Yes, it is only three games, but enough cannot be said about the Carolina Hurricanes blue line through those three games. The group on the back end has put the team on its back and carried it offensively, defensively and otherwise to a 3-0 start to the 2019-20 season.
Today’s Daily Cup of Joe offers a set of quick hitters on the team’s blue line.
Jaccob Slavin
–The second ‘C’ stands for checking. Maybe lost amidst all the scoring, Jaccob Slavin has very clearly made a point to be more physical early this season. I would love to hear him speak about this in an interview to see if it is just a new initiative, if it is maybe leading by example now as an alternate captain or if maybe he would blow it off as nothing really, but my read through three games has him making more of a concerted effort to bang people. He dumped the mighty Alexander Ovechkin stepping up at the blue line on Saturday and did the same to a Lightning forward in the corner on Sunday in addition to finishing a couple checks harder than his historical average in Thursday’s opener. Time will tell, but I think we are seeing a new element to Slavin’s game.
–His game-tying tally on Saturday joining the rush in the middle lane from a ways back was a thing of beauty. That type of third attacker is very difficult for opposing teams to defend because if Slavin has even the slightest edge in the neutral zone even a hustling forward is going to be a step or two behind. Pesce did the same and just missed far side wide on Sunday. The wrinkle is that via communication or just structure off the rush, when entering 2v2, the Hurricanes forwards are regularly pushing to the outside which leaves the middle lane wide open for a third player, often but not always a defenseman, to join the rush from behind and step right into a grade A scoring chance.
Joel Edmundson
I admit to having him pegged as a serviceable #4/#5 who could fill that role but ideally was pushed down the depth chart. Through three games, I think I underestimated him. What I like most about his play is that he has the same type of ‘leaning forward on his toes’ style as Slavin and Pesce in that his natural tendency is to step up and engage the puck whenever possible That will occasionally get you beat, but in today’s NHL I think taking away time and space is critical. And though he will not likely morph into a scoring defenseman, he is capable receiving and moving the puck. Edmundson very much makes the Hurricanes at least 5 1/2 players deep in terms of top 4 defenseman. That provides depth in case of an injury or a player slumping a bit. It should also go a long way toward balancing ice time to keep players fresh.
Brett Pesce
He is increasingly underrated. Without power play ice time, his scoring will likely lag at least a couple of his counterparts, but just like in 2018-19, his even strength scoring is likely to be on par with the group. In addition, I continue to think he is the steadiest of the defensemen defensively. He just makes so incredibly few mistakes especially for a player who plays an aggressive, forward game. He has also grown to become, in my opinion, the team’s best back end penalty killer. Add it all up, and whenever the broader hockey community wants to finally elevate Slavin into the top group, Pesce should be there with him.
Dougie Hamilton
Has he been the team’s best offensive player so far this season? I think so. With the possible exception of Erik Haula, Dougie Hamilton has played arguably the leading role on a power play that has scored timely goals so far this season. He has also contributed offensively at even strength. He even chipped in a shootout game-winner. When Hamilton is playing well like he is right now, his ability to play a fourth forward role with good judgment and without being a liability defensively is a game changer in the direction of new NHL offense that has five players reasonably capable of shifting positions to exploit time and space openings offensively. As a player who historically starts slow, will he be able to just skip that this season? If so, is a Brent Burns type of season possible in terms of offensive production? Three games is a bit early to count on it, but it is never too early to dream a bit.
Jake Gardiner
As the player probably with the second greatest offensive defenseman resume to maybe only Dougie Hamilton, Gardiner has actually been fairly quiet except for his loud overtime game-winner on Saturday. I actually think his trajectory could follow Hamilton’s. Hamilton looked a bit lost at times early last season, and at times I think he was out of sync with teammates who did not yet know what to expect from his rover ways. Once everyone got on the same page, Hamilton exploded offensively in that fourth forward role in the second half of the season. I think it is possible that Gardiner requires a similar acclimation period for him to learn to read the forwards and vice versa. The good version of his quiet has been his defensive play. As a player with a reputation for leaning offense sometimes at the expense of defense, Gardiner has been steady without the puck so far which is encouraging.
Haydn Fleury
I offered mixed reviews of Fleury in my recap from Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay. Though I am maybe less high on him than I was a few weeks ago, I think interesting is to consider whether the benchmark is just too high for a third pairing defenseman given the strength and depth of the Hurricanes group. There are teams that have much much less trying to fill bottom slots. The burning question for me is whether this represents a chance to just collect value for Fleury, move on and back fill the slot with someone like Forsling or whether the high benchmark problem suggests more patience. Edmundson and van Riemsdyk are both scheduled to be unrestricted free agents next summer, so the Hurricanes could find themselves needing more capable, inexpensive depth. Even if Fleury gets bumped out of the top 6 defenseman for much of the 2019-20 season, he might be significantly more valuable and another year more experienced right when Hurricanes need it for building the 2020-21 roster.
Trevor van Riemsdyk
From the underrated category is Trevor van Riemsdyk. The Hurricanes struggled mightily to get even serviceable from a third pairing with two young players for multiple years. Van Riemsdyk solidified the third pairing and in the process made for a good environment for young players to develop. In a game that requires a solid 12-14 minutes of ice time out of his role, quiet and steady should not be underappreciated from van Riemsdyk.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Who else wants to rave about the Hurricanes blue line? Over the course of the 2019-20 season, will it prove to be the absolute best in the NHL?
2) With the mobility, green light to jump into the play and (I think) system tweak to leave the middle lane open for defensemen on 2v2 rushes, what do you think is the ceiling for this group in terms of scoring for the 2019-20 season?
Go Canes!
