NHL Free Agents: Is Bouwmeester the Real Thing?

He's the jewel of this year's free agent market.

But nobody can agree on just how good Jay Bouwmeester is.

Last summer I wondered if he might be overrated, based on what he's achieved in the NHL so far.

Others believe he's a franchise defenseman at the age of 25, ready to anchor a blue line for the next decade or more.

Now Denis Potvin, the Hall of Fame defenseman and former Panthers broadcaster, has weighed in.

Going by what he told the Toronto Sun, Potvin believes Bouwmeester could be a bad contract waiting to happen:

"In my view, what Jay has not shown yet is the ability to really control the game, the way a No. 1 defenceman should be able to... Now that could change if he ends up going to a team that's a contender and surrounds him with better players. At times, he looks like he wants to control the game, but I don't know if he knows how to do it."

"And, do you want to pay all that money, $7 million a year or more, for a guy who might not be a No. 1 defenceman?"

That's from a man who has seen almost every game in Bouwmeester's career.

NHL general managers are incurable optimists. So on the open market, he'll surely get the $7 million that's been quoted as the going rate, and he'll get it for six or eight years.

Bouwmeester won't be a disaster.

But is he a legitimate $7 million star, reliable at both ends of the ice, logging huge minutes, putting up points, running the power play, and playing his best when the games matter most?

Or is he just a solid guy, an upgraded version of, say, Adrian Aucoin?

It will cost $40 million or more to find out.