Today’s Daily Cup of Joe features a set of Carolina Hurricanes quick hitters.
Jaccob Slavin / Brett Pesce
As expected when I was clamoring for it, I like what I have seen thus far from a reunited Slavin/Pesce pairing. Slavin was not bad previously, but he had wandered a bit from his top level play.
Sebastian Aho
I am fine if Brind’Amour runs a few short stretches with Aho at wing to try to stir things up in-game, but in general I think Aho has established himself as a center this season. Especially for a team that is still short a playmaking center, I think Aho stays in the middle.
Jordan Staal
As much as Staal is an imperfect top 6 center because of his limited offensive ability, the team is significantly better with Staal in the lineup than without. I think he could have been the difference in Friday’s overtime loss to the Capitals. When the Capitals went down four and just decided to open things up, the Hurricanes were unable to slow them. Put Jordan Staal out there to defend every third shift, and I think it changes the outcome of that game. He would be an upgrade defensively, but more significantly Staal’s ability to win pucks and drive play into the offensive zone would have seen Ovechkin spending more time 180 feet from scoring instead of parked in his office inside the face-off circle to post a hat trick.
Andrei Svechnikov
Svechnikov had six goals and six assists in the first third of the season for a most 36-point pace. Success for him would be to increase that total in each of the next two thirds of the season. Thus far in the second third of the season Svechnikov already has three goals and two assists in five games. At least so far the goal of constant improvement is holding true.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Who else has quick comments or discussion points on the Canes that we have not covered yet?
2) What are you thoughts on the quick hitters above?
Go Canes!
The Penalty Kill – since Nov-1, CAR leads the lead in PK% by a long shot and only 5 goals allowed. This early-season deficiency has officially been solved.
Unfortunately, many of the best trading partners are in our division but in-division deals are unlikely – WAS (to repeat), PIT (b/c JR likes trades), PHI (a mess), NYR (a rebuild). There is really no one on LAK, CHI, or STL (other than Tarasenko) that I’d even want. A change-of-scenery deal of Rask for Wennberg would be interesting.
Petr Mrazek bet on himself this offseason with his one-year contract and is playing like it. If his solid run of goaltending continues for another 10 games or so, don’t be surprised if CAR extends him, because otherwise, after this season, he’ll be gone.
I keep repeating myself on this point, and I’m a little embarrassed to say it, but I’m not sold on Jordan Staal as much as I used to be. Yes, he’s solid defensively, yes he tilts the ice, and yes he makes us better on today’s team, and yes he’s overall very valuable, but I think the tradeoff of shut-down defense (to the extent that’s as true as we think it is) for greater offense isn’t worth making on THIS team anymore. I would rather have a 60-70 pt Center or Winger that opens up the ice more than a shut-down defender, especially with our Blue Line and improved goaltending. This is a tough one, but nothing would change the character of our play more than a trade like this. (And the reason WAS came back was soft goaltending, not because Staal was missing.) I think Staal is more valuable to a team like PIT than he is to CAR.
Wallmark has the same offensive upside over the balance of the season that Svetch has; plus he has similar defensive upside too. In my view, he’s a very valuable player whose stock is steadily rising.
CAR hasn’t won five games in a row since March 2016. We have a chance to make some hay over the next 10 games and go on a real run. If we don’t rise up during this stretch, we’re likely not going to.
I agree, the PK has been impressive, Mrazek has played reasonably well. If we discount Darling’s contract the Canes are getting great goaltending per dollar out of their top duo )but sadly that is one huge “if” since Darling’s contract definitely tilts the picture, still I think we’re paying less for the trio thanMtl is paying for Price, and he’s not playing at the supr elite level he has in the past).
I’ve also said the same on Jordan Staal. He could be the best third line/defensive center in the league. He could take a team with solid top 6 scoring on a massive playoff run, but he is not a great fit with the Canes current roster. I think soene like Roy could develop into the same type of player for a fraction of the cost.
I think JR has a soft spot for him so a trade of Staal for Kessel is maybe not inconceivable.
