Rob The Hockey Guy

I have been a little slow on the UFA of the day segment lately, so I got some help from Mitch. Mitch comes to us from Shockblast Media where he wrote hockey columns. You can follow him on Twitter at @Mitch_SBMedia (go follow him, he is horrendously underfollowed!). Take it away Mitch!

Name: Matt Carle

Age: 27

Size: 6’0, 205lbs

Why the Canucks might want him: Matt Carle has a fantastic jaw, on par with the likes of Jay Leno or even a young Joey Buttafuoco, but that’s not why the Canucks would want to sign the 27 year old UFA defenceman. Carle brings an interesting skill set to the table. Number 2 on the Flyers depth chart last season Carle played in all 82 regular season games, tallying 4 goals and 34 assists for 38 points. Not known for his goal scoring, he still managed to notch 3 power play goals and 9 power play assists. He is capable of playing big minutes, he led all Flyers skaters with 23:01 during the regular season and 25:19 during the playoffs which was second to Braydon Coburn.

Why the Canucks might not want him: Carle had a cap hit of $3.4 million per season, that doesn’t sound like a lot, but for a someone who has only missed two games in his last three seasons and had a total of 75 PIMS in those three years, not too mention he’s also put up points at almost a point per every other game pace, one cold argue that he might fetch a fair amount on the open market. The worst thing the Canucks could do is over pay for a player like Matt Carle. Although, he wouldn’t be that bad of a consolation prize for the Canucks, or any other team that misses out on Ryan Suter.

What I would do: Sign him to a 4 year deal worth $4.5 per year. A reasonable pay increase from his pay last season. He has an opportunity to play in the top 4, maybe even top 2 if needed. Has and is capable of big minutes.

X-Factor: Look at that hairline! It makes David Booths’ long flowing golden looks look like a pile of puke!