The Asking Price for Hamhuis?

RUMOUR			2009/2010 NHL Statistics
To Philadelphia	Position	Age	GP	Goals	Points	2010 Cap Hit	2011 Cap Hit
Dan Hamhuis	Defenseman	27	57	4	16	$2 million	UFA
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To Nashville	Position	Age	GP	Goals	Points	2010 Cap Hit	2011 Cap Hit
Braydon Coburn	Defenseman	25	59	5	17	$1.3 million	RFA
Ryan Parent	Defenseman	23	28	0	2	$855,000	RFA

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, but I wanted to piece together what a rumoured asking price is for Dan Hamhuis, arguably one of the hottest commodities on the trade wire this week. The Predators look to be looking for a roster player and a top end prospect for Hamhuis, which is pretty expensive, but that's the cost of winning in the end. The Predators are stacked in defensemen as it is, but it really is turning into the Defenseman Market Place at this deadline, much like it was last season as well. This cost might be a little too high for a team like the Flyers, as Parent has a lot of upside, but just lacks in the ability department right now to crack the roster. The numbers here are interesting, I would be keen to hear what other offers are on the table, if any.

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Hamhuis a Popular Name

I was doing some checking in my site stats and I see that Dan Hamhuis has been a keyword of sorts to get to the page, so I thought I would have a look at him in a little bit more depth.

The former first round pick (12th overall in 2001) was touted as a smooth, skating offensive defenseman coming out of Prince George of the WHL, but the Predators did their best to make him a lot more responsible as an NHL defenseman, which included a couple of seasons in the AHL to help his game out. As a whole, he's developed quite well and has proved to be very durable in his NHL career, which is a huge plus.

The Predators, however, are in a bit of a quandary when it comes to their defensemen situation. They are ridiculously deep at the blueline position, especially with Cody Franson making a charge up the depth charts and Jonathan Blum still working his way up. Hamhuis is now 27 years old and is about to become an unrestricted free agent, so the question is for them, with all this depth in the organization, can they afford to move Hamhuis before a run into (and likely through) the playoffs because of their depth? If the answer is yes, they will be able to move a highly-valued defender like Hamhuis for a good package in return. If the answer is no, they will have Hamhuis for their run, but will likely not get a chance to re-sign him, as he'll likely go somewhere that can give him the minutes he could thrive in.

One of the most attractive things about Hamhuis for the stretch run of the season is his cap hit. Annually, Hamhuis is worth $2 million against the cap, so with only 42 days left in the regular season on Monday, the number against the cap would be in the neighbourhood of $470,000, which is very good for any team.

Now, trying to attain a market value for Hamhuis is not an exact science, but there is a level of assumption we can take from other contracts in the league. 26-to-28 year old defensemen in my pool rankings in the range where Hamhuis has been in, could net the future UFA somewhere between $2.5 to $4 million, in terms of a cap hit. Other defensemen in his bracket include: Joni Pitkanen, Fedor Tyutin, Dennis Seidenberg, Keith Ballard, Trevor Daley, Johnny Oduya and Paul Martin. That's purely on a scoring level over the past couple seasons, it doesn't include intangibles or defensive prowess.

Dan Hamhuis' situation does not lead me to believe that if he's moved, he'll be a rental player, because he should be easy to re-sign or picked up with the intention of re-signing him. If his cap hit could be stripped down to $3 to $3.5 million in a longer-term deal, he could be an absolute bargain for any team. I really don't think any team can be held out of the conversation, if you were speculating on what team would be involved in a deal.

We don't know for sure if Hamhuis has been made available for negotiations from Nashville, nor is it likely that we will. If he was made available, I would hope that my favourite team has at least inquired about his cost.

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Plekanec For Hamhuis

			2009-2010 Statistics		2010
To Montreal	Pos	Age	GP/MIN	Points	Cap Hit
Dan Hamhuis	D	26	6	1	1 year, $2 million
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			2009-2010 Statistics		2010
To Nashville	Pos	Age	GP/MIN	Points	Cap Hit
Tomas Plekanec	F	27	6	6	1 year, $2.75 million

In another Eklund special, this deal may have a bit of legs to it. The Predators, who are deep in defensemen, would deal a future UFA in Dan Hamhuis to the Canadiens, who need a solid defender after the injury to Andrei Markov, for a forward in Tomas Plekanec, who is also set to become an unrestricted free agent. The move would certainly address issues for both teams, but the Habs have not started to score throughout their line-up, so this move may be a little premature.

Plekanec has certainly upped his value at the start of the season with a good start in the offense department, while Hamhuis continues to be a solid defender for the Preds. If anything to the effect of this were to go down, I would expect a pick or two to go either way, just to offset some of the excess cap cost.

Predators In the Mix For Kessel?

			2008-2009 Statistics		2010
To Nashville	Pos	Age	GP/MIN	Points	Cap Hit
Phil Kessel	F	22	70	60	RFA
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			2008-2009 Statistics		2010
To Boston	Pos	Age	GP/MIN	Points	Cap Hit
Alexander Radulov	F	23	0	0	RFA
2010 1st Round Pick
Top Defensive Prospect

The rumour mill kept on churning some interesting thoughts on Thursday, as the Predators have been dropped as a big suitor in the Phil Kessel sweepstakes. I would have to think, looking at the rumoured deal above, that there would have to be a conditional pick added if Alexander Radulov wasn't going to sign with the Bruins, but otherwise, this does look like a reasonable proposal. This might have a little bit more appeal to the Bruins, as the Predators are so incredibly deep in defensive prospects.