That being said, Jordan Staal has played a lot of hockey in Carolina and if the Canes can build that top 6 scoring he could be part of the resurgance of hockey (another big if).
This team is still hanging on for a playoff spot, hopefully we won’t see a January slump like the one last year (after demolishing Pit at home the Canes lost by a score of, I think 7 to 1 and Bos, after that went into an ugly free fall).
Is everyone dreaming?
Does anyone really think that we will “win” in a trade?
Okay. Let’s trade Staal. Which established scoring winger or center is someone going to give us for Staal?
Answer: Nobody.
Okay. How about Staal plus….? How much of the Canes future are we willing to give away?
Do we really believe that we are going to be dealing from a position of strength?
If you look at blogs for other teams, you will see that everybody but Toronto is looking for a scoring center.
How sure are we that once a trade is made, we will be happy with it?
I just read a blog for the Senators. The writer is agonizing over the 1st round pick for 2019 that they traded to Colorado for Duchene. And how is Duchene doing? He is playing well. But they don’t have him signed to an extension yet.
Let’s not trade anybody for anybody. Let’s dance with them what bring us. Please?
I didn’t say it was easy and we haven’t done anything because it’s always tough to make a trade – there really haven’t been any big ones lately despite all the talk. We’re simply talking about what we think the construction of a better team looks like. I don’t suggest giving away the store just exploring all options.
In the end, with Slavin/Pesce you can’t veer from what works. And that gives us two excellent pairings. In fact I thought the whole D was excellent against AZ.
I am pretty sure I understood RBA to say after the AZ game that Aho is going to remain at center so I think that is relatively decided now – and possibly one advantage to Staal being out for a few games.
I can see what breezy and dmilleravid are saying, but every year I appreciate more and more what Staal brings to the game. Someone did make the point yesterday, I think, that since Staal went down our offense has gone. I was a little surprised at that but it is true – it is worth going into the details, including line-up stats to take closer look at why. It could be usage, and we may not need Staal to match up against the top lines if that denies us offense.
Look for Svech to be in the 50+ points and near 30 goals by year end. After 30 games his scoring is at a higher clip that EStaal, Skinner, and a number of other top-end Hurricanes offensive during their rookie season according to a table I saw on Twitter yesterday.
Glad to see the belief in Wallmark from dmiller. I too think he has some offensive upside that will start to show the remainder of the season. I actually think he is a decent (not outstanding, but decent) center for a second scoring line. He is good at board battles and is a pass-first player who will create chances for Svechnikov or whichever wingers end up on the second scoring line. In fact if Necas remains at wing, I think the two scoring lines look good for next season. The Canes will be more potent than any time in memory with Aho centering the first scoring line and Wallmark centering the second with some combination of Svechnikov, Necas, Teravainen, and Ferland or a winger acquired through trade.
I can see both sides related to Staal. If he is going to be sent out with scorers, he is a liability. But as a defense-first top center, he is one of the best. The offense has played well the past three games without him, but was near its worst during the Toronto game he missed. Most importantly is the point by pwrlss–not sure a trade with fair value is available for Staal.
To tj’s two points. Aho is our 1C. If he continues at an 85-90 point pace, that will keep the team competitive. Svechnikov scoring 25+ goals would move the needle from competitive to successful for the remaining 50 games. It is a double-edged sword having the two best players be the two youngest.
Finally, some well-deserved support for Martinook. The Canes need to keep him. He is a perfect role player on a contender
I’m not seriously in the “must trade Staal” camp, the fun about fan sites is that you can speculate about all things regardless of whether they are possible.
I think we could get a scoring winger from a team like Tor for Staal, especially close to the playoff deadline, but would we win that trade, only time would tel.
I am, however, firmly in trading some of our exces on D for some help at forward.
We can’t have 5 top 4 D men, too expensive and it does not necessarily make the defense that much better.
I think a trade of Faulk or Hamilton (not really Faulk, I am primarily thinking Hamilton) is necessary and hopefully would yield an acceptable return.
Yes, Martinook is agreat addition to the club, he’s a keeper (over guys like Mcginn for instance).