If you were away from Canes hockey for the weekend, you missed an exciting Saturday/Sunday back-to-back with the prospects camp scrimmage on Saturday and the start of free agency with the Hurricanes adding a goalie on Sunday.
My recap/notes from the prospect camp scrimmage are HERE.
And my detailed analysis of the Hurricanes move to sign goalie Petr Mrazek are HERE.
Today’s Daily Cup of Joe strolls through the free agent deals from Sunday from a Carolina Hurricanes’ angle.
Checking the competition
The Maple Leafs became significantly better by winning the John Tavares sweepstakes. My perfect storm for extending the Leafs LONG Cup-less run was hoping that Tavares received in the neighborhood of $13 million, had a good but not great first season such that Matthews bettered him and also earned $13 million next summer, and the Leafs found themselves with some Blackhawks type problems with too much money tied up in a couple top players. Tavares $11 million while obviously significant was not as big as I had hoped for my devious plot.
The Islanders were the big losers with Tavares’ departure and also the fact that they have yet to add a goalie.
The Flyers did well in adding James van Riemsdyk.
Other than the Flyers adding van Riemsdyk, it was a generally quiet day for the Metropolitan Division which was good news.
Deals I would steal
The vast majority of the deals on the front end of free agency are more likely to lead to regret than success. As such being quiet at the front end of the free agent process is not necessarily a bad thing. That said, there are usually a handful of deals that make me jealous.
A goalie upgrade
In goal, I am already on record as saying that I would have been willing to commit a bit more for two years to upgrade to veteran Jaroslav Halak over Petr Mrazek. The position is a dice roll, but I would pay a premium for more starter experience and a better recent trajectory.
A veteran scoring center
Of all of the free agent signings, only one really makes me jealous. Paul Stastny signing for a reasonable three years at a not bank-breaking $6.5 million per year would be a great way to add offense, veteran presence and a center. His ability to parachute into the young lineup in Winnipeg and do well instantly in 2017-18 is also appealing. To be clear, I doubt the Hurricanes could have lured Stastny, but it does not hurt to with and dream.
A potential game-changer of a trade for a center
But the deal that really caught my eye was a night-time trade of Ryan O’Reilly to the St. Louis Blues for a small haul. The Sabres acquired two draft picks, two NHL roster players and a medium-range prospect who is also on the fringe of NHL-readiness. The picks were a first-rounder (lottery protected) and a second-rounder. The prospect was power forward Tage Thompson who has yet to break through but did collect a small amount of NHL experience in 2017-18.
Finally, Vladimir Sobotka and Patrick Berglund. At first glance, the Sabres did really well to get five assets for a single player, but I think the quality of the deal can be misleading because of the sheer volume. Patrick Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka are serviceable middle of the roster forwards and nothing more. As such, they could be replaced fairly easily via free agency. Tage Thompson is a medium-grade prospect. The first-round draft pick is significant and the second-round pick is too. Berglund is a 30-year old, 35-45 point third line-ish depth forward. Sobotka is also 30 and with mid-30s point production.
Could the Hurricanes have added a reasonably priced 27 year old top 6 center for say Micheal Ferlund, Victor Rask or Brock McGinn, Roland McKeown and a first and second round draft pick?
If so, I would have done it. Again, the quantity of assets seems daunting, but other than the first-round pick, I am not sure any of them are really tough to replace.
Much is being made about the deal happening on Sunday such that the Blues picked up O’Reilly’s $7.5 million bonus payment on July 1. That is a sizable amount but important to note is that it is just prepayment for his salary. O’Reilly makes $8.5 million total which is a little on the high side for 2018-19, but then his salary (not cap hit…salary) falls to a very reasonable $6.5 million annually for four years.
A busy day for Hurricanes departures
The day was a busy one for 2017-18 Hurricanes players. Derek Ryan (SO happy for him!) garnered a three year deal for $3.125 million per year to reunite with Coach Bill Peters in Calgary.
Joakim Nordstrom joined the Bruins for two years at $1 million per year.
Josh Jooris followed John Tavares and joined the Maple Leafs for one year at $650,000.
And most notably Cam Ward will wear another uniform for the first time in his 13-year NHL career by virtue of his one year, $3 million deal with the Blackhawks.
Is there anything left?
