Suter contract not so bad

From Dirk Hoag at On the Forecheck:

Speaking of Suter, 4 years at $3.5 million per might seem on the high side, but
take a look at this list of NHL defensemen making between $3 million and $4 million next year, courtesy of NHLSCAP.com. While Suter certainly still has rough parts of his game that need to be filled out (as in, quit hanging onto the puck for so long in your own end!), he fits quite comfortably in that group. He's a legit Top-4 NHL defenseman, and contributes on the power play as well.

Read more tidbits from On the Forecheck here.

Hoag is exactly right. Usually when you see the $3-4 million price range you shake your head and say, "he isn't worth that." But the fact is, compared to other players at his position and his age, that is probably right around market value for a player of Suter's talent.

Predators defense looking good

From John Glennon of the Tennessean:

Predators General Manager David Poile believes he's putting together the kind of blueline corps that will make his team a Cup contender for years to come as well.

He cemented another long-term addition Monday with the signing of Ryan Suter to a four-year, $14 million deal.

The next goal is to re-sign potential restricted free agent Shea Weber. That would give the team three of the league's better young defensemen — Suter, Weber and Dan Hamhuis.

"In my mind, we're really happy with all of our defensemen,'' Poile said. "But we certainly see players like Dan Hamhuis and Shea Weber and Ryan Suter as some of the best young defensemen in all of the NHL. They're three players you'd like to build your team around for a long time.''

Read more from Glennon here.

Glennon is exactly right. The Predators have a terrific core of young defensemen moving forward. These three youngsters can all move the puck, play the body and skate. The team just needs to make sure they get Shea Weber's name on a long-term contract.

Report: Ryan Suter agrees to terms with Predators

From Larry Brooks of the NY Post:

Ryan Suter, the Nashville defenseman who would have been a Group II target for an offer sheet, has agreed to terms for $3.5M per, Slap Shots has learned. That leaves Nashville's Shea Weber, Washington's Mike Green and Florida's Jay Bouwmeester as the most attractive Group II defense alternatives. We're told that Green, a dynamic difference maker, is, is being low-balled by the Caps.

Read more news from Brooks here.

If the report is true, then this seems like a reasonable deal for both sides. Suter should improve over the course of the contract, but I'm not sure if he is worth $3.5 million right now. So, the deal theoretically takes into account Suter's improvement over the terms of the deal and that makes sense for both sides.

If Suter signed for $3.5 million, I wonder what Weber, Green and Bouwmeester are asking for?

Predators have some signings to take care of

From John Glennon of the Tennessean:

As of late last week, the Predators were not on the verge of new deals with Ellis, Suter or Weber. Poile said the only real deadline pressure involves Ellis, since he could become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Read the entire article here.

After the way Dan Ellis played down the stretch, you have to expect the two sides to come to terms on a contract. More interesting for me, will be how much the team offers Suter and Weber. Weber was injured early last season and struggled to match his offensive output from the year before. Considering many call Weber the "unknown" Dion Phaneuf, I wonder what he will command in salary and term. Additionally, Suter is a young solid defenseman, who will probably command a fairly high and lengthy salary. I wonder whether the two will want similar dollars...

Fantasy Watch: Scouring the Waiver Wire

D Braydon Coburn, Philadelphia Flyers
Coburn didn't make much noise throughout the first half of the season, but managed to head into the all-star break riding a four game point streak. The former Atlanta Thrasher currently has 22 points on the year, making him Philly's second leading scorer on defense. Receiving time on the power-play, Coburn has made the most of his opportunity notching three pp assists in January. Entering the second half of the season, Coburn will be looking to extended his point streak and play a larger role in Philadelphia's offense.
Fantasy Take: Coburn has been very inconsistent all year but has heated up over the the last four games and may be worth a flier for those in need of a lower-end option at defense.

F Chuck Kobasew, Boston Bruins
In his first full year with Boston Kobasew is off to his best start as a pro, scoring 17 goals and 26 points in 49 games. The forward has benefited from playing with all-star centerman Marc Savard and is giving the Bruins a capable goal scorer they so desperately need. Leading the team with 17 goals, Kobasew has also been productive on the powerplay, scoring five pp goals to go along with four assists. Look for Kobasew to break his previous career high in points and goals in the next few weeks.
Fantasy Take: Kobasew has been a shaky play but is currently heating up, scoring five points in his last four games. Before making a claim for the forward, watch how he performs post all-star break to see if he can continue to be a regular on the score sheet.

F Martin Gelinas, Nashville Predators
Gelinas has come alive this January, scoring half of his points in this month alone. Appearing in 44 games for the Preds, Gelinas has totaled eight goals and 18 points on the year. Enjoying his best game of the season earlier this week, Gelinas scored two goals and added one assist while playing over 16 minutes. Although Gelinas had a rough season up until January, the forward has shown that he can still score in this league and may even be a decent fantasy option in deeper leagues.
Fantasy Take: Gelinas enjoyed a great month, scoring three goals and six assists. Keep an eye on him post all-star break to see if he continues with this pace, or returns to scoreless ways.

D Ryan Suter, Nasville Predators
Suter has been Nashville's second most productive defenseman, scoring five goals and 21 points. He is currently riding a four game point streak, scoring four points during that span while averaging around 15 minutes of ice time. Although he has failed to pick up power-play points (Suter has only two pp assists this month), the defenseman is still young and continuing to progress as a player. Increasing his point total in each of the first two seasons, Suter is a lock to surpass his 24 points he put up last year and could finish with around 35+ points if he continues to play well.
Fantasy Take: Although Suter may not help your fantasy team this year, he is a good defenseman to look at in keeper leagues. In only his third year in the league, Suter continues to improve as a player and will only get better as the years go on.


For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis