So how does McCabe stack up?
Some people here feel McCabe is a tier 1 D-man, others say he is tier 2. Most people feel the money he is getting paid is excessive.
So, how does he stack up statistcally against the other “top tier” D-men over the last 3 years…
Niedermayer – Age 33, GP 244, Points 156, ppg .70, +51
Lidstrom – Age 36, GP 243, points 180, ppg .74, +80
Zubov – Age 36, GP 237, points 168, ppg .71, +41
Gonchar – Age 32, GP 228, Points 183, ppg .80, -14
Pronger* – Age 32, GP 238, points 157, ppg .66, +24
Blake – Age 37, GP 234, points 142, ppg .61, +28
Jovanovski – Age 30, GP 167, Points 102, ppg .61, +13
Chara – Age 29, GP 224, Points 113, ppg .50, +79
Redden – Age 29, GP 222, Points 138, ppg .62, +79
McCabe – Age 31, GP 223, Points 135, ppg .60 +30
*Include ’01-’02 for Pronger instead of ’02-’03
So overall McCabe is
7th in games played
8th in PPG
6th in +/-
Some things worth noting…
First and foremost, Lidstrom, Chara and Redden all had the benefit of playing on MUCH more defensively sound teams. ALL of the above played on teams that were considered better than the Leafs and more serious contenders.
Finally, it is worth noting that McCabe had a pretty bad ’02-’03 season, that is included here. If we substitute a decent/average season ’01 – ’02 for him his numbers are at:
GP 230, points 154, ppg .67, +37
which puts him at :
6th in Games Played
4th in PPG
6th in +/-
I realize that the numbers don’t tell the whole story, however they are something that is concrete and not subject to opinion. They are the best unbiased measure that we have. Even if we include the poor ’02-’03 season, McCabe comes out in the top 7 d-men in that list, which represents the cream of the crop of established D-men in the league. We will see what the other D-men get in terms of salary (although Blake and Lidstrom will take a drop from their age and wanting to stay on their teams)
My bet is that he comes out behind Jovo, Chara, Redden, Pronger, Niedermayer … about 6th.
So, the arguement, right or wrong, can be made that McCabe is paid pretty much where he should be in light of his numbers.
Finally, I see a lot of people knocking his defensive skills. At the same time, I think it is pretty well known that the Leafs were NOT a defensive minded team and played poor defense, and had poor defensive coaching… his +/- runs contrary to most people’s opinion of him.
Sergei Zubov is a bargain at 4 million!!
I also consistently see Jovanovski rated higher by people here. I don’t see any hard evidence for it, except opinion.