Assuming a trade of Justin Faulk, I still really like Calvin de Haan as a defensively sound left shot defenseman to pair with Dougie Hamilton. There are other veteran left shot defensemen, but I view Dan Hamhuis, Tobias Enstrom and others as third pairing depth at this point in their careers.
At forward, the pickings are also slim. James Neal is still available as is Patrick Maroon. (I do not count Joe Thornton who would be a real long shot to come to Raleigh.)
At this point, I would make a bid for de Haan and probably pass on the forward options unless something fell in my lap for cheap?
What say you Caniac Nation?
1) Are there any Sunday free agent deals that you would steal if you could?
2) Which, if any, of the Hurricane departures would you have preferred to re-sign given their contract terms elsewhere today?
3) What are your thoughts on the high volume/potentially modest quality deal for Ryan O’Reilly? Would you have offered up a Hurricanes equivalent and taken on the July 1 $7.5 million payment to land him?
4) Are there any free agents remaining who would be of interest to you?
Go Canes!
1) Filppula. For one year and less than $3M, he could be a veteran LW that allows the organization to move Skinner. He can also play C if Necas struggles. It does appear the organization (do not know if it is RBA or the entire front office) wants to commit to Necas at C to start the season. Stastny or ROR would prohibit that. A Necas/Svech pairing will need a stable veteran LW, of all the signings yesterday Filppula is closest to that stable veteran.
2) Cam.
3) Only if the organization is not committed to Aho and Necas as centers. I will state my belief here that Aho’s point production reaches 75 this coming season as a C.
4) I agree that deHaan is the best LD option.
Great idea about Fillpula. For the bargain bin I’d take him – versatile forward can hep the third line.
Very happy for Doc and his contract in Calgary. A bit confused by BP though. BP blamed his lack of success in Raleigh on not having good enough players, but his first move in Calgary is to recruit the same players.
It is puzzling to watch it infold.
Go Canes!
1/ Yes, irrespective of whether they would have even considered CAR, I liked the Stastny deal and I would have signed Tavares on those terms instantly. Maybe you meant to say that and just left it out, or Matt, would you not have signed to Tavares to that deal? I also have to give credit to PHI for not going past 5 years on JvR – the 5th year may be dicey but that is way better than the 6/7 year deals we’ve seen in the recent past. On that same note, I think these 8-yr extensions have a high degree of probability of being somewhat problematic in the out years, even to (or especially to) Doughty.
2/ None. Happy for Cam and DR and Nordstrom but I thought the prices were on the high side. Maybe Cam is objectively a better option that Mzarek but we had to make a change there. And at Center, I’d rather fully commit to Necas.
3/ At first, I was surprised by what BUF received, then I became less enthralled with it. However, from their perspective, they need Middle-6 guys right now and those guys may even slot higher in their lineup, at least for a while; the draft picks are useful assets to improve now (via a trade) or later. As it relates to Skinner: since he has submitted a list of teams where he’d waive the No-Trade, and since that trade is likely contingent on an extension, makes me hopeful that we’ll receive a fair package back. The teams still shopping for offense is lengthy.
4/ Not really. Any option I’d want is going to be available only via a trade.
Happy for DR and Cam. Both are class acts and wish them the best. Same for Nordy who signed in Boston.
Sorry Matt. I don’t get the love for OReilly. His cap hit for the next 5 years is not good. In two years, I would see him as a 3C for the canes. He is too slow for any top line on the canes in the not too distant future. I am in the camp of let the kids grow.
I want to be consistent in supporting the team. I and many others called for zykov, Foegele and others during the past season. They have talent and have proven that they have gotten enough time in AHL. Svech and Necas are talented enough to at least get a shot. Will the team have growing pains? Yes, no doubt.
I would like to see a player obtained who can play 2C on the penalty kill. Not sure Rask is that guy.
1. Players to Steal still: There’s not much out there. Archibald from Vancouver if you still wanted more grit with some scoring upside if looking at unsigned players. Otherwise, none of the free agent signings by other teams really lit my fire except Tavares because he would have elevated us into a real playoff team immediately. Right now the teams that improved the most in free agency in our conference are all the teams that made the playoffs this past season with two possible exceptions. Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Tampa all improved more than the non-playoff teams (Detroit, Florida, Carolina, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Montreal, Ottawa, and Buffalo). Columbus and New Jersey of last years playoff teams kind of just held there own relative to us. This being the case, our making the playoffs this year with what we have will depend on us beating out Columbus and New Jersey. With a Tavares, we would have been a lock to do that IMO and probably move into the upper echelon of teams.
