Number Dump

Is Detroit about to sign John Wensink?

Justin Abdelkader is getting a $4m AAV 7 year deal. He's basically John Wensink at retirement.

By Cornelius Hardenbergh@HBAdventure Nov 12, 2015, 12:36am EST

Justin Abdelkader is apparently about to sign a contract extension with Detroit for 4 million dollars for the next 7 years after this season:

Justin Abdelkader on verge of finalizing 7-year contract extension with DET. AAV is expected to be $4M+.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) November 12, 2015

This is a hilariously bad contract for a number of reasons, but I think my favorite is this:

Justin Abdelkader's career stats look a heck of a lot like John Wensink's right now.

No, seriously, look for yourself:

Games Played

Justin Abdelkader	John Wensink	Difference
413	403	10

Goals

Justin Abdelkader				John Wensink
EV	PP	SH	Tot	EV	PP	SH	Tot
55	10	0	65	67	3	0	70

Assists

Justin Abdelkader	John Wensink	Difference
74	68	6

Points

Justin Abdelkader	John Wensink	Difference
139	138	1

Per-game

I know, it's not that shocking that per-game would be about the same, but this is just how they line up. Remember, this is when John Wensink retired from the NHL vs. what Justin Abdelkader was at when he signed a 7-year, 4 million dollar AAV contract. Okay, check it out:

Player	GPG	APG	PPG
Justin Abdelkader	0.16	0.18	0.34
John Wensink	0.17	0.17	0.34
Difference	-0.01	0.01	0

Try not to die laughing.

While we're on the topic of John, ESPN did a good job on this ESPN 30 for 30 short: