Jakub Kindl hit waivers today. Should the Panthers claim him? Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. And yes. Please.
The 29 year old Red Wings defenseman has been on a yo-yo between Detroit and Grand Rapids this season. In fact, he’s been on waivers once already this season. So why should the Panthers be interested in a player that’s been treated this way by a fellow playoff team?
Because his underlying numbers suggest he could be, at the very least, a good depth piece. The cost? Pro-rated cap space, no other assets. Low risk, high reward.
Let us start at the big picture. He’s got a CF% of 55.4, and a RelCF% of +6.4%. Both marks are adjusted for score and second best among Red Wings defensemen, behind only Brendan Smith.
Digging deeper, Kindl’s shot suppressing numbers are great. His 46.2 saCA/60 is better than any Panthers defenseman not named Aaron Ekblad. Additionally his 11.9 iCF/60 would lead all Panthers defenseman by a 2 shot margin, and be higher than any Panther not named Brandon Pirri.
Now, let us dig further. Assume that the Panthers claim him and put him on the third pairing. That would put him in direct competition with Willie Mitchell (when healthy), Alex Petrovic, and Steven Kampfer. He stacks up very well along side these players.
Now, the caveat here is that Kindl has faced inferior competition to this point in 2015-16. His TOIC% is 16.8, the 2nd lowest of any Panthers or Red Wings defenseman (Brent Regner has the lowest). So, naturally, his numbers should look good against that competition. However, that is not an issue if he’s getting 3rd pair duty. He will not be getting the toughest assignments.
I do not know about you, but I think he would look pretty good in Panther red.