And the power play looks – dangerous?! – with Dougie and Gardiner the focal points at the blueline. Especially Dougie – he’s just not easy to defend because he makes such quick and smart decisions to shoot or pass.
Those long term but affordable contracts for Slavin and Pesce are the cornerstone to this franchise right now.
The great thing about the blueline is that Hamilton, Slavin, and Pesce seem to keep developing. I’m still not 100% sold on Gardiner. He has improved the PP, but he has had his share of turnovers as well. Frankly, he and Fleury together makes me nervous. Would rather see Gardiner with Pesce so there is a solid defenseman there to back up his higher risk play.
Edmundson has impressed me with his mobility. Better than I expected. You can see his game starting to change under Brind’Amour. Less of the rough stuff, and more skating, jumping in the play, and moving pucks. Not that his ability to play the tough guy role is bad, it’s there if he needs it, but that’s not the Canes game.
That brings us to Fleury, the new whipping boy now that Faulk is gone. Yes, he’s the 7th defenseman. When van Riemsdyk returns he will be in the pressbox. Still, he is far better than some of the players we have had on the back end in the past. Miles better than Forsling, Bean, or Cleasson. Not so sure about McKeown or Priskie, but it would be nice to let the guy play without Tripp and half the fan base eviscerating him every time he makes a mistake.
It’s that “evisceration”, as you describe it, that makes me thing it is time to let Haydn move on to a fresh start in another organization.
Regardless of what the fans and even Tripp have to say, the question is whether RBA has the confidence in Fleury and can show that he has enough confidence to let him make mistakes and not suffer ice time loss. Necas and Aho both lost the puck in the D-zone last night leading to goals, and Foegele cleared up the middle against MTL leading directly to a goal. Fleury is not the only one making mistakes here. But if RBA doesn’t have the confidence in him, then keeping Fleury does neither Fleury or the team any good.
That is the big question. What does Brind’Amour think? Tripp doesn’t speak for Brind’Amour and management. At least he doesn’t anymore. He used to not be allowed to criticize players unless approved by management.
You may be right. I’d rather see Fleury get to play it out without the venom.
One can focus on almost any player, certainly anyone low on the depth chart at any position and discover why they are not higher on the depth chart. (See: LaRose, Chad) Those findings explain why they are low on the depth chart, not that they don’t have a place on the team. Complicate that with being a high draft choice and you get all the makings for a team “goat”. Clearly “the committee” sees enough potential to have patience with the player. (I will always trust “the committee” over Tripp.) Fleury is purposefully getting limited NHL playing time to mature and develop from AHL star to NHL capable. The development of Slavin and Pesce to NHL defensive studs in short order is not a fair standard to use to judge Fleury. Like the large majority in the NHL competency on defense takes a lot more than than 90 games to develop. (However, it may a fair standard to use to judge Ron Francis’ first round drafting acumen.)
Slavin and Pesce were fortunate that when they went in there was little pressure. They played for a bad team and were in there subbing for injured players. More pressure on Fleury based upon circumstances is unavoidable. The hate mob on specific players is avoidable.
Francis’ drafting acumen is very questionable. Francis draft picks on the Canes roster are: Aho, Foegele, Necas, Wallmark, and Fleury. One star, one potential star, three maybes.
Everyone has said all that needs to be said about Slavin, Pesce, Hamilton, Edmundson, and Gardiner IMO. My comments on them wouldn’t vary much from the already expressed views.
I will comment on Fleury. In my view if Rod keeps putting him out on the ice in situations where a third pairing defenseman would play for minutes equivalent to minutes played by normal third pairing defensemen, then the kid is ably performing in a role we need him to perform. Now, is that the level what we all (including Rod and management) would like Fleury to be at. I’m sure the concensus answer would be “No.” But to consistently harp on every deficiency, real or perceived, in his game when compared to a 1st or 2nd pairing defenseman serves no purpose IMO. That would be like comparing McGinn’s play to that of Aho or Teravainen and then determining because he doesn’t measure up that McGinn has no role on this team.
By the same token, I see no problem for contributors to want Fleury to perform like a Slavin or Pesce. Heck, by the same token we all would like to see McGinn morph into Austin Matthews. We would not be Canes fans if we didn’t want them to morph and until they do morph they will more than likely get most of the contributor’s, shall we say, “constructive criticism”(which I do my share of…my friends call it b-t-ching). It comes with the territory as we say. My friends consistently remind me that “If I had a thimble I could put all my expertise on hockey in it and still have room left over.
I think the thing is, RR, that RBA is not giving him that TOI. He is getting about 10 minutes, and the next fewest D-man minutes is typically around 16-17. Some of that can be attributed to special teams but if Fleury isn’t going to get full minutes that puts a burden early on for the other 5 D-men. Once TvR returns that changes, of course. But the usage suggest to me that RBA isn’t sold on him.
Good points raleightj. Can’t and don’t want to argue otherwise. I just don’t know why Fluery is getting 6 or 7 minutes less ice time. There could be many reasons. One is we are taking so many penalties against teams with powerful special teams and/or Fleury gets no time on power plays coupled with getting 3rd pairing minutes to start with. Even taking these factors into account, IMO Fleury has plenty of room for improvement in his overall game. He definitely is not as polished as our other 5. Is he better than or at least as good as the 6th defenseman on most other teams? From what I’ve seen of his play I would say he’s about on a par with them. Do we have better available? Maybe not today, but if and when TVR comes back and he plays at his normal level, I would say Fleury’s ice time might disappear. But heck, TVR doesn’t play like a 6th defenseman IMO. He’s more like a 3rd, 4th or 5th defenseman who can play big minutes. This being the case he takes some of the burden off the top 4 boys as you say.