When the calendar flips to 2018 in just over a week, the Hurricanes will be 38 games into the 2017-18 season. That is a few games short of the official midway point but close enough to start doing that type of evaluation.
The honeymoon begins
Three and a half years ago, Ron Francis inherited a team that was near the bottom of the NHL both in terms of current season and also the future based on system rankings.
As a familiar face with a tremendous on-ice contribution to the organization, all Francis had to do to be well-received was say anything that the fans could interpret to mean a positive future was on the way.
Francis’ mantra in that regard from the very beginning was that his goal was to build a team that not just returned to the playoffs but also became a regular entrant and true Cup contender. The plan made sense given the state of the team he inherited and the realities of a small market team. Though the word “rebuilding” was probably never uttered directly by Francis, he pretty clearly charted that course when he stated his strategy/plan and also when he followed through repeatedly by eschewing opportunities to make short-term fixes and instead sold veteran assets at every opportunity to stock the prospect pool and system.
Not to discount the merit of Francis’ original plan, but by taking the reins when the team was at a low point, he entered at an incredibly easy point for ‘before any results can be measured’ type of evaluations.
The process plays out over three long years
To be clear, though the marketing and early evaluation part of it was easy, I think Francis’ original plan was the right one and only viable one for a successful long-term future. More significantly, he deserves even more credit for his ability to avoid the temptation of short-term fixes and instead being steadfast in his commitment to the long-term. The first two years were hard on the ice, but Francis was unwavering in his commitment to rebuilding.
2014-15
In his first summer as general manager and staring at team that was 25th in the NHL during the previous season and incredibly lacking in terms of depth, he moved to add Jay McClement, Brad Malone and Tim Gleason during the summer. His biggest move was to part ways with coach Kirk Muller and bring aboard Bill Peters.
The trade deadline marked the second round of committing to the rebuild. With the potential to either trade or re-sign a handful of players, Francis aggressively sold any and all players who were scheduled to become free agents parting ways with Andrej Sekera, Jiri Tlusty and Tim Gleason.
2015-16
The 2015-16 season charted a similar course. Francis again steered clear of big name, big dollar free agents. He made a move to add a goalie in Eddie Lack and a shrewd move to add Kris Versteeg and Joakim Nordstrom from the salary cap-strapped Blackhawks for virtually nothing. The trade deadline again saw Francis sell everything that was not bolted down. Most significant was the departure of Eric Staal, but also traded were John-Michael Liles and Kris Versteeg. The team improved step-wise from 2014-15 to 2015-16 but still was not really a playoff contender when the trade deadline arrived.
2016-17
Despite the step-wise improvement in the 2015-16 season and the early emergence of a young blue line, Francis against held steadfast to the patient version of a rebuild during the offseason before the 2016-17 season. Francis did add more skilled youth to the mix when he added Teuvo Teravainen, again capitalizing on the Blackhawks’ financial challenges. But past that, the rest of the summer featured another small batch of under the radar depth acquisitions in the form of Lee Stempniak, Viktor Stalberg and Matt Tennyson. On the ice, the season was somewhat similar to the 2015-16 season. The Hurricanes struggled early and then surged late but never quite pushed up into true playoff contention because of the slow start.
The end of the honeymoon
During the honeymoon phase of Ron Francis’ time as general manager, evaluations were fairly easy. Measuring his progress had simply to do with assessing how well he was sticking to his plan and whether there was enough evidence to suggest that the fuzzy and unpredictable future could be positive.
But eventually, the evaluation of a general manager on a yearly basis is less subjectively measured by how well his team performs on the ice. In that regard, making the playoffs is a baseline requirement for a good season.
And though the Hurricanes rebuild is very much a work in progress, we have officially reached the point in Ron Francis’ tenure when evaluation of his performance will much more so be based on whether the team made the playoffs and to some degree how well it did once in those playoffs.
Against that backdrop, I think Francis entered the most recent offseason with a different objectives and also metrics for how his work would be graded at the end of the season. There is always a balance to making moves to win in the here and now versus continuing to invest in the future, but after a 90/10 split in favor of investing in the future for three years, Francis’ fourth season as general manager requires a significant shift to a more balanced split of priorities and with it a different mentality as a general manager.
