On Wednesday, New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow decided to bring on Dennis Seidenberg for a one season commitment.
According to Arthur Staple of Newsday, The New York Islanders have inked defenseman Dennis Seidenberg to a 1-year, $1 million dollar deal.
Breaking Down The Deal:
The signing comes with Seidenberg playing with a deep chip in his shoulder. He was bought out by the Boston Bruins this past off-season while voicing his displeasure about the move.
During Team Europe’s in the World Cup of hockey, Seidenberg has significantly upped his game and has been one of their best defensemen on a roster with limited talent on D. Seidenberg is 35 years of age and played notable minutes in 2010-2011 with another former Bruin and current Islander, Johnny Boychuk.
This move is likely unrelated to health concerns on the team. It was reported last week that Boychuk was being seen by team doctors regarding an ailment that was bothering him.
Seidenberg most likely comes in as a depth guy, similar to Marek Zidlicky’s role last season and Ľubomír Višňovský before him. Only this time around, expect Seidenberg to get far more minutes than his predecessors.
One major strength this signing has is that Seidenberg plays both sides of the ice. That is massive should the Isles have an injury on either side of the defense.
It is never a bad thing to have a plethora of cup winners on your team and Seidenberg is another piece of the 2011 Bruin team. He is expected to be slotted in on the bottom four, possibly even playing with his old teammate Boychuk on some nights.
The Catch:
This looks like it is going to pan out well for the Islanders, it’s a very low risk and very high reward type of deal and it’s a fantastic way to have great insurance on the blue line.
However, it should be noted that the Islanders are now under $1 million in free cap space. Garth Snow more than likely have an idea to free cap space before he dealt this contract.
Now that it’s official, he absolutely must have something in mind to help his club’s tight budget. Anyone’s best guess would be he’s throwing a couple of the organization’s stalled prospects with a member of the current roster and calling it a wash.
No matter how anyone feels about this signing, it’s a success for Snow and the Islanders, so long as they shed the necessary cap in return.
