Dennis Wideman was re-signed by the Boston Bruins today. Four years, $15.75M. Slightly less than Adrian Aucoin's 4M/year figure. Seems to put a shine on Adrians contract, doesn't it? I mean who is Dennis Wideman...right?
He's a 25 year-old defenseman who averaged 25 minutes/night for the Bruins last year, behind only Zdeno Chara. He spent nearly 3 minutes a game on the PK and almost 4 minutes on the PP. He managed 13 goals and 36 points for his offensively challenged club.
In terms of advanced stats, Wideman faced the 2nd toughest competition of all the blueliners, again just behind the big man. He was in the black in terms of CORSI and +/- measures and he scored a healthy if unspectacular 3.90 PPP/60 with the man advantage. Keep in mind this was just Wideman's 3rd full season in the league.
This is an example of a decent gamble for $4M. Wideman is on the right side of 30, has room to develop and he put up solid numbers with big minutes against decent competition last year.
This signing is also pertinent to Flames fans because Wideman had a walk-on try-out with Calgary a few years ago. Richie Regehr, Mark Giordano and Dennis Wideman were all invited to training camp as free agents. Regehr and Giordano ended up getting the only contract offers.
Sigh.