The offseason prior to the 2017-18 season
The team entered the offseason before the 2017-18 with eight consecutive playoff misses but also significantly with a team that had improved in terms of NHL depth, financial structure, development system and even on-ice results even if only marginally in that last measure.
Shortly after the 2016-17 season concluded, Francis talked about the need to add offensive talent to the team and improvement the team’s goaltending. He moved assertively early in the offseason to add Scott Darling and simultaneously cut ties with Eddie Lack to address the goaltending need. That seemingly put the ball on the tee for Francis to make one more big move to boost the offense. With names like Matt Duchene, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Alex Galchenyuk and others expected to be available via trade, options seemed to be available. But when the dust settled on the 2017-18 offseason, the Hurricanes added only depth/checking line Marcus Kruger at the center position and instead spent the one big bullet salary-wise on veteran leader Justin Williams.
I entered training camp with mixed feelings about the offseason moves. With the step-wise improvement during the 2016-17 season and the young roster that still had room to grow potentially, there was potential upside from within the returning roster even before additions. Though there are no guarantees with any goalie, the addition of Scott Darling represented an aggressive move to address the team’s biggest need and add one of the top players available at the position based on any and all rankings. And Justin Williams represented a great locker room addition in the form of a player who could also still produce on the score sheet. But in not adding an offensive catalyst in the form of a playmaking center, the team failed to address what I considered to be the second glaring need entering the offseason.
Circumstantial evidence suggests that the price was incredibly high, arguably even too high, to add such a player. But situations like this are where general managers often either fail or succeed as measured by results in the next season.
In addition to addressing what I considered to the be top priority (a goalie), not addressing the second priority (a scoring catalyst at the center position) and possibly instead adding a legitimate top 6 forward with leadership abilities to boot, Francis also made a number of under the radar moves to solidify depth. He added Josh Jooris and Marcus Kruger to build out a new fourth line and also added Trevor van Riemsdyk to solidify the third defense pairing.
When the offseason ended, Francis had made two top half of the roster acquisitions and also three depth acquisitions surpassing his work from the past summers.
Still a wide range of possible outcomes for the 2017-18 Hurricanes season
Important to note is that any evaluation of Francis’ work nearing the midway point of the season will be rendered irrelevant by a final assessment when the season ends.
The range of possibilities is incredibly wide right now. The season very much hangs in the balance between the team putting things together and pushing up into the playoffs which would be a huge success and instead missing again which just will not be good enough at this point. with a mid-season push and a playoff berth, Francis will look like a genius for his willingness and guts to bet on youth and also for many of the moves he did make. If the team stumbles and finds itself a seller at the trade deadline again, Francis will be criticized for not dipping into his growing pool of prospects and futures to do more to make the 2017-18 season a success.
Such is the life of an NHL general manager.
An early assessment of Ron Francis for the 2017-18 season
So while recognizing that a final verdict will be rendered by the NHL standings in about four months, for the sake of December Canes hockey conversation, here is my assessment of Francis’ work through 34 games.
Goalie woes
Among the many areas where Francis has had success, the goalie position is far from being one of them. Before the 2015-165, he made the decision to part ways with Anton Khudobin and simultaneously add Eddie Lack. He then doubled down on his first decision by re-signing Lack to a two-year extension before Lack even arrived in Raleigh. Without diving back into the details, the move to add Lack failed, and in retrospect the move to extend him for two years without first seeing how he transitioned to the new team and role also proved to be a poor decision.
After a tough 2014-15 season in terms of netminding, Francis entered the offseason with Cam Ward coming off of his seven-year contract. With the opportunity to replace Ward, possibly replace goalie coach David Marcoux and/or try to make a deal to cut his losses with Lack, Francis inexplicably made the decision to take what did not work in 2015-16 and go right back to it in 2016-17. Not surprisingly, the results were similar. Though the path was different, the end result was that the Carolina Hurricanes goaltending was significantly below the league average based on just about any measurement of goalie play.
After two consecutive failed seasons of Ward/Lack/Marcoux, Francis moved aggressively to make changes this past offseason. He bid fairly aggressively to gain the negotiating rights for impending free agent Scott Darling from the Blackhawks and subsequently made a four-year commitment to a new starting goalie. Next Francis parted ways with goalie coach David Marcoux and replaced him with Mike Bales. One can always second guess individual moves, but at least Francis had avoided the previous summer’s error of just doing the same and hoping for better results. At the time of the deal, one of the things that jumped out about Darling was how similar he was to Lack in terms of past experience and roles. He was an older goalie who had success but had never really been a full-time #1 goalie and had logged only 75 games at the NHL compared to 82 for Lack.
Again, it is FAR too early to make any kind of permanent declaration on Scott Darling as a Hurricanes goalie, but it is fair to say that 34 games into his time with the team, he has not been a success.
Priority 2 – An offensive catalyst/Justin Williams
Be it because of onerous market prices for options or be it because of a change in priorities, Francis added winger Justin Williams and did not add a playmaking center. The two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive but the salary budget for each of the two is similar and maybe makes the combination of two moves worth considering together.
Through 34 games, I stand by my assertion that the Hurricanes would greatly benefit from adding a single offensive catalyst at the center position. Such at player could have a multiplier effect adding scoring himself and also boosting a couple line mates.
More tactically, one of the problems with the Hurricanes power play is that the lineup lacks a high-end puck distributor who can convert power play ice time into bunches of scoring chances for the other players on the ice with him. The current version of the power play features fairly static positioning and predictable puck movement that does not yield enough of the really good chances that often turn into goals. At even strength, the Hurricanes have a number of young wings with decent skill who could instantly see their goal scoring increase from playing with a puck distributor type center.
Finally, I would be remiss if I do not also comment on Justin Williams since I put him as somewhat of an either/or choice. Thus far, Williams has done everything one could ask from him. His current 57-point scoring is slightly better than expected. His solid two-way and puck possession play is underappreciated. And the leadership that he brings is also significant. So saying that the team could still benefit from a playmaking, scoring catalyst is not to say that Williams was not a good addition who has made the team better with the skill set that he brings.
Depth additions
Francis’ wheelhouse for trades during his three-year tenure as general manager has been getting really good value on middle of the roster/depth additions via trade and free agency. He added Joakim Nordstrom and Kris Versteeg for pretty much nothing, acquired Teuvo Teravainen for also taking on Bryan Bickell’s contract and he added Lee Stempniak via free agency for a price much lower than the big ticket forwards that summer.
Francis has been very good at adding players at a discount to market value and this summer was no exception. Francis gave up very little to get Marcus Kruger and Trevor van Riemsdyk to add to the collection of former Blackhawks on the roster, and Josh Jooris brought another proven depth forward for a modest cost.
All of these moves have worked out at least reasonably well thus far with van Riemsdyk being an underappreciated addition who has helped solidify a third defense pairing that struggled in 2016-17 and in the process provide a stable situation for Haydn Fleury initially and more recently Noah Hanifin.
The burning questions
Aside from the objective evaluation points that the end of season standings will provide, I do think there are some key questions that remain open with regard to Ron Francis’ abilities, tendencies and skill set.
In addition to value shopping especially with cap-constrained teams, can Francis pull off a bigger trade to add a top half of the roster player if he needs one to build a winner?
When Francis makes his next true player for player trade in the top half of the roster, it will be his first. Though the need was there and the options two, Francis has been unable to land a top 6 forward, ideally a center, via trade. It is one thing for a general manager to get a good price in deals, but it is a completely different thing to get what the team really needs.
In a similar vein, does Francis have enough wheeler/dealer in him to address weaknesses, fill holes and convert a good lineup with shortcomings into a winner.
As much as Francis’ long-term strategy is the right one, the prospect pool does not always generate what a team needs at the right time. There is a balance to patience and commitment to futures but also recognizing that if the team is close and the system does not fill a need, then making a deal trumps just waiting a couple more years for the prospect pool to help.
Can Francis, possibly with help from Head Coach Bill Peters and Goalie Coach Mike Bales figure out the goalie situation?
The position is incredibly important, and thus far under Francis’ tenure, the team has yet to figure it out.
What say you Canes fans?
1) How would you rate Ron Francis thus far?
2) How would you rate him thus far (and it is early) in terms of transitioning from being solely focused on the future to striking more of a balance between ‘win now’and ‘build for the future’?
3) If the Hurricanes stay in the playoff hunt leading up to the trade deadline, do you think Francis has one or two moves in him to put the team over the top? Based on what you have seen thus far, what type of player do you think would be targeted by such a move?
Go Canes!
1. I give him a solid B+ He’s managed to rebuild the farm system, and add some good pieces for cheap. He’s also managed to avoid overpaying for lackluster talent(Duchene). On the down side, we need PP help.
2. C+ He hasn’t added higher end talent, but he hasn’t saddled us with an albatross contract either.
3. We need scoring, and preferably a center.
1. dogbutler is correct. I might even say A-. As I mentioned in the other thread for today, the Canes are good enough to compete with the likes of Columbus and Nashville. They have been inconsistent, but they are significantly better than when Francis took over. The amount of talent in the organization (Charlotte, even Booth in Florida, overseas, and the CHL) is as strong as any of the 31 teams. If Francis doesn’t deliver the playoffs this season and is replaced, he will still be the primary architect of the 20-21 Cup champions.
2. I actually give Francis a B for not making a move. Signing “top-line” centers/scorers is at best a 50/50 proposition. The three you mention Duchene, RNH, Galchenyuk, really aren’t improving their current teams. Eberle and Turris have been great adds. My guess is the only realistic option was Hanifin or Slavin for a young center (think Jones/Johansen or Larson/Hall). Obviously both Hanifin and Slavin are going to be keys for a long time.
To the point of “win now,” Darling and Williams were exactly that. Williams is a clear “A”. While Darling is a “D” at this point, be honest, everyone here at C&C thought it was brilliance when RF made the move. Again, there are no guarantees.
3. I am not sure. Did Eric Staal put NYR over the top two years ago? Or Shattenkirk bring a cup to Washington last year? Again, what sounds great in theory is usually a coin flip in practice.
I believe that a call-up of Zykov or Wallmark or Foegele or Saarela might have as much impact as an “all in” trade. And the availability of talent within the organization should be credited to GMRF.
I don’t mean to come across as a Ron Francis apologist. However, I willingly admit that I have been woefully wrong about quite a few things I have stated with confidence on this site. I am even starting to rethink my absolute conviction that Marcoux was the main issue with goaltending. It isn’t at all simple to know what is the final missing piece (again we ALL thought Darling was the biggest part of the answer). If RF makes a trade, it may work. Even if it doesn’t, that would not mean he is failing. Look at Ottawa–finals last year and fading fast this year.
The organization is making progress. I hope (and mostly believe) it has made enough to earn 94-95 points this year. I could be wrong. But I can’t seriously argue that adding Williams, TVR, Kruger, and even Jooris weren’t strong moves, they were. RF has made more good moves than bad. That is what really matters.
I generally agree with ct though I’m leaning toward A-.
I have to believe that there’s a big difference between the job of getting competitive and the job of staying competitive. He’s certainly been very good and aggressive at the former: it’s really hard to argue that, all the inconsistencies of this season so far notwithstanding, this team and organization are much stronger and deeper.
Now, given that we’re clearly not in the same spot as when GMRF took over, and that we’re close to the edge (of transitioning from getting to staying competitive), which probably includes 25% of the league, can he put us over the top? It’s hard to know that. It’s the same question being asked of Ken Holland in DET just in reverse: he was great at keeping DET on top for so many years; now, can he rebuild a fading giant? It’s hard to be excellent at more than one thing.
