Some general managers like to build their team with a lot of offensive punch (Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks), while others prefer to build their team with a strong goalie tandem (Boston Bruins or Los Angeles Kings). Finally, some GMs prefer to build their team with a very deep defensive corps. Two months into the shortened 2013 season, let’s have a look at the top ten most expensive defensive groups in the NHL and where they rank in the overall rankings.
I’ll use the top seven defensemen of each team as a reference and will take the financial numbers from CapGeek.com (cap hits). Players that are injured are included in the calculation, except if they currently are on the long-term injury reserve such as Chris Pronger.
10. Ottawa Senators – $20.758 million
29 games 15 wins 8 losses 6 OTL = 36 points (5th EC)
Erik Karlsson – $6,500,000
Sergei Gonchar – $5,500,000
Chris Philipps – $3,083,333
Marc Methot – $3,000,000
Mike Lundin – $1,150,000
Patrick Wiercioch – $875,000
Andre Benoit – $650,000
9. Buffalo Sabres – $20.945 million
29 games 10 wins 15 losses 4 OTL = 24 points (14th EC)
Tyler Myers – $5,500,000
Robyn Regehr – $4,020,000
Cristian Ehrhoff – $4,000,000
Jordan Leopold – $3,000,000
Andrej Sekera – $2,750,000
Mike Weber – $950,000
Alexander Sulzer – $725,000
8. Columbus Blue Jackets – $21.472 million
29 games 11 wins 12 losses 6 OTL = 28 points (13th WC)
James Wisniewski – $5,500,000
Fedor Tyutin – $4,500,000
Jack Johnson – $4,357,143
Adrian Aucoin – $2,250,000
Nikita Nikitin – $2,150,000
Tim Erixon – $1,750,000
John Moore – $965,000
7. Montreal Canadiens – $21.500 million
28 games 19 wins 5 losses 4 OTL = 42 points (2nd EC)
Andrei Markov – $5,750,000
Tomas Kaberle – $4,250,000
Josh Gorges – $3,900,000
P.K. Subban – $2,875,000
Alexei Emelin – $2,000,000
Francis Bouillon – $1,500,000
Raphael Diaz – $1,225,000
6. Calgary Flames – $22.442 million
27 games 11 wins 12 losses 4 OTL = 26 points (14th WC)
Jay Bouwmeester – $6,680,000
Dennis Wideman – $5,250,000
Mark Giordano – $4,020,000
Anton Babchuk – $2,500,000
Cory Sarich – $2,000,000
Chris Butler – $1,250,000
T.J. Brodie – $741,666
5. Chicago Blackhawks – $22.588 million
29 games 24 wins 2 losses 3 OTL = 51 points (1st WC)
Brent Seabrook – $5,800,000
Duncan Keith – $5,538,462
Niklas Hjalmarsson – $3,500,000
Johnny Oduya – $3,383,333
Michal Rozsival – $2,000,000
Sheldon Brookbank – $1,250,000
Nick Leddy – $1,116,666
4. Florida Panthers – $22.668 million
29 games 7 wins 16 losses 6 OTL = 20 points (15th WC)
Brian Campbell – $7,142,875
Ed Jovanovski – $4,125,000
Filip Kuba – $4,000,000
Erik Gudbranson – $3,200,000
Dmitry Kulikov – $2,500,000
Mike Weaver – $1,100,000
Tyson Strachan – $600,000
3. Vancouver Canucks – $23.275 million
28 games 13 wins 9 losses 6 OTL = 32 points (7th WC)
Kevin Bieksa – $4,600,000
Jason Garrison – $4,600,000
Dan Hamhuis – $4,500,000
Keith Ballard – $4,200,000
Alexander Edler – $3,250,000
Andrew Alberts – $1,225,000
Chris Tanev – $900,000
2. Philadelphia Flyers – $23.708 million
30 games 13 wins 16 losses 1 OTL = 27 points (12th EC)
Kimmo Timonen – $6,333,333
Braydon Coburn – $4,500,000
Andrej Meszaros – $4,000,000
Luke Schenn – $3,600,000
Niklas Grossman – $3,500,000
Kurtis Forster – $950,000
Bruno Gervais – $825,000
1. San Jose Sharks – $24.127 million
28 games 14 wins 8 losses 6 OTL = 30 points (8th WC)
Dan Boyle – $6,666,667
Brent Burns – $3,550,000
Brad Stuart – $3.600.000
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – $3,100,000
Douglas Murray – $2,500,000
Jason Demers – $1,250,000
Justin Braun – $1,250,000
In comparison, the powerful St. Louis Blues with 34 points, are spending only $13.983 million on their defensive brigade this season.
As you can see, there is no guaranteed success if you spend a lot of money on your defensive brigade, as only the Blackhawks and the Canadiens are leading their division amongst the teams that spend the most money on their blue line. Teams like the Panthers, the Sabres and Flames are struggling mightily this season despite spending big bucks on their blue liners.
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