It was a process, but in the end we got a cheap and fairly competitive team.
That still does not mean it was the perfect "Cheap" team.
There were plenty of players left off the all-cheap team by virtue of opinion, style, and just plain oversight. With so many players and so many contracts it was hard to really take in the scope of every single player on every single team and compare them to what their underlying value is. Thankfully you, the readers, brought up some great names that missed the cut. Some we were planning on tossing in the mix anyways, but others were great suggestions that probably should be recognized for being great players on affordable contracts.
In no particular order, we present to you the All-Cheap team honorable mentions or alternates.
Be sure to check out all three All-Cheap team articles right here!
C - Tyler Johnson - $3.3MM AAV
One of the most noted omissions from the top 6 forward group was Tampa Bay's Tyler Johnson. He had a breakout season in 2013-14, scoring 50 points and 24 goals. He upped the ante last year at 72 points and 29 goals. Along with linemate Nikita Kucherov, the duo ran an absolute mok in the Eastern Conference and helped Tampa Bay get all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since their cup winning run in 2004.
Johnson is currently on an RFA contract with the Lightning and making a ridiculously cheap $3.3 million dollars. At just 25 years of age, Johnson is in line for a big raise after his contract is up in 2016-17. It is hard not to root for "TJ" considering he went undrafted, and stands at a diminutive 5'8". While he does lack some of the defensive caliber and faceoff ability of other 2Cs around the league, he is a creative and threatening forward that gave Tampa one of the best one-two punches in the league down the center.
RW - Wayne Simmonds - $3.975MM AAV
Simmonds has turned into quite a player after departing from Los Angeles back in 2011-12. One thing that has exploded is his goal scoring prowess. In his first three seasons with the Kings he compiled 9, 16, and 14 goals respectively. Once he headed to Philly, the Flyers gave him the powerplay minutes and the offensive minutes to blast onto the scene as a prominent scoring threat. The 26-year old has touched near 30 goals three different times in his Flyers career. He has also become something of a powerplay specialist, scoring nearly half of his total goals on the powerplay.
For a top six winger with physicality, attitude, and scoring ability, Simmonds comes in as a pretty decent bargain at under $4 million a year.
D - Victor Hedman - $4.00MM AAV
It has taken Hedman quite a while to turn into the star defenseman everyone thought he could be. Defensemen take a while to develop, but the former No. 2 overall pick has proven worth the wait. The last two seasons the 24-year old has taken considerable steps in becoming a more prominent all-around defenseman. The lightning coaching staff have rewarded him year after year with more minutes in bigger situations. They have definitely eased him into the role of a true workhorse No. 1 defenseman. However, Hedman has ALWAYS been great. Take a look at his numbers from 2009-2011.
compared to 2013-15
The scary thing, aside from his very affordable $4.00 Million dollar contract, is that there is still more to be seen with Hedman. It is not crazy to think that the 24-year old Swede will be in contention for at least a few Norris Trophies when all is said and done.
LW - Jaden Schwartz - $2.35MM AAV
Schwartz's cap hit is an absolute steal. While on the blog we opted to go with another cheap winger out of Detroit, Tomas Tatar, the spot could have easily gone to the 23-year old from Wilcox, Saskatchewan. Schwartz has put up back to back 50-plus point seasons for the Blues, and was just two goals away from achieving the coveted 30-35 season. He does a little it of everything for St. Louis as well. He kills penalties, plays on the powerplay, and takes a draw every so often. The only real think you could levy against Schwartz is that he has played almost exclusively alongside all-star Vladimir Tarasenko for the past two seasons. While this has almost certainly inflated his point totals a little bit, take nothing away from the winger. He is quite a player, and cheap to boot.
C - Sean Couturier - $1.750/4.33MM AAV
As one commenter pointed out, the young Flyers center just signed an extension but still has one year left on his affordable $1.750 million dollar a year contract. For what he brings to the table as a 3C that is incredibly affordable.
It can be easy to overlook Couturier when looking at his iffy corsi for numbers or his low faceoff percentages, but bear in mind that he and Matt Read faced the most difficult quality of competition on the Flyers last season. He was their go to centerman for shutdown operations. At 22-years of age that is a lot of pressure to place on his shoulders. He played nearly 2:20 in average shorthanded ice time a night over the past season and took almost 40% of his even strength faceoffs in the defensive zone.
D Kevin Shattenkirk - $4.25MM AAV
The Blues were not all that concerned about letting go of Erik Johnson way back in 2011 when they swapped two former first rounders in Jay McClement and EJ for Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart. Why? Because they knew that Kevin Shattenkirk was going to be a pretty darn good hockey player in his own right. Four years later and the 26-year old New York native has blossomed into one of the more underrated top pairing defensemen in the league. He is inside the top-50 in almost every category amongst defensemen, like average time on ice, shot blocking, etc. and he is inside the top 30 in some of the most important ones. Of defensemen who played at least 750 minutes last season, Shattenkirk ranked 21st in points per 60 minutes, 14th in individual fenwick contributions per 60, and 23d in individual corsi contributed per 60.
It is not all offense either, despite him putting up the 21st most amongst defensemen with 44. He had one of the lowest scoring chance and shots against rates on the Blues. He is a legit top pairing who is getting paid towards the lower end of the spectrum for top pairing defensemen.
