The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that they have re-signed veteran defenseman Ron Hainsey to a three year deal. The deal is worth a total of $8.5 million. The Carolina Hurricanes will pay Hainsey $3 million in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016, and $2.5 million in 2016-2017. In 673 career games, the 33-year-old defenseman has 207 points (38 goals, 169 assists) with a +/- of -38 and 316 penalty minutes. Last season, Hainsey had 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) in 82 games.
Hainsey is a decent second pairing defenseman who was better last season than his stats suggested. Last season, he was one of the Carolina Hurricanes’ best defensemen as far as puck possession with a 51.0% Corsi percentage and a 51.6% Fenwick percentage. Pretty good for someone with a 48.8% zone start percentage, which was 7th among Carolina defensemen. He’s an above average penalty killer, though he probably should not be seeing any time on the ice during power plays.
The only two concerns I have about Hainsey are his career numbers and his health. Judging by his career numbers, he typically isn’t very productive on offense. In today’s game, defensemen are expected to be able to be productive on both ends of the ice. I only have his possession stats from the last three seasons that he’s played in, and I’m sure his injuries played a part in this, but he had below average Fenwick and Corsi numbers in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013.
As far as his health, he missed a combined 61 games from 2011-2012 to 2012-2013. He’s only going to get older from here on out, and he’s on the wrong side of 30. Outside of those two seasons, he’s been pretty durable. However, due to his age, his health is certainly a legitimate concern. (SIA Profile)
Even if last year was just a fluke from Hainsey, the deal is far from an albatross for the Carolina Hurricanes. I think Hainsey should be able to be a productive player for at least the next two years. He’s a veteran defenseman who can mentor the Carolina Hurricanes and their young defensemen.
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