Issue exposed on why teams are staying away from P.K. Subban

On Monday night, P.K. Subban’s agent Don Meehan confirmed to Jeremy Filosa of the Cogeco Network that his client hasn’t garnered any interest on the free agent market.

That had to be a tough blow for Subban, who was once known as one of the league’s top players at his position, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 2013 and a top finalist for the award in 2018.

But it’s been downhill from there and Rick Dhaliwal pointed out what could be pushing teams across the NHL away from Subban as he mentioned that the Vancouver Canucks haven’t reached out to the camp of the free agent.

“I believe his age is a problem,” he said, with Donnie adding the Canucks likely don’t have the cap space to sign Subban.
The blue liner is 33 years and is coming off the massive eight-year, $72-million contract he signed with the Montreal Canadiens back in 2014 before a monster trade sent him to the Nashville Predators in 2016 for Shea Weber.

Subban was never the same after the deal. With the Devils in 2019-20, Subban wasn’t the offensive blue liner fans knew him to be, putting up 18 points in 68 games of the COVID-shortened season. He sort of bounced back the following season, putting up 19 points in 44 games, and last year, he had 22 points in 77 games.

I can’t say I agree with Dhaliwal: 33 years old is still young for a guy like Subban, who trains well and can put it the work. However, his attitude is always a debatable point and some teams might feel he puts in more energy into cameos and television work than he does on the ice.

Let’s see if he can prove detractors wrong and sign somewhere as a free agent before the 2022-23 season kicks off.