It has taken us all summer, but we have finally made our way through the Hurricanes lineup and will finish our end of season reviews with the exit analysis for Tim Gleason.
The "tough as nails" defenseman will probably always be known as the player the Hurricanes received when they traded away Jack Johnson, the very highly regarded first round draft pick, (and third overall pick) in 2005. The deal was a bit more complicated than that though as the Canes also ditched overpaid Oleg Tverdovsky and received Eric Belanger in addition to Gleason. But Belanger never fit in and was eventually traded. Tverdovsky ended up going back to Russia.
Regardless, Gleason has turned into a fan favorite and is a vocal and physical leader on the blueline. He was a first round pick himself and was selected 23rd overall by Ottawa in 2001, who then traded him to LA for Bryan Smolinski in 2003.
The Good: Gleason considers himself to be a team leader and never backs down from a confrontation. He led the blueline with the most hits and might have the best hip-check on the team. He is an excellent teammate and will stick up for anyone until the bitter end. Gleason has matched up well with Joe Corvo and quite often they will take on the top offensive line on the opposing team. He still finished with a respectable +3 even though he is a low point producer. He looks to be alternate captain material in the near future.
The Bad: Tim did not score a single goal all regular season and is a bit offensively challenged. (He did score a huge one in the playoffs though). Sometimes he will fight when it would serve the team better to have him on the ice. He has taken a couple of very bad penalties late in games which were costly. Better discipline at times would be in order.
The Money: The Hurricanes have a lot of faith in the defenseman and signed him to a four year deal last offseason. He makes an average 2.75 million per year with three years to go.
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Here are the results of the previous exit polls:
Nic Wallin - C
Scott Walker - B
Cam Ward - A
Michael Leighton - C
Joni Pitkanen - B
Ray Whitney - A
Tuomo Ruutu - A
Joe Corvo - B
Erik Cole - C
Sergei Samsonov - B
Anton Babchuk - B
Jussi Jokinen - B
Chad LaRose - A
Matt Cullen - B
Eric Staal - B
Rod Brind'Amour - C
Ryan Bayda - B