The Los Angeles Kings turned a few heads across the hockey world today, placing German defenceman Christian Ehrhoff on waivers. While it’s possible that he clears and bolsters an already competitive Ontario Reign in the AHL, the odds are much more in favour of a team picking up his $1.5 million salary. So here’s my thought; why not make that team the Vancouver Canucks?
| Year | Team | CF%Rel | SF%Rel | GF%Rel | ZSRel | SH% | OISH% | OISV% | G60 | A60 | P60 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015/16 | LAK | -1.7 | -4.2 | -19.2 | 6.4 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 0.913 | 0.23 | 0.23 | 0.46 |
2014/15 | PIT | -1.4 | -3.8 | 8.1 | -2.8 | 3.7 | 9.5 | 0.929 | 0.22 | 0.58 | 0.80 |
2013/14 | BUF | 4.8 | 4.7 | 7.3 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 6.7 | 0.916 | 0.09 | 0.59 | 0.68 |
2012/13 | BUF | 8.1 | 10.2 | 9.1 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 7.5 | 0.929 | 0.21 | 0.64 | 0.85 |
2011/12 | BUF | 1.1 | 0.9 | -2.7 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 8.8 | 0.920 | 0.16 | 0.73 | 0.89 |
2010/11 | VAN | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 16.7 | 6.4 | 8.4 | 0.932 | 0.32 | 0.49 | 0.81 |
Ehrhoff is having a bit of a down year with the Kings, but stars haven’t exactly aligned in his favour either. The 33-year-old is averaging just 15:10 of ice time per night, the lowest level of deployment that he’s seen since he was a 21-year-old rookie in 2003/04. He’s been producing less efficiently than he has at any point in his career, and his relative numbers in most defensive metrics are as low as they’ve ever been. So, why take the opportunity?
For starters, the offence might be a bit of inopportune luck. The Kings are an elite team, but are pretty run of the mill in terms of putting pucks into the net (9-2 blowouts against Boston excepted). As a secondary piece, he’s already a little handicapped at is is, but an absurdly 5.0% on-ice shooting percentage shows that the pucks aren’t landing in his favour either. You’ll notice that his dropoff appears to be coming more from assists than it is from goals; while the Canucks aren’t stalwarts either, it’s possible that he can get himself going again with luckier offensive support.
That also plays into his goals-for percentage, where his relative numbers are ghastliest. He’s still below the curve as far as Kings possession players go, but at the same time, the Kings are one of the best in the business in that regard. Simply put, Ehrhoff has definitely lost a step over the years, but playing on an elite possession team that’s struggling to turn his passes into goals might be making him look a little worse than he actually is.
There’s next to no chance of Ehrhoff reclaiming the magic that made him one of the league’s best all-around defenders in the two years where he was here. That much is known, but he’s likely to be at least passable, something that can’t be said for a few others in the core who make much more than the $1.5 million he makes this year. If that proves to not be the case, he’s unrestricted at the end of the year, so the Canucks can walk away.
Vancouver could use the warm bodies anyway. By the time Alex Edler comes back from injury, Dan Hamhuis will have likely been traded at the deadline, meaning that the team should have at least one available spot in the top four for the remainder of the year. Instead of bouncing one of the early-20’s players from Utica back and forth and possibly messing with their development, why not bring back a half-decent, low-cost former player with next to no risk?
If it works out, you get a head start on keeping him next year. If not, he’s gone in July. Worst case scenario, he keeps anti-tank fans feeling happy and nostalgic as some of the more significant assets get sold off.
