In the months and days leading up to the NHLs trade deadline, we routinely see teams shuffle older defencemen out to playoff contenders, usually for some sort of future asset. Authentic Doug McDermott Jersey . I always find these trades fascinating, because generally speaking, it seems that the player is rarely acquired because hes an effective blueliner. Theres always talk about the laundry list of intangibles the veteran defender will bring to the table come playoff time; far less talk about how the player, more often than not, struggles to get the job done. I think why these trades continue to occur is tied up into the front office and coaching staffs relative lack of trust in younger players to log bigger minutes when the games get meaningful. Sometimes, that lack of trust is warranted. But, ironically, to fix this issue, a team usually targets a defenceman who is years beyond his prime – alternatively, another defenceman who cannot get the job done. Only in this case, an asset – or multiple assets – will be required in order to acquire such a player. I dont think the veteran defenceman acquisition is one that is going to die out in 2014-2015. There are a ton of 34+ age defencemen logging regular minutes this season; a good portion of these players are on short-term deals due to their age, and a good portion of these players currently play on teams who could be eyeballing a prospect or future draft-picks in lieu of a bid at a playoff berth. Theres also the chance that a savvy playoff-bound hockey team will identify said veteran defenceman as a problem, and ship him off to create additional minutes and opportunity for a more competent player internally – the name Eric Brewer, recently traded to Anaheim for a third-round pick, certainly comes to mind here. Make no mistake, most of these older defenders are a drag on their teams performance. Setting up some quick parameters (age 34+; at least 15-games played) can illustrate this. Below, Ive charted the 22-regular veteran defenders by their per-60 scoring rate at 5-on-5, and their RelativeCorsi% -- or, the difference in a teams Corsi% with the player on the ice versus with the player off of the ice. Defencemen, 34+ PLAYER TEAM 2014-15 PTS/60 2014-15 Relative Corsi% Brian Campbell Florida 0.15 +5.17% John-Michael Liles Carolina 0.71 +4.81% Jan Hejda Colorado 0.40 +3.51% Mark Streit Philadelphia 1.04 +2.99% Andrei Markov Montreal 0.96 +2.88% Jordan Leopold Columbus 0.56 -0.37% Marek Zidlicky New Jersey 0.69 -0.38% Francois Beauchemin Anaheim 0.58 -0.55% Willie Mitchell Florida 0.29 -1.62% Lubomir Visnovsky N.Y. Islanders 1.11 -1.62% Michal Rozsival Chicago 0.59 -1.65% Rob Scuderi Pittsburgh 0.37 -2.46% Andrew Ference Edmonton 0.31 -2.53% Stephane Robidas Toronto 0.54 -2.76% Brooks Orpik Washington 0.56 -3.70% Scott Hannan San Jose 0.00 -4.20% Mike Weaver Montreal 0.87 -4.28% Niklas Kronwall Detroit 0.74 -5.20% Chris Phillips Ottawa 0.18 -5.97% Eric Brewer Anaheim 0.61 -6.96% Bryce Salvador New Jersey 0.57 -7.73% Robyn Regehr Los Angeles 0.35 -8.04% Average 0.55 -1.85% You should immediately notice that 17 of the 22 players are in the red – their team controlling play more favorably with them off of the ice. Usage and deployment varies on an individual basis, but the mere fact that only five players have been able to do better than break-even by RelativeCorsi% is a major red flag. The point-scoring is troublesome, too. The group averages about 0.55 points per 60 minutes at even-strength, which is well under the league average (0.71 points per 60 minutes) for regular defencemen. The few names who populate the top of the list by RelativeCorsi% – specifically Brian Campbell, Mark Streit, and Andrei Markov – seem to make intuitive sense. Like most veteran defenders on this list, they have lost a step or two in the skating department. Unlike most of the same veteran defenders on this list, they are still excellent passers. This pays dividends in every area of the ice, and likely is driving their continued success despite a relative lack of mobility. Lets further investigate the other 17 – the guys whose teams play better with them off of the ice than on the ice. We can compare this years performance to the past few years (well use 2011-2014), mostly to see whether this is the norm over a larger sample, or if their play has further deteriorated. First, well look at even-strength points/60. This is far from encouraging. Of the 17 defenders with negative possession numbers this season, fourteen of them have seen a slide in point-scoring this year from the past three seasons. Lets look at RelativeCorsi% next, again charting the differential from 2011-2014 to 2014-2015. Are we seeing stable negative performance, or is their slide growing increasingly negative? This looks eerily similar to the last graph. 