2009-10 Rink Wrap: John Erskine

Pretty much exactly what I expected.

A 10 would be either 20+ points or above average defensive play against better than 4th line competition.

Met expectations. Would be content with him being a 7th guy if it wasn’t for the fact he’s overpaid and the whole Sloan deal.

Exactly what I expected he’d provide. I love Big John, but DMG nailed it when he called him an “auxiliary” player. A good piece to get you through the regular season, and performs wells in certain matchups (e.g., against teams that try to “bully”).

By FAR the best fighter on the team, but as we know he’s unable to fill that role regularly due to his noggin issues. Had a couple of good scraps this year, including against Georges Laraque, and a solid win against Chris Thorburn (check out the slo-mo left hook)

5. Erskine was Erskine, which is to say, a heaping pile of poo.

He gets a 4 from me. Right around what I expected, maybe a little worse. Probably hampered by his salary, which is no fault of his own, but it still gets taken into consideration.

5. Was what I expected. Nothing more, nothing less.

a 5 — performed as expected. Honestly, I’ll give him a 10 next year if he (and Sloan) provide reasonably steady defense up to the trade deadline when we add a true 6th D for the playoff run.

Whatever happened to that idea that was floating around for some time about converting Erskine to winger and making him the team’s enforcer, since that’s pretty much his role now?

I didn’t expect him to be good.
He wasn’t. So, he met expectations. His numbers were probably a bit better than I expected, but I also felt the urge for a bathroom break more frequently than while he was on the ice than for any other Caps D (no link, sorry!). I think that attests to his play. IIRC he was having more trouble clearing the zone than I’d have liked.

5- erskine was what i expected him to be. a last pair dman or healthy scratch. nothing wrong with having some experience back there, partcularly if he doesnt have to play every day. i think ersk would have done well vs the flyers in the playoffs, if he had gottent he chance. he played very well against the rangers in last years playoffs.

erksine will be the 7th dman next year and will fill in as needed due to injuries/matchups. i dont have a problem having him back there as a third pair dman.

4- I thought he had a chance to be our 6th D man and he proved he was a clear 7th or 8th.

He was exactly what I expected him to be: A moderately useful 7th dman who shouldn’t play in the playoffs and makes too much money.

A 10 next year would require him playing every playoff game on merit.

I expected him to play at least one playoff game (also expected a deeper run by the team) but that never came. It’s hard to say that he would have seen ice time at all later in the playoffs with the possibility of Juice’s return.

He was about as was expected. He’s a 7th defenseman and he will be in 2010-11. He was a bit more productive offensively this year than last (meaning he scored a goal…and the world didn’t end when he did!) but he seems to be slower than last year (I didn’t think it was possible…) After 2008-09, I would have had Jurcina as the slowest Cap with Erskine and Brash close for second slowest. After this season, Erskine has that title all to himself and there are no real competitors. Juice is likely to be going somewhere else next season, but Erskine is signed.

For 2010-11 to get a 10, he would have to step up to be a top 4 defenseman… not likely, considering he will likely only be in 30-40 games. If he has to play 50 or more games next year, then the Caps have a bigger problem on the backline than we think they do.

He was pretty much what I expected, a slow 6th/7th d-man who provided toughness and some bone-headed plays as well. The fact that he was often (including in the playoffs) scratched in favor of Sloan probably should have dropped him to a 4, even though those decisions more often than not were determined by matchups against the other team, not a direct comparison of the overall value of Sloan v Erskine. Plus the salary irks me; you can’t pay a 7/8 dman 1.25 mil. Even though that’s not his fault, it has to factor into my expectations. So, consider my honest vote to be 4, even though I gave him a 5.

I still think he is a very useful 7th defender to dress situationally (i.e. when we need more anger in the lineup), so I think he has a role on this team. Unfortunately, that role shouldn’t be costing us 1.25 million dollars.

Hovered between a five or a four, but really, he played exactly as I expected, which is to say he sucked. I don’t see him getting any higher, and I’m terrified at the prospect of him being WORSE than I expected.

To anyone voting under, say, 4… what did you expect and why on earth did you expect it?

I expected an over-paid spare part and that’s exactly what I got. 5 it is…

He is what we thought he was, to paraphrase Denny Green.

Given the article from Hockey Or Die about the depth requirements for a season of attrition, I don’t begrudge his spot on the roster, but the more he is scratched the better for the team.

The salary number is befuddling, but of course not part of this calculus, so enough about that.

I gave him a 5, mostly because he was in the press box a lot.
To get a 10 next year I think he’d have to be on another team.

-d

Wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of John Erskine. I don’t fault him for his salary (GMGM’s at fault there). However, with Brashear gone, his role was to be the team’s enforcer, but he wasn’t able to do that as well as in years past as he either got concussed or hurt his hand after every fight. I also think that the Caps ended up deterring some of the funny business with their great regular season powerplay efficiency, reducing the need for having Erskine out there as an enforcer. Erskine will be back in the pressbox next year, unless the Caps suck it up and send him down to Hershey or release him. Is he a buyout candidate?

should salary/cap hit be part of these evaluations? my assumption was it should not. i mean, it’s not erskine’s fault that GM decided to overpay him by $3-400K. that should be part of GMGM’s evaluation, not big johns or anyone else’s.

if salary is part of the equation than i want to change my ratings for backs and carlson to 20’s cause they far exceeded their pay grades this year.

