career averages often are signed to deals that hamper the team long-term.
Unfortunately, we think this will be one of them. $8 million for a second pair defenseman is outrageous.
We like Carlson. A lot. He is a great powerplay quarterback (that is, he shoots right handed) who lays down precise passes to #8. His slap shot is hard and accurate. He is a good skater. Quite frankly, he is the model of defenseman that seem to be all the rage these days.
What he is not, though, is a top pair blueliner. Why he is paid that way is beyond me.
Carlson, for all his worth, is not a complete defenseman. The coaches recognize this: he has never ranked above third in ice time at evens. He has a negative career corsi, despite playing in an offensive role for a three time President's Trophy winning perennial contender. In fact, his career relative corsi is also negative, meaning, the team has better possession stats when he is off the ice rather than on. The same is true of fenwick, both his personal and his relative numbers are below par.
The team consistently scores more goals at evens when he is on the ice, with the Caps controlling 53% of the goals throughout his career. That is driven by outstanding goaltending play behind him, along with well above average on ice shooting percent, not by Carlson's positional dominance.
John Carlson is a very good defenseman, and deserved a considerable pay raise. But beware of the contract year fallacy: players with expiring contracts who perform exceedingly well above career averages often are signed to deals that hamper the team long-term.
Unfortunately, we think this will be one of them. $8 million for a second pair defenseman is outrageous.
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