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If you polled thirty NHL general managers on what his respective team’s biggest need was going forward, I would estimate that about half would respond with ‘developing or acquiring a top-four defenceman’. It’s a fair request with the way the sport has progressed in recent years – the days of true defensive defencemen look to be in the past, with a premium placed on skating and high-end puck-moving ability to beat aggressive forechecking and attack through the neutral zone with control of the puck. Goaltending withstanding, I think disparities in blue-liner ability from team to team may be the most noticeable aspect of the sport today. The Chicago Blackhawks have made a living off of a highly-mobile defense that can flip the ice and complement the attack of their talented forward group. The Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils have their share of competent and talented forwards in the top-six, but simply don’t have the blue-line capabilities to consistently threaten as a five-man unit. Ultimately, it’s one of the big reasons why they struggle so mightily to score goals at even-strength. They spend too much time in the defensive zone, and they are impossibly slow relative to the rest of the league at getting up ice with pace and control. The increase in demand for this particular defenceman has created for a fascinating trade market, one that’s going to heat up over the next six weeks. More than half of the league reaches the playoffs already, and there are another handful of hopefuls who will still approach the trade deadline as buyers despite unfavorable odds. Consequently, if you are a seller holding one of these plus-skating, plus-puck moving defenders, you’re in a decent position. Two players in particular who should command decent returns as trade rentals are Jeff Petry of the Edmonton Oilers, and Andrej Sekera of the Carolina Hurricanes. Now, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that their respective teams should be seriously considering extensions – top-four guys don’t grow on trees, and these teams need all of the talent they can get. But, if you think the Petry/Sekera ships have sailed (and believe that the tank race is on), then you may consider shipping them out to the highest bidder. Let’s look at this from a buyer’s perspective. Why does Jeff Petry ($3-million expiring contract) and Andrej Sekera ($1.75-million expiring contract) make sense for the contenders in need of a defenceman? For one, it’s clear that they are both top-four defencemen. By grabbing the last four years of data and providing appropriate filters (3000+ minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time, and a RelativeCorsi% of at least +1.0), only 53-players make the cut. You’ll notice that our ice-time and RelativeCorsi% filters basically created a situation in which only first-pairing defenders and highly-productive second-pairing defenders qualified. You can fact check this by looking up your favorite NHL defenceman, and finding him on this graph. (Or, finding your least favorite defenceman, and noticing his omission.) It’s a nice way to stomp out potential biases and create comparables going forward. Here, Jeff Petry – who has toiled in Edmonton for years – sits right next to players like Johnny Boychuk and Ryan Suter. He hasn’t been as productive a scorer as many of the other defenders, but the Oilers have been more than two percentage points better in Corsi% with Petry on the ice. And, look at Andrej Sekera’s company! He’s bordered by talent in every direction, his production – at least on this graph – indiscernible from the likes of James Wisniewski, Nick Leddy, Keith Yandle, and Duncan Keith. RelativeCorsi% is clear on both Petry and Sekera – their teams control play favourably when they’re operating on the blue-line, less so when they change out for other defencemen. Those skeptical of the merits Corsi% may be interested in seeing how Edmonton and Buffalo/Carolina did with and without the player, but through the lens of another metric. Like, scoring chances. We know scoring chances pretty closely mirror Corsi%, but it’s an avenue worth traversing once more, if only to strengthen our theory. What I’ve done below is pulled out scoring chance with/without numbers for each player over the same timeframe courtesy War on Ice. We know Petry and Sekera’s teams were better territorially with them on the ice. But, were they better from a scoring chance aspect? First, Petry: The lockout season wasn’t kind to Jeff Petry – it was the only season we can see where Edmonton may have been better without him from a scoring chance perspective. Beyond that, this graph is convincing – especially over the last hundred games. Based on the consistent reports about his availability via trade, I worry that Edmonton doesn’t know what kind of player they have. Or, that they don’t know how bad things get when other defencemen are taking regular shifts. Now, Sekera: Sekera’s relative numbers were great in Buffalo, but have since skirted towards the team averages in Carolina. Still, for a guy carrying just a $1.75MM cap hit – one that would be paid out on a pro-rated basis if acquired at the trade deadline – the data’s pretty encouraging. We know Sekera’s one of fifty or so regular defenders who have carried positive possession numbers for a long period of time. The