Will people stop trying to trade Seabrook, again one bad season or stretch and get him out of here. Too bad we didn't trade Kane last year right?
One bad season? He played well for the first half of last year then faded down the stretch, but his previous 1.5 seasons were garbage. In other words, since the mid-point of our Cup winning season (he was great to start the year then sucked after the All-Star break), he's sucked for 3 of 3.5 seasons (keep in mind this year was short, though we made up for it some by going deeper in the playoffs than the last few years).
Based on his salary cap hit he is the 3rd highest paid player on the team, yet he's likely in the bottom 1/3 as far as play goes. He's had a whopping 3 points these playoffs, and his defense has been downright atrocious (falling down a lot, not clearing the crease, slow to the puck along he boards, etc) save for the last game (where he actually played well, especially in the third). As much as Oduya has been flamed around here, and rightly so at times, he's been more important to this team than Seabrook has. Leddy (who is repeatedly misused by Q), Keith, Hammer, and arguably Oduya are better, as all around players and contributors than Seabs.
Seabs is a big defender who should be patrolling the crease ala Pronger and clearing traffic in front of the net, but he doesn't. He's willing to block shots and can throw the big occasional hit, but the game tying game 5 goal is the EXACT reason he shouldn't be here. He's got the body and the speed to be a stay at home defensman and he sucks at it. He doesn't clear the crease, is constantly puck watching in front of the net and allowing players to easily slide back door, is horrendous at clearing pucks away from the net, get's burned repeatedly in transition, and...which is part of the previous problem, has some of the slowest reaction time on the team.
Just what the hell are we getting for 5.8 million a season? A big defenseman with a heavy but largely errant shot, that isn't adept at keeping pucks in the zone or maintaining the cycle on the PP. He can jump the occasional play, but gets caught with equal regularity on the occasional pinch. He's amazing at stretch passes, I will give him that, and this is probably his biggest individual talent as a player. On defense he's slow to react to the play, generally sucks in transition D, displays wretched instincts, can't clear the crease, and doesn't cover players well. And at 29-30 he isn't likely to get any better.
The 2007-Mid 2009 was probably the best Seabs has/will played in a Bhawk uniform. Some players peak early, some don't recover from injuries that well (I don't think he's been the same since the concussion), and some players are just overrated. I think Seabs may be a combination of the 3, and it's become blatantly apparent that he's not worth 5.8 million per year. Luckily though, I still think there are several desperate and dumb GMs who still buy into the Keith/Seabrook hype. I think we could get a good return for him, get a defensman who can, at the very least, be a comparable overall player for far less money in the FA market, or use the trade return to plug the hole. When you consider he's not the best defenseman in the world and shouldn't be on either of our STs units, it's not that big of a hole to fill anyway.
Getting rid of Seabs wouldnt' be a nee jerk reaction, it would be the prudent move for a player in decline that's been 2-3 years in the making. I think it would likely make our team better in both the short and the long term.
