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Rundblad Signs A Bridge Deal : Where Does He Fit? |
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David Rundblad has re-signed with the Coyotes taking the kind of contract that I really love, it’s a “show me” contract.
The 22 year old defenseman has had a rough transition to the North American game after being majorly hyped as the next big defenseman in 2010-2011. Then as a 20 year old and member of the Senators organization he won the Salming Trophy as the Best Defenseman in the Elitserien leading the league in assists at any position with 39 and placing first in points by defensemen with 50. The expectations were through the roof as he made his move to the Senators with the belief that he and Karlsson would form one of the most dynamic offensive defensemen duos in the league…well that ended rather quickly as consistency and terrible defensive decision making off of the big ice forced him to see limited minutes and eventually be dealt in a rather fair (on the surface) trade for Kyle Turris who was holding out and refusing to sign with Phoenix. It was obvious he was not NHL ready as his defensive reads did not work on the small ice where things happen so much faster and time is not given as players will be looking to destroy you with hits. He was demoted to the AHL and has spent the majority of his time in the Coyotes organization honing his major weaknesses in Portland.
Even when he was drafted the expectations were that he was a massive boom/bust kind of defenseman, he was dynamic but enigmatic with a ton of raw potential. Many felt that his raw potential was higher than any of the highly ranked Swedish defenseman in the 2009 draft which included Victor Hedman, OEL and Tim Erixon. He and Ryan Ellis eventually drafted by Nashville were the "x-factor" defensemen that could either make GM's look brilliant or idiotic in hindsight. He wasn't a sure thing however and that still stands to this day years later.
This past season he had an All-Star level year in the AHL scoring 9 goals and adding 39 points in 50 games for the Pirates leading them in goals and points for defensemen (OEL and Stone were better during the lockout before they were called up).
He finished 7th overall in scoring for defensemen but was 6th in PPG (over 3 games played behind lockout players Justin Schultz, OEL, Mike Kostka and T.J. Brennan) while also improving gradually his defensive game logging heavy minutes in all situations.
I don’t think he will ever be known for his defensive game and likely won’t play much penalty kill minutes in the NHL nor will he ever be a guy you trust to be on the ice when you’re up one goal in the final minute…but he has a very bright future as a top-4 offensive defender that can run a PP.
His new contract is a two year deal worth a cap hit of $785,000 per year which saves off almost half of what he earned on his Entry Level Deal which was at $1.5mil per. Much like Mikkel Boedker before him, he took a bridge deal as he worked out the kinks in his game, Boedker taking a 2 year deal worth $1.1mil per to prove that he can be a top-6 two-way winger.
With the Coyotes defense so deep both at the NHL level and prospect system; it’s hard to predict where Rundblad will play, when he will play and finally what situations he will play. This is the depth chart so far.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Two-way defenseman)
Keith Yandle (Offensive defenseman)
Zbynek Michalek (Defensive defenseman)
Derek Morris (Defensive defenseman)
Michael Stone (Two-way defenseman)
Rostislav Klesla (Broken down hard to describe defenseman)
David Schlemko (Solid 7th option)
David Rundblad (Offensive defenseman)
Brandon Gormley (Top-prospect another year or so away)
Chris Summers (Potential bottom-pairing defensive defenseman)
Connor Murphy (Far away 2-4 years)
Longer shots like Maxim Goncharov, Mathieu Brodeur, James Melindy and Connor Clifton.
Yandle and OEL are pretty much set as the future top PP option even if Yandle is a much better producer at even strength than he ever is on the PP, that’s what he is entrusted to do. Stone as well has shown he can be a highly effective scorer on the PP with his excellent shot…so that means he can take the place of Morris and Schlemko who usually play a bit of second PP time. Morris and Klesla are pending UFA’s and both while being decent veterans have to be on the move at the deadline unless this team is making a serious push for the playoffs. Both are being pushed out by Stone and Rundblad while Schlemko is just such a cheap option that he should remain as the number 7. There is only so much ice-time to go around and these two are the guys I see that are easily replaceable. Morris and Klesla are the typical contender bait defensemen that get moved each and every year at the deadline and I expect both to be gone by then.
The biggest question will be whether Rundblad can make the team out of camp with such limited mobility on the depth chart at the moment considering he is one of the few that is waiver exempt for one more year and can be sent up and down without risk of losing him. I think he will start in the AHL playing top pairing minutes for Portland.
Good deal by Maloney…now where was this level of negotiation when hammering out Mike Smith’s deal? Time to get Boedker signed to a deal...$3.5 mil per for 3 years.
Thanks for reading.
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