I’m a little skeptical of the “we’re just one big trade away” solutions. Would I like to have a difference-making 1C on the team? Yes. Would I be willing to trade for one? I’m not so sure I would be. As painful as it is to watch this team flail through the woes of maturing, I would still prefer to tap into our depth first for incremental improvement. It’s been said here many times this week: Zykov, Wallmark, and Foegele are tearing things up. To me that’s the better risk/reward option.
And we will all have a different view of things once Darling gets settled and starts playing like Darling. If he never does, then …
Wow, I can’t believe noone has mentioned that RF failed to compete for the ONE THING THAT HE EASILY COULD AFFORD (with 17M in available cap space)! Yes, Matt, you said he didn’t get the center, but WHEN YOU HAVE THE MONEY…THAT’S NOT STRATEGY, THAT’S CHEAP, AND TIES YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK…STUPID AND CHEAP. UNFORGIVABLE LACK OF COMPETITION…
F…is his grade. It’s not like you can use the money you SAVED…next year?
We have a team (like Arizona), destined to be bereft of top talent… You get what you pay for…!
Hahahahahahaha, why are you blaming Ron because Peter Karmanos is a tightwad? If you want to see a team spend money….well maybe you can hope for more from Dundon, but you can’t spend money your owner doesn’t want to spend.
Budget certainly factors into this as puckgod rightly points out, but last I checked it’s the Owner that establishes the number, not the GM. Given that additional constraint, GMRF scores even higher to me, not lower.
BTW, ifthe price tag was $500, maybe Dundon has a mental number of $525 with the extra $35 earmarked for another high-end player. That would certainly help with the fan base and more than likely with results on the ice. OTT, TOR, and EDM have contracts they’d like to shed.
I give him a C+. The Williams acquisition was perfect. The sole thing they probably could have done with this that they didn’t was making him the captain.
I will be the first to admit that Scott Darling has disappointed, which is sad because i was and still am rooting for him to make good as a starter. All that said, I would love to hear these gripers throw out a legitimate name that would have made us better. The two who were the big available gets, along with Darling, were:
Ben Bishop: .908 save percentage, .900 last season, not much better than Darling and about $20 million more expensive
Marc-Andre Fleury: Legit great goalie….when he plays. Played all of 7 games with a concussion, and has been injury prone his entire career.
The sole mistake that Ron likely made when it comes to goalies (based on STATISTICAL EVIDENCE) is Frederik Anderson. Would have cost a 1st, and based on the contract, about 9 million more than Darling, but his save percentage has been hovering around .920 ever since.
I still think Darling can get his legs under him. The talent is there, though he does seem to be a bit of a head case, but we’ll see. Glad we have Ward to platoon with him, that’s for sure.
This trade deadline will be so telling as to how much pressure Ron is putting on the franchise to win. Thankfully, I don’t think he cares too much about fan pressure, but I would like to see him make a move with the aim of playoffs this year. Definitely have to build for the future, and we clearly need some more consistent scoring, so I would not be shocked if we saw either a big-name rental, or a big trade here in the next couple months.
Definitely will be nice if we can see the Canes as buyers instead of sellers this deadline.
1. A- for getting value for veterans on expiring contracts, not over-paying said players, stockpiling picks and drafting well over the last 3-4 years!
2. C+ for bringing in the veteran talent we needed to bridge the gap and make a push for more of a playoff roster. Aho, Necas, Roy, Kuokkonen and others from within the system may very well become our 1C, 2C and 3Cs…but that is likely 2-3 years away at best. My point being it is one story to think the most talked-about players such as Duchene, Galchenyuk and RNH were the only players available. I mean, did anyone think Seth Jones would be traded for Ryan Johansen a few years back? That’s the kind of trade I believe GMRF was feeling out, and still is. To get the 1C type player we need, we have to give something of great value to receive great value in return (on the sole premise to better our chemistry). We are at that point, and I think GMRF and the new owner understands this.
