I think the first question is irrelevant - should be more like legit top 4. I think he fits that for most teams, and most teams are looking to add one.
I've said many times though, nobody needs this guy more than us.
It's of great relevance when the person I quoted said "where else are we going to find a
Top pairing d-man that plays sound defence, and covers up for EK for under $5M?"
In the open market he'll easily get $5.5M.
He could be a top pairing on a lot of teams IMO.
Too many too name.
He doesn't have that rocket shot, but that doesn't mean he's not a top guy.
Like the poster above me noted. He's a number 1 here. And for $5M, he's worth it.
he's a #2/3 on any team in the league with the possible exception of nashville and maybe another im forgetting.
that's worth 5-6 million on the open market and the 5 year term he likely wants.
there would be 10-15 teams at least IMO that would make him that offer in the summer.
I highly, highly doubt that. But let's take a look, team by team, at whether Methot would be a top pairing guy worth $5.5+ million:
Anaheim: Vatanen, Fowler, Lindholm (1 year to big RFA raises for Vatanen and Lindholm)
Arizona: Yandle, Ekman-Larsson (could use Methot for second pairing, but no way in hell they give him same cap hit as OEL)
Boston: Hamilton, Krug, Chara, Seidenberg (Krug and Hamilton RFAs, no possible way they could afford to pay Methot that money to play on the second pair)
Buffalo: Myers, Zadorov, Gorges (would probably love to have Methot at that money and term, also the worst team in hockey)
Calgary: Giordano, Brodie, Wideman, Russell (not a chance in hell)
Carolina: Faulk, Sekera (if Sekera stays, Methot is at best a second pairing guy. If Sekera leaves, could see them having a lot of interest)
Chicago: Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, Oduya (no room on top pairing, might be marginal upgrade on Oduya. Have like $5 in cap space, pretty much)
Colorado: Barrie, Johnson, Stuart (would probably want someone who could provide more offense and a better PP presence, things Methot wouldn't bring to the table)
Columbus: Johnson, Wisniewski, Savard, Murray, Tyutin (almost certainly not)
Dallas: Goligoski, Demers, Klingberg, Daley (Dallas would probably have interest, not sure they would at $5.5 million though)
Detroit: Kronwall, Ericsson, Quincey (could use Methot but will almost certainly have no cap space)
Edmonton: Schultz, Petry (could certainly use Methot, will probably overpay to get him, second worst team in the NHL)
Florida: Ekblad, Campbell, Kulikov, Gudbranson, Mitchell (would be an upgrade to their second pairing, won't fit in to their pay structure at $5.5 million per)
LA: Doughty, Muzzin, Martinez, McNabb, *Voynov* (with Voynov in the picture, there's no way LA pays Methot that much. With Voynov out of the picture, they might be inclined but have very, very little cap space to work with)
Minnesota: Suter, Scandella, Brodin, Spurgeon (probably no interest)
Montreal: Subban, Markov, Emelin (might have interest in him as a #4, doubt they'd be willing to pay $5.5 for him especially with their big RFA)
Nashville: Weber, Josi, Jones, Ellis (not a chance)
NJ: Zidlicky, Greene, Larsson (would rather use the money to pay a guy who can produce points, have more than enough two-way defensemen)
NYI: Boychuk, Leddy, Hamonic (interested, but so many RFAs and UFAs it's hard to predict where their blueline ends up)
NYR: Girardi, McDonagh, Staal, Klein (no way AND no cap space)
Ottawa: YES, but at the right price
Philadelphia: Streit, MacDonald, *Coburn**Schultz**Del Zotto* (really really hard to say with these guys, would have to assume they'd be interested, not sure about cap space)
Pittsburgh: Letang, Erhoff, Martin, Despres, Maatta (would have to assume they'd be interested if they can't keep Martin or Erhoff, then again they're in serious cap difficulty)
SJ: Burns, Vlasic, Braun (maybe a guy they'd want for their second pairing, but would they pay him $5.5 to be their #4?)
StL: Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Bouwmeester (almost certainly not, no cap space)
TB: Carle, Hedman, Garrison, Stralman (no chance, already spend too much on their D)
Toronto: Franson, Gardiner, Rielly, Phaneuf (good chance they'd have interest but almost certainly can't afford him without moving other players first)
Vancouver: Edler, Tanev, Hamhuis, Bieksa, Weber (would probably take him but would need to clear roster and cap space first)
Washington: Carlson, Green, Niskanen, Alzner, Orpik (probably no room on the roster, no cap space and if they lose Green they'll look to spend that money to replace his offense)
Winnipeg: Enstrom, Byfuglien, Bogosian, Trouba (definitely no)
So he'd be a top pairing guy in Buffalo, Carolina, Edmonton, New Jersey, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Toronto. What a coincidence: 7 of the 9 worst teams in the NHL.
He'd be a potential second pairing guy in Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Dallas, Florida, LA, Montreal, NYI, SJ, Vancouver. But how many of these teams would ever spend $5.5 million on a guy to play on their second pairing? And keep in mind several of these teams have very little cap space to work with.
So, let's look at some comparables in that cap hit range:
Seabrook 5.8
Burns 5.76
Enstrom 5.75
Markov 5.75
Niskanen 5.75
Keith 5.55
Ekman Larsson 5.5
Wisniewski 5.5
Myers 5.5
Orpik 5.5
Bouwmeester 5.4
Yandle 5.25
Streit 5.25
Wideman 5.25
Byfuglien 5.2
Bogosian 5.14
Edler 5
Martin 5
MacDonald 5
Faulk 4.83
Visnovsky 4.75
Kronwall 4.75
McDonagh 4.7
Bieksa 4.6
Goligoski 4.6
Garrison 4.6
Hamhuis 4.5
Nikitin 4.5
Tyutin 4.5
Coburn 4.5
Boyle 4.5
Stralman 4.5
I wouldn't take Methot over any of the guys who make $5+ million with the exception of Orpik (5.5) and MacDonald (5). Of the guys who make less than $5 million I would take Faulk, Kronwall, McDonagh, Goligoski, Hamhuis and Stralman over Methot. Tyutin and Coburn, when healthy, are easily a coin flip as to who's better, so I would say they are interchangeable as to who you would have on any given day. So out of all of the guys on the list (32) there's about 5 or 6 that I wouldn't take over Methot. That's a ridiculous number for a guy who wants to be in that pay range.