2. I wish all of the former Canes well (unless they are playing us), but none of them would I have resigned.
3. That deal stunk for Buffalo IMO because of the timing. When you trade for first round draft picks it is important to know what pick in the first round you are going to get. A first round pick from a Stanley Cup competitor team is not worth as much as a first round pick from a team that finishes out of the playoffs. You don’t trade your one blue chip asset for draft picks at this time of year IMO. You make those type trades at the trade deadline when you really have some idea first of what the potential draft prospects look like, when playoff contending teams will pay more with draft picks and prospects, and where you know where teams are likely to finish so you have some idea of the real value of the draft pick. For example, a first round pick from Ottawa will probably be a better pick than a first round pick from Washington. I would not have made the deal for the Canes either. He would not have improved us enough to make a difference since we would have to have gutted our current third line players as part of the deal.
The only deal that would move us into the upper echelon right now from players that appear to be on the market is one where we get Karlsson for draft picks and prospects. Karlsson would drive our scoring from the backend IMO and turn us into an elite team. Can such a deal be made? I don’t know, but I would be aggressively looking to do something like a first round and second round draft pick plus two or three of our prospects. Of course, as it is with all teams, then we would just have to worry about Mrazek and/or Darling giving us just average goaltending or a little better.
1. Cam
2. Cam
3. I still would not have paid it. Thompson is a former first round pick, our deal may have worked but it may not. In any case, I do not want any more proven players outside of whatever we get in return for Skinner/Faulk IF we trade them. I’m pumped to see what this team can accomplish.
4. Tye McGinn, only because, yay brothers!!!
1) I would have stolen the UFA acquisition Chicago made of left handed d-man Manning. He is a physical stay-at-home d-man. Calvin DeHaan is looking for a lot of money as well as term.
2) No.
3) No. Definitely not.
4) Tommy Wingels. He would make a great fourth line center. Maybe even 3rd line.
1. the Paul Stastny deal, in terms of cost and contract length I think he would’ve been perfect for the canes, more so than RoR for instance.
2. No, Cam Ward is a class act guy but the team needed change for change’s sake in goal (or at least that’s what it feels like). I also think 3 mill for a backup goalie is a bit steep, 1.5 is approx. only half that price.
3. RoR is a bit of a risk, worth it if you are trying to go all in for a “win now” but for a rebuilding team like the Canes I”m not convinced he would be the right fit. I’d prefer younger guys with more speed, like RnH or draisitl. I’d give up that type of package for either of those two. The canes have a lot of promising third and 4th line players and prospects and could easily backfill from the remaining UFA pool if needed.
4. Calvin would be interesting, provided the team could get assets back for Faulk. Outside of that I”m not sure anything jumps out at me. Anthony Declair could’ve been a reclamation project for a team thin on third/forth line playrs but the cAnes have a lot of their own prospects that deserve a chance to rise up now, bringing in a reclamation project from outside the team is probably not needed nor helpful, unless the guy is a gritty center.
Mrazek is a reasonable signing. He’s young with plenty of tread left, has proven to be an NHL starter, has NHL playoff experience, and had previous success winning the Calder Cup for the Wings organization. He’s also had his shares of downs, but he can be streaky good. I like his mindset to come in for one year and prove it. To me that’s a guy who’s going to take the #1 job. Plus, the shadow of Cam (as much of a team guy he was) won’t be there and I think that lifts pressure.
The only free agent signing I can see is maybe Enstrom to fill the left side defense (if that happens Pesce can stay on the right side and Faulk might be expendable). I could also still see Skinner being dealt for a return of a different kind of forward. Either way there is no rush at this point.
James Neal, 5 years $5.75 mill (Calgary) is a deal the Canes might have considered. I think 5 years is too much however, 3 would’ve been reasonable.
With the Bruins and Sharks supposedly trying to get Skinner I’m honestly not sure what the Canes would want back to make it worth their while.
I think the Canes do not need more defensemen, a stay at home LHD but there are UFA and cheaper options plus prospects.
I don’t see anything at forward that I expect the teams would give up.
Sure the 5 years is too much but in free agency you have to give to get something. How can a team expect to sign ANY players if they are not willing to make some concessions regarding value? The Canes were rebuilding the last few years clearly so in my eyes a rebuilding team doesn’t have a lot of good reason to make ANY bad value signings – and I applaud Francis for not doing so (except for Scott Darling). However, now that the Canes are moving into a win now mode and they have a TON of cap space with not a significant amount of players they’ll need to sign for big money – how can they not make a signing?
