2010-11 Rink Wrap: Dennis Wideman

Had really low expectations of him having seen him get chased from Boston and generally show sketchy defensive skills. He wasn’t a shutdown D man but he was far from a liability. He replaces Green, handily, and gives the team another coveted puck moving blueliner.

10 next year? I aim low and say 70+ games and a PP unit with closer to 25% conversion than 20%.

Too bad the leg injury took him out. More time could have gotten him a higher score.

I’d love to see him, Green, and Carlson all play the point on the PP regularly next year. I doubt it happens, though. Ideally he’d be with Schultz on the third pair, but that means signing a UFA to play top 4 with Green (or maybe Poti staying healthy, not sure which is less likely). A 10 would be 50+ points with solid contributions in all 3 phases.

I didn’t really know what to expect from him, but I did want more offense. However, he wasn’t a disappointment, It’s also hard to judge how he did due to all the injuries to dmen late in the season – and especially his.

Going into next season, I’d love to see him and Green each being the QB for a PP unit, or even being the two pointmen on 1PP. I hope they’ll have Wideman-Schultz as the 3rd pair, and get Green a solid defensive partner.

poor Dennis Wideman. Had to wait a day for his Rink Wrap, and now he’s completely overshadowed by the Olie news.

My expectations were not very high, given his awful +/- with Florida and his rather unceremonious departure from Boston. I thought he would come in and be a Sheldon Soar-by type player, and he turned out to be significantly better than that IMO.

The Discussion: As someone who spent a quarter of his time on special teams last March, what do you see Wideman’s role being on the power play and penalty kill going forward, particularly if Mike Green and John Carlson are healthy?

I think the caps can keep using him the exact same way. Ideally, I would like to see Green AND Wideman on the points, and get Ovie on the half boards where he belongs. Wideman is a solid PKer, so I see no need to reduce his load there…it would actually be kind of nice to help limit the minutes that Green and JC have to play (and hopefully keep Poti off that unit too, if he’s healthy).

What are your expectations for him offensively next season? After a month of skating with a number of different defense partners, who would you like to see Wideman be paired with next year?

My expectations for next year would be for him to maintain at around 20-22 mins per game, near 0.5 points-per-game, and a positive +/- while getting fairly easy ES minutes. I think he should be on the 3rd pairing with Erskine/Schultz/Poti, depending on who is healthy and who ISN’T on the 2nd pairing with Mike Green.

Finally, what would it take for Wideman to earn a ‘10’ next season?

To earn a 10, he needs to become the focal point of a highly successful PP, play well enough in the O and D zones that he can be put on the ice confidently in any situation, and score at near a 70 pt pace. And my usual caveat, keep that level of performance up in the playoffs.

I expect this coming season he will prove more valuable than Mike Green.

I wouldn’t mind being wrong if it’s because Green has a stellar season.

Poor DWide (and Becca)… upstaged by Olie. Fitting end to his season, perhaps.

I had some low expectations for him since he seemed to have some defensive deficiencies in his game. Instead Wideman took the new system to heart and played it well (that Philly game aside) and really was doing well. That hit in the Carolina game didn’t appear to be all that bad, but it turned out to be a hit at just the wrong spot at just the wrong time, and when they mentioned compartment syndrome, that’s something that sometimes results in amputation (or worse).

He looks like he will be a solid contributor to the Caps this coming season.

To get a 10… he would have to evolve to being the top offensive defenseman on the team and also log his 20+ minutes every night.

8

Mostly because when he first came in I was concerned by his numbers especially that godawful plus/minus. But he really seemed to fit and had good chemistry. That was a damn unfortunate injury and I wish we could have seen him in the playoffs.

I gave him a 7. Living in New England for much of the past few years I heard more than a few Bruins fans curse his name on his way out of town. I wasn’t expecting much when we got him, but his play impressed me. I’m excited to see what he does in a full year with the team next year.

He seemed to mesh right into the system when he first started (another reason to hate Tuomo Ruutu). Thought he’d be the key to getting the power play back on the right track, and Ovi off the point for good. For next year, I hope he’ll come back and continue his style of play. He had some great speed so he could be a good compliment to Schultz or Hannon (if he’s back). To get a 10, I’d like to see 28+ min/game (with a good chunk of that as Powerplay) and +60 points.

He came in and started palying like he’d been with the team all along. So very grateful to escape Florida, so happy to be in DC.

His injuries and Green’s injuries conspired to keep them from playing as much as one game together. I’m looking forward to seeing them both on the ice in the same game.