In what’s been a largely uneventful day so far, the Hawks have made one signing, that of depth defenseman Sheldon Brookbank. Let’s take a look at what he does (or doesn’t) bring to the table.
While the money isn’t officially reported yet, it’d be shocking if Brookbank got anything more than $1.5 mildo per year on his two year deal, coming off $750K last season. Statiscially, for a depth defensemen, you couldn’t really ask for more than what Brookbank provided, however, with a +11 on a wretched Ducks team along with some decent advanced numbers witha 0.95 BTN and 5.89 goals against per 60 played on the PK.
The real question this begs is who is now the odd man out on the back end with Brookbank now in the fold and Johnny Oduya brought back. It’s been reported by anyone with an internet connection that Niklas Hjalmarsson was being shopped, and Steve Montador’s health still remains a big question, and even further down, Dylan Olsen appears to be set to get some top pair minutes at Rock Vegas, where Brookbank’s brother Wade just happens to be playing as well. Looks like the Hawks were not going to be left out of the Brother Act that’s been so fashionable this off season to this point.
So all in all, it’s a decent signing, but certainly not a flashy one, but it does portend to other moves coming soon. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: According to everyone’s favorite kiss ass “reporter” Jesse Rogers, Brookbank’s deal is for $1.25 million per, which sounds about right. Fine.