scoring chance data may have looked better in Buffalo than it did in Carolina, but that doesn’t mean he’s underwater. The Oilers and Hurricanes are in a tricky spot here. They need to retain as much NHL-talent as possible, but there’s always the possibility that Petry and Sekera just want to play out their contracts and sign with better teams in the off-season. You can’t risk losing quality players for nothing. To that extent, Craig MacTavish and Ron Francis are in a simple position: sell these players to the highest bidders over the next six weeks. Cheap Air Jordan 4 Canada Sale . Adam Lind provided the power and rookie starter Marcus Stroman had the best start of his young career as the Blue Jays dumped the Yankees 8-3 at Rogers Centre. Stroman, making his fifth start for Toronto, allowed one earned run and three hits over a career-high eight innings. Wholesale Air Jordan 4 . The Brazilian driver had the second-best time in last months tests at Jerez and said the "good start" could play to his advantage when the season gets underway in Australia in March. http://www.cheapairjordan4canada.com/. 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Late in the game, the St. Louis goalie craned his neck into the air to block a shot, taking a puck square in the mask.CAPE TOWN, South Africa - For the first time in a long time, Ivory Coast isnt the pre-tournament favourite to win the African Cup of Nations.Instead, Algeria is expected to win its first title since 1990 after being the continents best performer at last years World Cup.Ivory Coast — now without Didier Drogba — still cant be written off, and Cameroon made a rapid recovery after a terrible World Cup to be surprisingly impressive in qualifying.Here are some teams to watch out for at the 16-team African Cup in Equatorial Guinea, which starts this weekend:___ALGERIAAlgeria took eventual champion Germany to extra time in the last 16 at the World Cup in Brazil, and won its first five games in qualifying for the Cup of Nations to underline its top ranking in Africa. A change in coach after the World Cup, when Christian Gourcuff replaced Vahid Halilhodzic, didnt affect the momentum.Algerias lightning-fast attacking game is based around the skilful trio of Yacine Brahimi, Sofiane Feghouli and Islam Slimani. To prove themselves, the Algerians must first deal with being drawn in the tournaments toughest group with Ghana, Senegal and South Africa.___IVORY COASTIvory Coast goes to the African championship without retired striker Didier Drogba for the first time since 2002. So, more pressure falls on Manchester City midfielder and African player of the year Yaya Toure, who hasnt always lived up to his big reputation at the African Cup.Ivory Coasts inability to win the title since its sole success in 1992 is becoming increasingly painful for a country rich in talent.This time, the campaign will be directed by flamboyant French coach Herve Renard, who does know what it takes to lift the African Cup. He won as coach of unfancied Zambia in 2012, beating Ivory Coast in the final.On the field, Toure will also be supported by in-form forwards Wilfried Bony and Gervinho.___CAMEROONCameroons miserable World Cup was immediately shrugged off as the four-time African champions emerged as a dangerous force again late last year. Cameroons threat was epitomized by a powerful 4-1 qualifying win over Ivory Coast, which is in Cameroons group again at the final tournament.ddddddddddddLike Drogba, Cameroons leading striker, Samuel Etoo, retired from international soccer after the World Cup. But a new goal-scoring threat has emerged in Vincent Aboubakar, and that may foster a more balanced team after Etoo was so often the focus.Cameroon supporters just hope the player bonus saga that spoiled their World Cup doesnt play out again at the African Cup.___TUNISIAThe only other North African team at the tournament, Tunisia might fly under the radar as Algeria gets all the attention.Solid in qualifying to win a tough group containing Senegal and Egypt, Tunisia has quietly moved up to No. 2 in the continental rankings. The players and Belgian coach Georges Leekens can also be positive about being picked in a group with Zambia, Cape Verde and Congo, simpler than the early challenges awaiting Algeria, Ivory Coast and Cameroon.___SOUTH AFRICASouth Africa is perhaps the most positive it has been about the African Cup since it won in 1996 and made the final in 1998. Since then, Bafana Bafana has slid down the African football pecking order, and hasnt got past the quarterfinals in 15 years.Coach Ephraim Mashaba breathed new life into the team when he took over last year, and South Africa was unbeaten and eliminated defending champion Nigeria in qualifying.___CAPE VERDEEvery tournament needs an underdog and Cape Verde might be the big surprise of the African Cup — again.In its debut in 2013, the small Atlantic Ocean island nation made the quarterfinals ahead of Morocco, and gave Ghana a scare in the knockout stage.That breakthrough wasnt wasted and Cape Verde was the first team to guarantee its place at the 2015 tournament in Equatorial Guinea. Surprisingly, the team from a country of just 500,000 people is ranked No. 7 in Africa and in the top 40 in the world, above Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa.___Gerald Imray is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeraldImrayAP ' ' '