The Leafs signed JT for 11 mill a year. They PLAN to sign Marner, Matthews AND Nylander to extensions. They also already signed PAtrick Marleau to a classic high price Free agency deal last year. Did that stop them from being bidders this year? Nope. They are unafraid to use every dollar of their cap space – and I truly believe some other teams in the league have the mentality of “we need that player – we will figure out how to deal with the price later”. Sure that can be stressful – but the teams that are doing that have won cups and have multiple playoff appearances. Is the Canes frugal value approach REALLY working if they’ve missed the playoffs for 9 consecutive seasons?
No part of me would ever steal the Milan Lucic or David Backes deals from recent past – but take a look at the teams that signed those deals. Immediately after those signings their teams made the playoffs the next year. So finding that happy medium between a Lucic contract and an Eric Staal (clearly absurdly team friendly, maybe Eric would reconsider that contract in retrospect) is where the Canes should have the cajones to reach for. The Neal, PErron, Stastny and Bozak contracts perfectly illustrate other teams that have more cajones than the Canes.
fifty – all that is true but only if CAR is a destination that any of Neal, Perron, Stastny, or Bozak would consider at any price. I fully expect some players to trade some salary for the chance-to-win, especially quality veteran players that have been paid in the past and do not have a Cup (the ones you listed), but selling CAR at any price right now is a tall order for these players.
The flip side is the player that is more interested in money than in winning. I’m very skeptical of signing those type of players (but have no issue with their personal goal).
Bottom line: we just aren’t in a position yet to be active in the premium end of the UFA market. Our winning move, though less fulfilling on a day like yesterday when other teams seem to improve far more than we do, is to use our premium prospect pool to make trades to upgrade the existing roster.
dmiller. I agree with your overall point. But I am not sure if the prospects are valuable in a trade. For instance I have been reading comments by Leafs fans on another site, they think Kapinen is a key part of a trade for Faulk. To get anything like full value players need to produce in the NHL. Otherwise the return will be below what most of us expect.
If for no other reason than to improve trade value, I would not be surprised to see 5-6 rookies/prospects get a shot early this season.
I’ll take Kapanen as part of a Faulk package. Totally cool with that.
This is the type of thinking that I was hoping a new bold owner willing to spend money would be able to change. Unfortunately it seems the Canes are still widely considered as such around the league – including from our own fanbase. I totally agree with you here – as much as these guys were huge targets for me perhaps Carolina truly carries so little weight in the minds of players around the league that we’d need to spend exorbitantly extra to get them?
If that is true – that is one of the saddest and most pathetic things about being a Canes fan I think we can all agree. It’s not on us to change the perception of the team around the league – it’s on the management and ownership. I bet a huge issue with the Canes is that for EVERY organization staff spot they offer below league average salary wise – including players. If Tom Dundon was willing to exponentially increase spending I believe the Canes would have a more positive outlook from the rest of the league.
I agree when dundon says they shouldn’t spend money for the sake of spending money – but with that being said I bet there is an INCREDIBLY high correlation in the NHL between overall organization expenditures and winning percentage longitudinally. And how can we simply ACCEPT the fact the Canes are cheap instead of being so angry? WE can’t change a players mind if they say “no disrespect but id rather play in a massive city like New York or Toronto” – fine. But if the wallet is opened and Tom Dundon is as rich as people say – then why can’t the Hurricanes SPEND money like some of the at least mid-top tier teams. Dang look at Florida over the years for a good example – they don’t sellout their building they tend to have more away fans than home fans but here is an ownership group and management group UNAFRAID to spend money.
The more and more I assess the ‘state of the canes’ the more I think that on paper – this team is an enviable position with great prospects and cap space yet in terms of how the organization has performed and this word being key – how they’ve been PROACTIVE (or lets say nearly inactive) in changing their fortunes is absolutely pathetic and makes me ashamed.
