Capped: Young Defensemen Hitting Pay Dirt

Eric Daoust

2014-10-23

JonasBrodin

What to make of these three recent contract extensions in your cap league.

Recently three young defensemen signed large long-term contract extensions that will pay each in excess of $4 million per year. Although the teams are clearly happy with their signings and will probably get excellent value from their players, the value of these players is affected differently in fantasy hockey, particularly cap leagues. Time flows differently in fantasy leagues as leagues open up and close all the time and the objective is obviously to get statistical production from your players, not to win a hockey game.

The danger with defensemen is that many of them end up being overpaid for a particular scoring format. While dollar allocation for forwards is more straightforward with offensive ability being the most significant factor, the same cannot be said for defensemen. Thus, it is likely that in your league there are defensemen that are perfectly competent in real life and are paid accordingly but simply do not deliver the goods in your setup.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the three new rich defensemen along with their fantasy appeal under their new agreements.

T.J. Brodie (CGY)
$4,650,000 / 5 years

Brodie has come a long way since making the jump to the NHL full-time back in 2011-12 and is now one of the main components in the Flames' rebuild. Last year's 31 points represented a strong output and his hot start (seven points in eight games) show that he might be continuing his upward trend. Needless to say he is on the verge of becoming an upper-tier offensive player from the blueline.

But what about his cap-league value once his new contract kicks in this summer? Well, it is certainly a large cap hit and there are always some good options available that are cheaper. Given that Brodie is unlikely to become an elite-level star, it will be a tough pill to swallow for fantasy owners.

In points-only leagues Brodie could end up paying dividends for cap-league owners. It is a risk because defensemen are difficult to predict and Brodie is not proven yet as a guy that can clear 40 points. But with all of the signs he is showing it could be a gamble worth making.

In multi-category leagues Brodie is far less valuable. He is not a factor in PIM or hits which are two categories that can greatly boost a defender's value. He is not a high-volume shooter either. While he will improve over the years, it will probably not be enough to increase his across-the-board value and make him a viable player at his price.

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Jonas Brodin (MIN)
$4,166,667 / 6 years