D - Brayden McNabb - 650K AAV
There are still question marks with McNabb's game, but overall he had a very strong year with Los Angeles last season. He was not afforded the ice time due to the way the Kings develop and bring along their players, but he absolutely excelled in the minutes he was given. There were times when the 24-year old would vacate his position to go for the huge hit or make the daring play, which is something he will have to become better at timing in the future. Be that as it may, he was a very good player for the better part of the year, particularly the second half when he really started perking up his puck moving ability.
Ultimately, despite the cheapness, there is still a level of projection that we tried to avoid with this team. Thus, McNabb was left off the list. He excelled in very protected minutes under Sutter and it should not be expected that he will have the same level in the near future when his usage and quality of competition is increased. For a bottom six defenseman he is looking very strong though. He was playing near or around 20 minutes a night with the Kings towards the end of the season.
Plays like this one give hope to a lot of Kings fans that he can elevate to a prominent top four role int he near future.
LW - Patrick Maroon - 2.00MM AAV
The Ducks had a rotating left wing alongside Perry and Getzlaf but more or less settled on the hot hand of Matt Beleskey for most of the year. While Maroon still logged nearly half of his on ice time with Perry and Getzlaf, he was an altogether decent third and fourth liner for the team when separated from them. Yes, his overall possession numbers did take a hit when he was separated from the big Ducks duo (And honestly, who's wouldn't?), but he still managed a nice bit of production and possession when away from them. He has become a prominent figure within the Ducks depth. This depth has allowed Anaheim to become more than just a glorified one line team over the past couple of seasons.
C/W - Melker Karlsson - 1.65MM AAV
Like McNabb, it was too difficult to project what Karlsson will be capable of doing in the future due to his small sample size. However, the Sharks gave the 25-year old out of Sweden a big opportunity to play with the club last season and he rewarded them with altogether solid play. He posted 24 points in 53 games, held a positive corsi for percentage, and also did so in some rather difficult minutes. He was saddled with Joe Thornton for a good majority of the year so he will have to prove he can be a good player on his own moving forward. At 1.65 a year he COULD very well be a steal in the future.
D Torey Krug - 3.4MM AAV
He gives up his fair share defensively, but the little spark plug has been a good offensive player and possession defenseman for Boston for a few years running now. He, Zdeno Chara, and Dougie Hamilton were the best possessors of the puck on Boston, and with Hamilton gone Krug may be asked to elevate himself further. The 24-year old played just shy of 20 minutes a night in 2014-15 and provided the Bruins with nearly 40 points from the back end. His corsi against and scoring chances against are not the prettiest thing, but he generally out chances and out scores opposing teams when on the ice. For a second pair you could do a lot worse than Krug.
LW Nathan Gerbe - 1.75MM AAV
For all the laughs we get of pictures of Gerbe standing next to Zdeno Chara and jabbing at him, he has been a very solid defensive oriented bottom liner for the Hurricanes the past two seasons. The 5'5" Michigan native had some pretty difficult deployment last season and was one of the better shot suppression forwards on the team. He held a positive corsi for, low corsi against numbers, and altogether low scoring chance against numbers. He actually had one of the better scoring chance for and against ratios on the team at even strength. He potted close to 30 points for his second year in a row and gives you a special teams minutes to boot. Like Carolina as a whole, Gerbe was a much better player than some of his numbers (a -14) would have indicated.
C Tyler Seguin/LW Jamie Benn - $5.75MM AAV/5.25MM AAV
There are a lot of people in the league that will tell you that Tyler Seguin has as good a chance at winning the scoring title as any other player out there. If not for injury he may have very well have won it last year. However, his linemate and teammate Jamie Benn did win it. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn have become the face of Stars hockey with their wild west, run and gun style play. The duo give up a ton defensively but post some ridiculous offensive numbers and are two of the best one-on-one player in hockey. Defensemen and goaltenders alike fear these guys. In Jonathan Quick's most recent Player's Tribune piece on NHL Snipers, he had this to say about Seguin and Benn:
Seguin is better than anyone at doing the unexpected. He takes off-angle shots that keep you on your toes for 60 minutes. I’ll say it again — stopping shots is 90 percent mental. Benn and Seguin have incredibly quick releases, but the most dangerous thing about them is that they’re unpredictable. Almost mischievous. When they’re clicking on all cylinders in your zone you’re just thinking, Ah for f–
He can do everything at a high level, but I think he also buys a lot of space for himself on the ice because he’s tough as nails. Benn will hit you. He will fight you. He’s not afraid of anyone. Sometimes the game plan against star players is to rough them up and see if they can take it. With Benn, forget it.One thing that Jamie does better than anyone is using the defenseman as a screen in 1-on-1 situations. He uses his long reach and unbelievable hands to shoot the puck through the defenseman’s legs.
The whole article series on the Player's Tribune by Jonathan Quick is worth checking out for insight on NHL goalies. Here is Part 1, and Part 2 . Give it a read!
Seguin and Benn's omission from the All-Cheap team simply came down to style of the creator. The Stars duo are cheap and lethal, but the defensive portion of the game leads to a real back and forth track meet style game. Dallas was their own worst enemy last season with this, but some nights they got out of it due to their all-world forwards. Benn and Seguin could be easy inclusions to this team...if not for the inevitable human element that was involved.
That does it for the All-Cheap team series. Thanks for reading and participating in the comment section! Hopefully we did not ruffle too many feathers, and as always continue to throw out players that were missed. There are a ton of great contracts out there and ones worthy of being mentioned.
Follow me on twitter for news and notes about the Kings and the NHL