I’m a Toronto blue jays fan and a couple years ago the old GM sold the farm to make the team competitive – taking on some bad contracts with big money to help the team win. It resulted in consecutive postseason appearances – and after those the team is set to go through 2-3 years of rebuilding-retooling at the COST of their 2 years of success. Now I can sit back and appreciate that the former GM was PROACTIVE in making a playoff team – it was so much fun and worth while watching that product that for these 2-3 years where the team struggles we as fans can be patient because we wouldn’t trade the playoff appearances for having a ‘good franchise position on paper’ like the Canes have seemingly had for 3 years yet done almost nothing to push it to the next level.
There is not one blue chip free agent that wanted to become a Cane at any price this year. The non-blue chip free agents were not worth the money paid by the teams to get them. Money is not the Canes problem to get blue chip free agents. The problem is we are not a place to come to if a player wants to WIN. We have to build the franchise into a cup contender and then we will be able to use dollars where needed to keep the team competitive at a high level. That means we need for the most part to develop our young players. We have a boatload of young forward and defensemen talent. We need to play them at the NHL level to find out which are going to be the core of a winning franchise FIRST. Right now on paper we have a serious hole at the goaltender position. Unfortunately, no amount of dollars spent will fill that hole. The free agent market was not loaded with outstanding goaltenders. No team in the league with an outstanding number 1 goalie is going to trade that goalie or let them go to free agency if at all possible. So we need to put the wallet away and first develop a number 1 goalie to make the team more attractive to blue chip free agents. Just my opinion.
I am pretty ashamed of the Hurricanes today. I am afraid that they pigeonholed themselves into believing July 1st spending is ALWAYs dumb- look for the most part it is but when there are players that can help your team win both tomorrow and in the future how can you not make it a goal to walk away with at least 1 of the 6-7 guys who could help. Instead they have ZERO of those players.
looking at whose left the only two i’m intrigued with now (and let me be clear these two are at the bottom of my original list and become major consolation prizes for the Canes – Maroon (good for 40 pts, net front presence) or Fillpula as someone mentioned above.
The David Perron, Paul stastny, James Neal and a smaller extent the Tyler Bozak deal all made me feel extreme shame because I would have stolen any or all of those deals. For the first three players I would have even considered adding term or extra salary to make the Canes offer better than other teams JUST to have those players.
So here we go another season of absolutely abysmal offense and inconsistency is on the horizon. Abysmal offense maybe will turn out okay IF the rookies pretty much ALL perform well. The inconsistency I’m commenting on I think is highly due to lacking enough Justin William’s types to set a good example for the young players – and James Neal or Paul Stastny would have gone a long way to boosting the leadership qualities of the Hurricanes team.
I consider it more saving cap space for these young players we’re developing. They’re going to want to get paid eventually, and we shouldn’t hesitate. Free agents more often than not, tend to be wastes of money. Unless you get the Eric Staal steals, but that was an exception not the rule.
I agree with the sentiment that July 1 is the most dangerous day of the year. I don’t think the team is done for the summer. A trade or two will have the team looking different in the not so distant future.
Eklund says that San Jose as well as Boston are battling it out for Skinny’s services. Interesting.
Boston is still reeling over losing in the Tavaris sweepstakes. Worse, he is now with a division rival. So now they still have Chara/McAvoy to keep the Matthews line silent, but they feel a need for a number one d-man on the second pairing to handle Tavaris. Justin Faulk? Maybe.
I had to giggle when I heard that James Neal signed a long term deal with Calgary. James Neal will be Peters’ worst nightmare. The personality clash that will take place between Neal, who just thrived under Gallant, and the button-down mind of Captain Queeg will be monumental. I can’t wait.
Giggle! Giggle! Chuckles! Chortle! Guffaw! Guffaw!
I have to agree with you about Neal and Peters. I got a laugh over that one. Those two may come to blows at some point!
I think BP will have an interesting time with a lot of the Calgary roster, given his personality and comments about the Canes team he coached 15% of which has decamped and followed him across the continent.
Great comments guys. I can’t figure out of TD is being smart or just cheap. I find the wranglings ver Chuck Kaiten nothing short of stingy. The guy is in his 70s or 80s, he deserves to run his radio broadcast until he wishes to retire. The expense is pretty minimal. If he truly wishes to be upgraded and join the TV crew, that’s fine, but the public wrangling over not renewing his contract because TD “bought a sports team, not to sponsor a radio show” leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, and looks cheap. The show can easily be axed without dispute or loss of dignity when Chuck decides to retire. (I know, I keep wrangling on about it, I’ll stop here)
Then Lindholm and Hannifin are sent packing when their demands do not meet TD’s idea of a good value contract. I am on record as liking that deal because of what the Canes got back, but the team will miss Lindholm at center unless something is done to address that need (which the team failed to do with 2 to 3 acceptable to good UFA options).