I don’t see anybody defending 6 votes here so I’ll chime in. I gave him a 6. I don’t think offensive stats matter worth a damn for him. I also don’t think it matters that he was sitting out at the end of the season because after deadline upgrades that is exactly what I would hope for. I think he is appropriate for a particular role, oafy 5th/6th D-man who can eat up extra minutes every now and then, and he did better than average at that (see “Good” write-up). His 4-on-5 numbers weren’t great, but I still think he qualifies as slightly over expectation.

Of course, I could also be mis-remembering what my expectations for him were. For me that is always the hardest part of rating these guys.

5. I had a tendency to forget he existed, which is telling (if not damning).

Erskine did exactly what I expected him to. At least he’s consistent. He’s a good teammate and he does his best, I’ll give him that. He might not be very good, but he gives his all, and thats more than what can be aid about a lot of people. His role on the team is not only limited, its endangered. To get a 10 next year he would have to do a 180, doubtful, and won’t be done on this team. Erskine is another prime example of mngt’s dealing with the blueline the last half decade. Sure, Carlson may look good and Alzner may work out, but we are two injuries away from relying on Erskine and Sloan again, right? The blueline isn’t being blamed for the series loss, but lets face it, the Caps were top heavy.

5, and a solid no to both questions. When you consider that the D corps gets younger, cheaper and more talented next year, his obsoleteness is all the more telling.

5, which is short for meh, or mediocre. I didn’t expect much and that’s what I got. I agree with most of what McPhee has done, but like many, signing him to that extension had me puzzled. To paraphrase the tree falling the woods riddle, if Erskine were to not show up in September and noone noticed, is he really worth having?

5. Basically exactly what I expected. Like BP yesterday, I could go lower but that would be punishing Erskine for the mismanagement by BB and GMGM.

By my quick mental roster review, up next we have Fehr, and then Fleischmann.

I am so very torn on how to vote for Flash…

Pretty much going with the general consensus.
Erskine was erskine, and there is this kid at my school who looks exactly like a young erskine with all of his teeth and more hair, its creepy I tell ya.

I think he did fine in what he was supposed to do, yea he is slow, but at times he showed that he can still be a little mean and do his job.

A 10 for next year means more offensive numbers, improved positioning and puck movement.
He needs to overcome his lack of speed, Schultz did it, and I am hoping Erskine can too.

I didn’t expect much, and he delivered slightly under that.

For me this was simply an issue of knowing that there were other, better defensemen on the team. I expected more from 52, 55, 3 and 26. Then once 74 showed up full time, expectations for 4 dropped even lower.

Unfortunately, his inconsistency dropped him slightly below expectations. He didn’t use his body to overcome his lack of speed as well as he could. Shame really.

I gave him a 10 because there was one play (I dont remember what game) that he didn’t do the totally wrong thing. That one play way exceeds my expectations and what I thought his potential was.

but Bruce Boudreau and his coaching staff protected Erskine, playing him against very weak competition.

So, to summarize: sure he was plus-16 but he’s doesn’t bring Mike Green skills to the party, so he’s bad? He’s never been better than a 5th or 6th defenseman and that’s that.

He played 50 games this season, and 52 and 51 games the two seasons before that. I highly doubt the coaching staff has “protected” him. Do the coaches pick the 30 or so competitive games he won’t play in at the beginning of the season?

I recall the days when we had zero defensive depth. I’m very happy that is not the case now, and Erskine is one of the reasons why. He’s also the only D on this team that has zero tolerance for the enemy in the crease. When he’s gone, the Caps lose a good deal of grit.

Pretty much par for him as a Cap.
+16 season leaves him -26 in NHL…

About what one would have expected, minus points for lack of stepping up into enforcer role

I didn’t expect him to be an enforcer. I did think, armed with his new contract, he’d maybe be a decent 6th d-man. Or maybe I hoped. He solidified his role as a pretty decent, albeit expensive (but I don’t count contract in this voting), 7th man with a utility purpose. If he was half the cost(and we didn’t have Sloan as another 7th man and Alzner and Carlson were top 6 NHL all season), I don’t think any of us would complain.

To get a 10 next year, I want a poor man’s Joe Reekie. He’d have to play as the 6th defenseman all season, and efficiently. I’d also want ~15 points and less than 80 PIMs in ~60 games.

To get a 5 next year, I want a good seventh defenseman/utility guy, and I want him to stay under 40 PIMs in about 35 games. No, I don’t want him fighting, unless there’s a damn good situation (Like, Ovechkin about to drop with Downie or something). He’s had too many concussions to be an enforcer.

To get a 1 next year, he’d have to perform so poorly that he be outright released or traded for a 7th round pick.

Yeah, I’m in the Erskine lobby, but I’m also a realist.

4 – He produced at an expected level, however, when you look at his salary he underperformed. For a 10 he would need to find some speed and score 20 pts.

Seriously, the 44 of you who voted 7 or higher, some ethnic cleansing is going to be in order.

He’s that guy who does everything Mike Green does, minus the Offense……..wowzers, ok ok it’s one of those , every once and a while , Montreal comes out of nowhere" seasons, ie; 93, 86……