Carolina’s need for an offensive defenseman on the back end has not disappeared and they have apparently been pushing hard for the San Jose Sharks’ former Norris Trophy winner in Brent Bruns. This has been met with some varying reactions throughout the fanbase. Rightly so, even I am a little skeptical of Burns’ abilities at the age of 37 when he is signed for 3 more years at $8 million per.
However, if San Jose eats half of that deal, and it is only $4 million, I can see a lot of value there. I mean, even if San Jose only eats 25% and it is a %6 million cap hit, I can understand that. I’d like it a little more if you run it through another organization to eat another 50% on top of that, but it is what it is at that point. I think there is a lot to like about the idea of Brent Burns and that applies to more than just his on-ice products.
Hearing that Carolina and Dallas kept grinding away in trade talks with San Jose regarding Brent Burns last night. Let’s see where that goes today. @TSNHockey @TheAthletic
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 13, 2022
Burns has been to the Stanley Cup Finals and knows what it is like to win. He’s got an absolute mound of experience accompanying him, and if he can teach some of the younger guys on the back end what they need to do to improve, then I think it is well worth the shot. Burns also started his career as a forward so he might be able to help some of those guys too with things he has picked up over the years.
Something that is still worth noting about Burns is that he hasn’t just had his scoring touch disappear. On a rather garbage Sharks team, Burns scored 10 goals and 44 assists for 54 points in a full 82-game schedule. While I’ll be the first to admit Carolina’s forward group is not their forte, he’s done this with a group that is worse. If he’s still producing at this age, I guess it is worth a shot.