And there are rumours, albeit from the Canadian hockey media who are probably trying to divert attension from the Ottawa mess, about TD being stingy and paying less than league average across the board.
The ownership has yet to prove that the team is headed in a new direction and that they’re willing to invest in a winning product.
On an individual basis I can see why they didn’t sign a UFA, but even my comments started getting colored by the couponing household policy that should not be governing a team that needs to make the playoffs now or else may be destined for irrelevance in the very near future.
This roster is not a significant upgrade on last year unless a bunch of kids that are not even a drinking age yet perform miracles.
Fortunately the summer is not done and I give management a cautious thumbs up for the first blockbuster trade they made. They need to make at least one more with the Canes coming out on top with a quality center.
Breezy. You and I are very close in our assessment of the front office/ownership thus far. If the Canes sign Fox, the trade is a big win. But I think it was as much about salary as improvement. In fact, the Canes needed Lindholm to move to center and were strong at RD, which is why I think it was about sending a message about contracts. Now the goalie was the least expensive option. I hope this is not the sine qua non for the front office. If Aho is offered anything less than 8 years/ 57M I will be really concerned.
What is frustrating is that the team is maybe one year away from being quite good. This year they will be fun but too many players learning on the job to challenge 100 points—unless Bales works some magic on Darling or Mrazek.
Finally, keep preaching about how Kaiton is being treated—I agree with you in that he deserves his own final chapter. Whatever the financial “loss” is dwarfed by how he has earned a place in fans’ hearts.
In the case of the goaltender I give the Canes two thumbs up. They tried to get Grubauer. Offered more than CO, but Washington was never going to give him to them. Nothing they could do there. The rest of the goalies available are all risks. None of them are proven #1 guys and signing one of them for bigger money and a longer term could blow up in their face. Do you want them to have two Darling like deals on the books?
The rest of the stuff about Dundon offering everyone below market dollars? Yep. He’s playing the money game. We will see how it works.
I, for one, am not all that broken up over Chuck Kaiton. He had to see it coming. If he didn’t…well…wake up. Being cheap is one thing, but paying serious money for a radio guy is charity.
Wait what? Doc got over 3…. AAV? Not total? Holy crap. That seems like a lot for a bottom 6 player. Like, a whole lot.
To Boston: Jeff Skinner, Justin Faulk
To Carolina: David Pastrnak, Torey Krug.
Make it happen. Only way Boston agrees to that is probably extension in place on Skinner. And they might still decline that deal but. Boy that’d be lovely
I think they’d decline this deal 100 times out of 100 extension or not… Pastranak in just a few years has already surpassed a level that Skinner has offensively and Skinner is a known quantity scoring wise – Pastranak may even still have a higher level. Depending on what you want in a defenseman some would argue Krug is a superior dman to Faulk in many ways – aside from goal scoring potential. His assist and overall production rate is first pairing caliber while Faulk’s is 2nd/1st pairing caliber – and defensively they rate out fairly similarly.
I take it back I looked at Krug’s goal scoring numbers… Sorry but Krug > Faulk and Pastranak > Skinner back to the drawing board.
I was wondering if Minnesota might be a fit if i’m going try my hand at a trade proposal:
To Minny – Faulk and Skinner, (+ maybe low end prospect or pick)
To Carolina – Brodin, Coyle, Marcus Foligno (wonder if Minny would appreciate the salary dump?) + maybe a pick or prospect depending on what the Canes give up.
Pure hockey trade no picks or prospects. Gives Minnesota more short term cap flexibility.
The Canes get a left handed dman who plays shutdown minutes on a good contract – and they certainly downgrade forward wise from Skinner to Coyle but maybe Coyle brings a bit of that versatility element that Lindholm brought in terms of being able to play center or wing – he’s had inconsistency issues in Minnesota.
Make it happen.
Yeah I know. I’m just dreaming a bit. And it’s funny you bring up Coyle who I really like and was just thinking of as a trade target as the 2C. Brodin is a really solid top four defenseman too that eats minutes and kills penalties. I think I’d be happy with that deal.
I don’t think you will pry Pastrnak out of there. Boston is trying to add some offensive fire power. As 22-year old who posted 80 point and was part of 1 of the best few lines in the league, he isn’t going anywhere.