3. I would not be surprised to see one of our key players dealt for another key player of different skillset/equal value. We’ve speculated on the players before, but I think if it’s a big trade for a player under term then Huberdeau would be an ideal, young playmaking center. O’Reilly and Landeskog would be 1st line forwards with size who make others around them better. All play on struggling teams that need shake-ups. The lesser trade would be to give up less (pick and prospect) and try to bolster our top 6 with pure scorers like Kane or Pacioretty.
1) A solid A.
2) I figured this season would be the one where Francis committed some of the future to a win-now acquisition. I give him high ratings for avoiding free agency overpays in the past few years, plus I rate him highly for not being in on the Duchene/Turris action after seeing the eventual price paid. With that being said, there were two moves that I felt the Canes could have been in on based on the price. First was Marcus Johannson traded for a 2nd and a 3rd within the division. I had a hard time stomaching that one because I thought that was a shrewd and excellent move for New Jersey, and I thought Francis could have had that one. Secondly, Jordan Eberle being moved for Ryan Strome hurt a bit because before having seen Rask this year I wonder if Rask for Eberle would have gotten it done. Another guy who could have sorely helped this year… With that in mind, I expect Francis to pick up some veteran help near the deadline and I want to say it’s a near guarantee that this coming summer he will make a big move to find top 6 help.
3) I feel like unless the Canes seriously struggle going into the deadline Francis will go for addition without subtraction – paying some lower end prospects and picks to get some top 9 help. Guys like David Perron & Tyler Bozak come to mind as more affordable tier help. On a higher price point James Neal could be a fit – same with Mike Green if the Canes choose to move a roster defenseman in a separate move. If the Canes fall off then I expect he might become a seller even.
Either way, as much as this season had high hopes among the fans and even outside hockey media, I still see a team that is sorely lacking with primary scoring options and will likely miss the playoffs again. Yet, to me this season was never a must make it season considering many players are still developing and for the first time Charlotte is a team to be reckoned with which speaks volumes about the depth Francis has built. So I expect within the next two seasons the Canes will evolve into a premier top 10 hockey club – and it will require a mixture of patience with prospects (as Francis has excelled with) but also at least one key trade where he offloads futures for a proven player who can help, or he has to find that perfect Johanson for -Jones / or ideally closer to the rip off that is Larrson – for – Hall type trade (Francis has yet to leave his mark on the trade market with anything game changing, the closest being Terevainen but the Canes need more than that)
Would someone please explain why you think Karmanos is preventing RF from spending money on a top3 forward?
Have you read somewhere that RF has a budget he can’t exceed, or are you just parroting someone else’s statement?
Someone is extremely cheap /and stupid and whether it is RF or PK, doesn’t matter an iota to me!
This organization is either losing money, or making a lot less than possible by “trying to save money by not spending it, and losing even more by driving away fans”! If you don’t see this,…then watch the attendance numbers continue to fall…
NO playoffs WILL DESTROY THIS TEAM EVENTUALLY, AND MY discarding of season tickets, and many others has financial consequences…
Stupidity, greed, and cheapNess will hurt the Canes more than trying to compete with the other teams…
Usually me and you see eye to eye on a lot of stuff Puckgod, I tend to be a critic of this team as you are as well. With that said, the one argument that I have to respect (as a Canadian Canes fan unable to buy tickets to anything but away games) but DO NOT understand is the season ticket holders (or ex-season ticket holders) who would have preferred Francis spend his money in free agency to show his committment to getting a better team. For me, it’s quite simple to evaluate whether he SHOULD or SHOULDN’T have in hindsight based on the contracts handed out. Tell me PuckGod, and anyone else who believes Francis should have signed more in free agency, do you want any of these contracts from the past two summers when the Canes had money to spend? :
– Kyle Okposo – 7 years for 6 million per season. (AAV is fine, but 7 years will push him to near 35 when he’s done).
– David Backes – 5 years for 6 million per season. (for a guy whose play style is like Landeskog who’d have been a “perfect fit” for the Canes right, thank god they didn’t sign that contract)
– Troy Brouwer – 4 years at 4.5 million per season (i’ll take Stempniak at 2.5 over Brouwer at 4.5 any day of the week)
– Martin Hanzal – 3 years at 4.75 million (for just over a million less than Staal i’ll take Jordan Staal).
