Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Many laughed at the Calgary Flames last summer, as most so often do under any circumstance, when they chose to go all in on Dennis Wideman. They signed the veteran defenseman to a five-year contract, worth just over $26 million, giving them two of the league’s most overpaid defenseman.
With Jay Bouwmeester now gone after being sent off at the trade deadline, the Flames now have only one of the league’s most overpaid defenseman. While it was definitely an overpayment in signing Wideman to that type of coin, it’s a signing that hasn’t worked out terribly for the Flames.
Wideman has actually had a very solid season for the Flames this season. Is it worth a $5.25 million cap hit? Certainly not, but he’s been very good nonetheless. Just not the elite defenseman that the Flames hoped they were signing, even though everyone in the world, outside of Jay Feaster, knew that Wideman wasn’t quite elite coming in.
No player has logged more minutes per game for the Flames than Wideman. He’s up over 25 minutes per, which includes 3:37 on the power play, by far the highest on the team, and 2:05 minutes of shorthanded time, which trails only Mark Giordano.
On the season, Wideman has 22 points, including 16 assists. That total is among the better figures for defensemen throughout the league. He is a minus-8 on the year, but his Corsi is actually pretty impressive. He’s sitting at a plus-5 in Corsi, which trails only T.J. Brodie as far as Flames defenseman go. On this team, that’s not bad at all.
Is Wideman overpaid? Yes. But top pairing defensemen don’t exactly come cheap. That’s exactly what the Flames have in Dennis Wideman. He’s been very good for them this season, despite a miserable season otherwise. Imagine if he had some help on this roster.