But I think a starting point of Skinner and Krug could make a ton of sense. Boston gets scoring help it wants, and they really don’t need player who necessarily meshes with other top players (they already have top line set). Canes get a left shot top 4 with 2 years of contract remaining to pair with Hamilton.
It’s so hard to figure out what it takes to even deal, but my thought is that Canes get something else…maybe higher-round draft pick (2nd?) or a mid-range prospect. Next domino could be trading Faulk to add a scoring type forward to replace Skinner.
I would offer either Skinner or Faulk for Krug. He would be a nice addition. As far as Pastrnak goes I have to agree that there is no way Boston would let go of a 22 year old potential all-star who is locked up for 5 more years.
I am in the camp with live free in that I think Mrazek is a decent signing. I watched past tape on both he and Darling to compare. I looked at Mrazek in the year he started 54 games for Detroit with a .921 SV%. One thing that stood out in Mrazek was his glove hand was great as was his and blocker side. His technique and rebound control was spot on. Now I know he digressed last two year but I blame some of that on Detroit ‘s horrific defense. On the other hand watching Darling when with the Blackhawks he was (and as we witnessed last year) a zombie sprawling mess spitting out rebounds left and right. His technique is that of a ECHL goalie. I still have zero confidence with him in the net but it appears the brain trust thinks he can correct all his deficiencies. I think by game 10 Mrazek will be the starter and Darling will be sent thru waivers to Charlotte and here comes Ned.
Maybe we can use Skinner or Faulk to obtain up and coming quality AHL goalie like Sparks or Lyons. Sorry for rambling but I am not convinced that Darling belongs in the NHL and totally disappointed.
I would say that the Canadian press is blowing smoke about TD being cheap. He probably has his quirks regarding the spending of money, but not pursuing the inflated contracts signed by the rest of the league is just good thinking.
None of us knows what exactly went on with the trade decisions. So we don’t know how much was TD and how much was DW. Was money the prime motivator? We just don’t know.
In the old days, we knew that PK was cheap. Yet he gave JR the ok to overspend on Russians. Semin, Federov, Teverdovsky, Ozilynch, Babchuk, Markov. Each was a disaster. Especially when they balked in contract negotiations. Any player who wouldn’t take what was offered with a smile was jettisoned. Including Keith Primeau (not Russian). So, was it JR or PK? To this day, I don’t know.
I, for one, am going to give them the season to mess it up or not. I, for one, like the line up just the way it is shaping up. No more trades are necessary. Anyone who can’t see the drastic changes to this team from last year, just doesn’t want to see it. I see the changes. Big ones.
Ozo was Latvian. They really didn’t spend that much on Babchuk. Samsonov was pretty good for the Canes. I hope you aren’t comparing this generation of Russians to those from the past. The newer generation are much more culturally compatible to North American life. Not the big adjustment they used to have to make.
Poerless, I like your attitude. It’s easy and fun to propose all kinds of fantasy, and I mean fantasy, type trades and player acquisitions, but TD, DW and Roddie live in the real world. I have seen no situation involving players where saving dollars was the motivation for making or not making a player move or acquisition. Of course, anyone can put a slant on some player move to satisfy a dollar dump theory and then proclaim “see there, I told you so.” IMO so far management has made moves solely with the intention of improving this team.
As far as Kaiton goes, I think they should find a place for him. Why can’t he handle a tv pregame show and/or commentary between periods, and/or an after game tv show. Other franchises do not use their in game commentators for these type activities.
Kaiton is a play-by-play guy – few people do it better or have done it better. In some ways he is even better than Forslund – Forslund tells you what you are seeing; Kaiton has to make you see it with his words. Delegating him to a lesser role of color commentary or a pregame show would be a sad way for the man to go. TD doesn’t appreciate what he has in Kaiton, even if it is just a loss-leader.
From what I can tell, the Canes will be 1-2 million above the cap floor with all the RFA signings. If they do trade a roster player (JS or JF) they will need to accept a similar salary back or make other acquisitions to gain salary. Hopefully they are pursuing a trade where they accept a large contract with sweeteners (goalie prospect) for a mid round pick. Then they will have some roster flexibility with the others. Can only hope a near ready goalie or a power forward prospect is acquired.
Good ideas IMO. They make sense to me. At least reasonable approaches to consider.