– Milan Lucic (7 years for 6 million per year… think Edmonton is already regretting that one)
– Lou Eriksson (another good fit for Canes, but 6 years is a long time for an older player)
– Andrew Ladd (7 years at just under 6 million per year…serious pass on that contract)
– Nick Bonino (4 years for 4.1 million per season. PRetty fair for a good 3rd line Centre but i’d take Lindholm over Bonino at this stage considering he’s younger and can also play centre, and costs less at the moment)
– TJ Oshie signed for 8 years at 30 years old at just under 6 million.
The only two contracts I looked at during free agency and said to myself – those are great value contracts that I wish the Canes had been in on – funny enough our ex captain Eric Staal signed an unreal 3 year 3.5 million per season deal with the Wild. Even though people ran Eric out of town and I was glad the Canes got value from him, I also believed they should have looked at resigning him if he cost less than 5 million per season, which he did… The Canes would look a lot better with Eric Staal and his 50-70 pts in the lineup today than without him. The other contract that was good value was David Perron for just under 4 million for 2 years.
There were some typical low risk high reward moves made that I also liked – Jokinen, Cammelieri, Patrick Sharp etc that Francis wasn’t in on, but I wouldn’t say those moves would have moved the needle much offensively.
All in all, I think with those team shackling contracts I’ve listed above
in comparison to the very FEW fair value deals that can be found in free agency (which I give Francis credit for as Stempniak was a low cost and helpful acqusition last year) Francis deserves an A+ for NOT spending the Canes money on players that would have been instant value regrets.
Cap space is one of the BIGGEST assets in the NHL, and Francis has gotten us Nordstrom, Versteeg (turning into Zykov), Terevainen all for CAP SPACE basically. So I approve of Ron Francis being frugal with free agency dollars and I’m sure he will make a commitment to a free agent when he feels like it is right rather than just because some fans feel he needs to spend more money. I’d much rather he use the cap space in TRADES where you are more likely to get a value deal like he has gotten from the Blackhawks the past few years. Don’t get me wrong, if Francis just SITS on the cap space and makes NO moves to improve the team then I will also be upset. But my argument is that based on the ACTUAL money and ACTUAL contracts given out to free agents in the last 2 years, I’d say i’m extremely grateful the future of the Canes cap situation remains one of the best in the league because he did not panic and sign a David Backes/Andrew Ladd type to an expensive free agent overpay contract.
–
Yeah, this team is so good that we couldn’t find anyone to improve it…? Whether by trade, or by free agency I think that inaction WAS, AND IS INDEFENSIBLE!
No one complains about Stempniak signing (nor should they), injuries happen to everyone. But GM’s -who win- don’t sit on their hands AND WALLET, when they have ways to improve the team…!
If you can’t build a team that wins, and you still refuse to spend money on your roster…FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN!!
Here’s a late post in the event someone checks back!
GMRF gets at least an A- in my book. The issue with the salary cap looms large next year. Slavin and Pesce Long Term Contracts (LTC) kick in next year at $9.3M AAV. Next year is also a contract year for Hanifin (coming off an Entry Level Contract/ELC and due for a big raise), Lindholm, TVR, and Doc. (And 3/4 of the fourth line + Stempy but probably not a big financial impact there).
So, we have limited room to bring in anyone on a long term deal because of what is about to happen next year.
Francis gets props because his players on LTCs are young players in their prime. We don’t have an Oshie time bomb.
Our best option for adding skill this year is rental players as the deadline approaches, so there is no salary impact next year.
Additionally, we will need players on ELCs to stay below the cap next year. Perhaps Francis best work is filling the prospect pipeline with young players on ELCs who can come in at great value when needed.
Since our pipeline is stocked we are at the organizational max for players under contract, which leaves room to trade picks or prospects for the right situation.
Given the “crap shoot” nature of player development, while there is risk we are positioned well for the future. Our best play for a difference maker for this season is a rental player, and if Francis is able to bring in the right player(s) for a solid playoff run he would move up to an A.