This is a quality post , you said exactly what I have been thinking these past few days . Gio has been at the very least a top 5 dman for the last 3 years , with some of the best offensive and defensive stats in the league . Brodie is amazing , as his Hamilton , but the former doesn ' t have the same offensive skills as Gio and the latter doesn ' t have his defensive skills . He is a Norris caliber dman and is likely our best overall player . He ' s one of the best captains in the league as well . And let ' s clear one thing up He took a discount to stay in Calgary his contract is actually a steal . I hate when fans call it a bad contract because long term contracts like that are standard for top dmen . We are paying just 6 . 75 million for a Norris level dman captain from ages 3338 . Look at Weber ' s contract even a front loaded one signed 5 years ago is worth a million more per year and ends when he ' s 40 . Same goes for Suter , and Seabrook . Hell , even just yesterday Look at Burns 8 x 8 that ends when he ' s 39 , and he ' s at best as good as Gio is now . Top pairing dmen cost term and dollar to retain , so getting Gio for 6 . 75 x 6 was a great deal . Also , Gio is less likely to decline much in his contract because A . He ' s always the fittest player at camp , much like Iggy and Jagr were , and B . He came into the NHL late in his mid 20 s and missed over 3 seasons from lockouts or being in the KHL , which means his NHL mileage is low relative to his age he ' s only played as many games as Doughty who is 8 years younger .