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Player Name/position: Luca Sbisa, D
Overall Grade: D- (I know you all want to give him an F...)
Contract Status: Standard, 4 years, $8,700,000 (total), with a cap hit of $2,175,000. Sbisa made $2,000,000 in 2013, and will be an RFA at the end of the 2014-15 season.
2013 Stats: With Adler Mannheim (Spengler Cup): 3 G, 0 P, 2 PIM, minus-4; With Lugano (NLA): 30 G, 5 G, 7 A, 14 PIM, minus-1; With the Ducks: 41 G, 7 G, 8 A, 23 PIM, even rating; Team Switzerland (International): 2 G, 0 G, 1 A, 0 PIM, plus-3. Sbisa had the most ice time of any Ducks skater under the age of 25 (813:12 minutes).
Playoff Stats: 5 G, 0 P, 4 PIM, minus-2. Also, his Corsi was a big, ugly negative number (corsi rel: -20.2, corsi on: -26.99).
Offense: Sbisa didn't record a single point in the playoffs, and only scored 15 points during the regular season. However, the Ducks have primarily used him as a two-way/defensive defenseman, so his lack of production didn't concern me terribly.
Defense: Sbisa had flashes of brilliance towards the end of the regular season (after Bruce Boudreau benched him). He didn't make a playoff appearance until Game 3 - replacing a scratched Sheldon Souray - and wasn't much better. He always seemed to be on the ice for a back-breaking goal against, and was not successful at clearing the crease.
Highlight of the Season: I'm not sure if this is Sbisa's best moment of the season, but I loved this hard, legal hit on Patrick Marleau. Sbisa is often criticized for not using his body enough, and I'd like to see him do more of this.
Expectations for Next Year: Sbisa obviously needs to step it up, but I think 2013 was just an "off" season for him. People have talked about including him in a package for a bonafide #1 defenseman in the offseason, but I think that would be a mistake. (If Sbisa is still a 'problem' by the end of his contract, then we can reconsider). Next year, I'd like to see Sbisa and Beauchemin together on a regular basis - they had chemistry in 2011-12. I'd like to see more physical play from Sbisa, and I want to see him, you know, clear a crease.