12 of the 17 negative-possession defenders have seen a drop in performance from years past. Its important to remember here that all seventeen are still negative possession players – so, even the few players who have posted slight improvements from years past are still getting caved in territorially. In the next couple of months, I think youll see a good number of these defenders be made available by their teams, whether its to upgrade in the short-term internally, or whether its to upgrade in the long-term by dangling the mysticism of player intangibles in front of other general managers for future picks and/or prospects. If Im looking to upgrade at the deadline and can only choose from this list, Brian Campbells certainly a name that interests me. Taking a flyer on Marek Zidlickys expiring deal is intriguing, too. Andrei Markov looks like he still can play, but I doubt Montreals interested in sending him out. Beyond that, I cant imagine a scenario in which Id give up even the most marginal of draft picks or prospects to acquire one of these defencemen. Stitched Pacers Jerseys Online .com) - The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies have finalized their agreed-upon trade that sends former National League MVP Jimmy Rollins to the West Coast for a pair of minor league pitching prospects. Authentic Thaddeus Young Jersey . Golden States second straight road win wasnt painless. David Lee scored a season-high 29 points -- 13 in the fourth quarter -- and Nate Robinson added 17 points, leading the Warriors to a 105-95 win Tuesday night over the road-worn Cleveland Cavaliers. http://www.cheappacersjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-aaron-holiday-jersey .28 for a combined time of 1:14.70, also an Olympic record. Lee won the gold medal, defending her title from the Vancouver Games.PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks have extended the contracts of manager Kirk Gibson and general manager Kevin Towers. Contracts for both had been set to expire after the coming season. The team would not divulge the lengths of the contracts or even whether the lengths were the same for both. Team President Derrick Hall said after Mondays announcement that Gibson and Towers asked that the length of the deals be kept secret. "I dont understand why the contracts of people in management are public knowledge," Towers said. "Its between myself, Derrick, (managing general partner) Ken (Kendrick) and Gibby." Last October, the team declined to exercise options to extend both contracts, but Hall said he has felt all along that the Diamondbacks shouldnt go into the season with the two facing the last year of their deals. "Theres constant distraction and a labeling of whos on the hot seat," Hall said, "Are they feeling the pressure?" Besides, Hall said, "These are guys I have a lot of confidence in." In fact, Hall said he probably would have preferred to have the extensions in place sooner. He said that when the contracts werent extended last fall, it was with the understanding that there would be talks on a new deal for both. Gibson and Towers have had three full seasons together, and their most successful was their first. The Diamondbacks won 94 games in 2012 and took the NL West title before falling to Milwaukee in five games in the divisional playoffs. Arizona has gone 81-81 each of the past two seasons. "Im certainly very excited," Towers said, "as is Gibby. This is a place where we hope we get to spend the rest of our careers at." Gibson, a standout football player at Michigan State, played 17 seasons in the majors, 12 with the Detroit Tigers. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988, earning the NL most valuable player award. In the playooffs that season, he hit one of the most memorable home runs in World Series history. Wholesale Pacers Jerseys Authentic. . Playing virtually on one leg because of a severe knee injury, Gibson hit a game-winning, two-run home run off Oaklands Dennis Eckersley in Game 1, limping around the bases and pumping his fist in triumph. The Dodgers went on to win the series. Gibson was hired as Arizonas bench coach in 2007 and was named interim manager when A.J. Hinch was fired on July 1, 2010. Towers, former GM of the San Diego Padres, came on board as general manager in September of that year, and one of his first decisions was whether to keep Gibson as manager. He did and the team went on to have that highly successful 2010 season. But the Diamondbacks stumbled the next two seasons in the vastly improved NL West, with pitching-rich San Francisco winning in 2012 and the just-plain-rich Dodgers taking it in 2013. Towers said he wants to develop "a ball club that not only has a chance to win the NL West but hopefully go deep into the post-season." "I dont take these things lightly," he said. "There are only 30 of these jobs." He said that the jobs "arent easy" and require the confidence of the clubs top executives and ownership. Towers said that going into the final year of a contract probably would have been more of a distraction for Gibson, given the high public profile of the managers job and his duties directing a teams day-to-day operation. Pitchers and catchers report for spring training at the Diamondbacks Scottsdale facility on Thursday. They are the first team to begin spring training because of Arizonas early season-opening two-game series against the Dodgers in Australia. Towers has said the team wants to acquire a No. 1 starter, but added on Monday "theres not too many of those guys out there." "The markets not the same as it was two months ago," he said. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '