The General Manager Corner: Free Agent Defensemen

Apr 19, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik (44) moves the puck against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the third period in game two of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Blue Jackets won 4-3 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Brooks Orpik

The next defenseman on this list is also a soon-to-be former Penguin.  The bruising blue liner is starting to feel the effects of years of dishing out punishment (even if never actually standing up to a challenge) but will have plenty of teams lining up for his services.  He’s finishing a contract that carried a cap hit of $3,750,000, so an annual salary of $4,500,000 to $5,000,000 over a four year period seems reasonable.  Sure by year four he’ll be a likely candidate to be bought out and nothing more than a pylon, but the team acquiring him will hope that the first three years of defense and borderline cheap shots will be enough to outweigh the bad.

The General Manager Prediction: the Penguins again find themselves in a tough spot with a player they probably would prefer to keep, but just don’t have the necessary cap space to make it happen.  Orpik’s veteran leadership and Stanley Cup pedigree would make sense for a team such as the Columbus Blue Jackets as they try to take the next step in their organization’s growth from fringe playoff team to legitimate contender.  The Jackets could use another big body on their blue line to go along with James Wisniewski, Fedor Tyutin and Jack Johnson, especially with jettisoning Nikita Nikitin’s rights to Edmonton.  Orpik wouldn’t have to re-locate too far and can fall back on the familiarities of playing within the Metropolitan Division.

Darkhorse Team: Minnesota Wild