If you polled thirty NHL general managers on what his respective team’s biggest need was going forward, I would estimate that about half would respond with ‘developing or acquiring a top-four defenceman’. Austin Corbett Jersey . It’s a fair request with the way the sport has progressed in recent years – the days of true defensive defencemen look to be in the past, with a premium placed on skating and high-end puck-moving ability to beat aggressive forechecking and attack through the neutral zone with control of the puck. Goaltending withstanding, I think disparities in blue-liner ability from team to team may be the most noticeable aspect of the sport today. The Chicago Blackhawks have made a living off of a highly-mobile defense that can flip the ice and complement the attack of their talented forward group. The Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils have their share of competent and talented forwards in the top-six, but simply don’t have the blue-line capabilities to consistently threaten as a five-man unit. Ultimately, it’s one of the big reasons why they struggle so mightily to score goals at even-strength. They spend too much time in the defensive zone, and they are impossibly slow relative to the rest of the league at getting up ice with pace and control. The increase in demand for this particular defenceman has created for a fascinating trade market, one that’s going to heat up over the next six weeks. More than half of the league reaches the playoffs already, and there are another handful of hopefuls who will still approach the trade deadline as buyers despite unfavorable odds. Consequently, if you are a seller holding one of these plus-skating, plus-puck moving defenders, you’re in a decent position. Two players in particular who should command decent returns as trade rentals are Jeff Petry of the Edmonton Oilers, and Andrej Sekera of the Carolina Hurricanes. Now, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that their respective teams should be seriously considering extensions – top-four guys don’t grow on trees, and these teams need all of the talent they can get. But, if you think the Petry/Sekera ships have sailed (and believe that the tank race is on), then you may consider shipping them out to the highest bidder. Let’s look at this from a buyer’s perspective. Why does Jeff Petry ($3-million expiring contract) and Andrej Sekera ($1.75-million expiring contract) make sense for the contenders in need of a defenceman? For one, it’s clear that they are both top-four defencemen. By grabbing the last four years of data and providing appropriate filters (3000+ minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time, and a RelativeCorsi% of at least +1.0), only 53-players make the cut. You’ll notice that our ice-time and RelativeCorsi% filters basically created a situation in which only first-pairing defenders and highly-productive second-pairing defenders qualified. You can fact check this by looking up your favorite NHL defenceman, and finding him on this graph. (Or, finding your least favorite defenceman, and noticing his omission.) It’s a nice way to stomp out potential biases and create comparables going forward. Here, Jeff Petry – who has toiled in Edmonton for years – sits right next to players like Johnny Boychuk and Ryan Suter. He hasn’t been as productive a scorer as many of the other defenders, but the Oilers have been more than two percentage points better in Corsi% with Petry on the ice. And, look at Andrej Sekera’s company! He’s bordered by talent in every direction, his production – at least on this graph – indiscernible from the likes of James Wisniewski, Nick Leddy, Keith Yandle, and Duncan Keith. RelativeCorsi% is clear on both Petry and Sekera – their teams control play favourably when they’re operating on the blue-line, less so when they change out for other defencemen. Those skeptical of the merits Corsi% may be interested in seeing how Edmonton and Buffalo/Carolina did with and without the player, but through the lens of another metric. Like, scoring chances. We know scoring chances pretty closely mirror Corsi%, but it’s an avenue worth traversing once more, if only to strengthen our theory. What I’ve done below is pulled out scoring chance with/without numbers for each player over the same timeframe courtesy War on Ice. We know Petry and Sekera’s teams were better territorially with them on the ice. But, were they better from a scoring chance aspect? First, Petry: The lockout season wasn’t kind to Jeff Petry – it was the only season we can see where Edmonton may have been better without him from a scoring chance perspective. Beyond that, this graph is convincing – especially over the last hundred games. Based on the consistent reports about his availability via trade, I worry that Edmonton doesn’t know what kind of player they have. Or, that they don’t know how bad things get when other defencemen are taking regular shifts. Now, Sekera: Sekera’s relative numbers were great in Buffalo, but have since skirted towards the team averages in Carolina. Still, for a guy carrying just a $1.75MM cap hit – one that would be paid out on a pro-rated basis if acquired at the trade deadline – the data’s pretty encouraging. We know Sekera’s one of fifty or so regular defenders who have carried positive possession numbers for a long period of time. The scoring chance data may have looked better in Buffalo than it did in Carolina, but that doesn’t mean he’s underwater. The Oilers and Hurricanes are in a tricky spot here. They need to retain as much NHL-talent as possible, but there’s always the possibility that Petry and Sekera just want to play out their contracts and sign with better teams in the off-season. You can’t risk losing quality players for nothing. To that extent, Craig MacTavish and Ron Francis are in a simple position: sell these players to the highest bidders over the next six weeks. Austin Corbett Browns Jersey . "Im not even that added up," the 39-year-old Australian replied. And to the Hall of Famers surprise, when all the math was done Sunday in the JTBC Founders Cup, she was the one posing for pictures with the big trophy. Nick Chubb Browns Jersey . Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, Shawn Marion had 22 and the Mavericks beat undermanned Philadelphia 124-112 Friday night, handing the 76ers their 10th straight loss. http://www.footballbrownsnflprostore.com/ .J. Barea during a three-game shooting slump that was getting him booed off his home court with regularity.WASHINGTON -- Fabian Espindola scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season to lead D.C. United to a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. Bill Hamid made five saves to preserve his third shutout and D.C.s fifth this season. Uniteds victory was their first over Sporting since a 2-1 win on May 5, 2010, with Kansas City winning six matches and drawing one since. Sporting (5-5-4) had its winless streak stretched to five matches as United (6-4-3) climbed past them into second place in the Eastern Conference. Already without American World Cup call-ups Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, Kansas City lost defender Aurelien Collin in the eighth minute with an apparent recurrence of a right hamstring injury. Collin previously missed two matches with the same injury earlier this month, and was replaced Saturday by 17-year-old Erik Palmer-Brown, the leagues youngest current player. United also lost defender Chris Korb to an apparent leg injury in the 34th minute. But forward EEddie Johnson was allowed to start after the league waived his red card from last weeks match at New England and the resulting suspension. Nick Chubb Jersey. D.C. substitute Alex Caskey was sent off in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time for his late, dangerous challenge on Kansas Citys Kevin Ellis. Ellis was also involved in a post-match scrum, with Sporting coach Peter Vermes having to briefly restrain the defender. Espindola scored in the 28th minute on his long, left-footed strike from outside the penalty area that appeared to be a cross aimed at Johnson. Instead, it sailed beyond stranded Kansas City goalkeeper Eric Kronberg and into the net for Espindolas third goal in three matches. Kansas City had chances to tie after halftime. In the 63rd minute, Jacob Peterson reached Benny Feilhabers cross but headed it wide of Hamids right post. 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