Today’s Daily Cup of Joe offers a random set of Canes observations.
James Reimer
With another win on Sunday, James Reimer continues to play well in net. Could that coupled with four straight road games see him become the Canes starting netminder? Brind’Amour will not make any formal announcement on such a shift, and both goalies will continue to play anyway. But thus far in 2019-20, Reimer has taken a heavier share of the road games and has outperformed Mrazek in those games. Reimer is 8-4-0 on the road with a 2.54 goals against average and .919 save percentage. Mrazek is 4-6-2 with a 3.00 goals against average and .897 save percentage. If Brind’Amour is going to lean a bit more in Reimer’s direction, timing could be now. Again, this is not suggesting that there will be some kind of formal announcement from Brind’Amour. There is no need for that. But it will be interesting to see who starts on Tuesday and also just how things play out in net over the coming weeks.
Andrei Svechnikov
Though I actually did not think it was a great fit initially, playing Andrei Svechnikov on Staal’s line early in the season worked out well. Svechnikov did not seem to be in over his head playing against other teams’ top players, and initially he provided a scoring boost for that line with his passing. But at the point where Svechnikov is not boosting scoring for Staal’s line, I think it is time to redeployed to maximize his scoring. If the slot that Svechnikov holds right now is going to be light on scoring, there are plenty of other options. Though I do think it makes the Canes offense a bit top-heavy, I think timing could be right to put Svechnikov with Aho. Aho seems to be finding a higher gear, and Svechnikov could get a boost in terms of scoring chances by playing with him right now. Svechnikov had a pretty goal on Sunday to start February strong, but he scored only two goals in eleven games in January. Perhaps timing is right to try to maximize what he can bring offensively.
Sebastian Aho
Whereas I felt like he was mostly just opportunistic scoring-wise early in the season, Sebastian Aho is more so starting to produce by driving volume of chances. Aho had multiple good chances in netting a goal and an assist on Sunday. When Aho starts to drive his scoring through sheer volume of chances, his scoring increases in a way that is sustainable.
On a completely separate note, I think the time has come for Aho to come up with another go-to move when in alone on the breakaway. His go-to move has always been one where he carries on his forehand then quickly pulls the puck to his backhand to get the goalie to move and then almost simultaneously slides the puck five-hole as the goalie opens up for a split second to move across. The move worked regularly early on, but more recently goalies have seen enough video to anticipate this move and close the opening to shoot through. Earlier this season Aho beat a goalie by just shooting. I think the time is now for Aho to add a move that starts forehand but finishes different than trying to slide a backhand through the goalies legs.
Julien Gauthier
Julien Gauthier continues to be red hot in Charlotte. The point of caution for giving Gauthier another shot to see if he can produce at the NHL level is how ready he is in terms of two-way play and attention to detail defensively. The Hurricanes already have a few players slotted into the lineup whose strengths lean offense over two-way play. So as long as the NHL team is healthy and winning, I would not expect the team to recall Gauthier. On the other hand, at some point the scoring upside of Gauthier becomes intriguing. And also worth noting is that Gauthier did make strides in that area from last season to this one, so just maybe he is ready to be a significant offensive contributor who at least good enough defensively.
What say you Canes fans?
1) With his run of strong play and the road trip, do you think we will see a shift, even if gradual, to more starts for James Reimer?
2) What are your thoughts on removing Andrei Svechnikov from Jordan Staal’s line with the aim of surrounding him with a bit more offensive talent and maximizing his scoring?
3) Is Sebastian Aho on the verge of finding a higher gear? What are your thoughts on goalies having the book on Aho’s go-to breakaway move?
4) What will it take see Julien Gauthier in a Canes uniform again during the 2019-20 season?
Go Canes!
There is one change in Sebastion Aho’s life seldom mentioned. The effect of this change is hard, if not impossible to gauge. Last September he deposited a check for $11,300,000 in his savings account. He also is receiving $700,000 in salary for the season. This coming September he receives another $9,870,000 bonus check. That’s close to $22 million in the bank in 366 days. Invested conservatively his investment income will soon exceed his salary from playing hockey.
1) Mrazek has not been good. He is good to let in at least 3 goals a game. Several which I believe a goalie should have. We have to score like crazy anytime he is in net. I keep scratching my head why the coaching staff want him to be a #1 when he is not there. I feel 100% better when Reimer is in goal. I hope RBA starts rewarding performance, which happens everywhere else but not at goal. There seems to be this non ending hope that Mrazek will flip the switch like last year. They know much more then me but it’s not making sense.
2) Svechnikov has 20 goals. Maybe he could get more with Aho but there is also something to be said for having the lines more balanced and dangerous with all lines. I will leave this one to RBA.
3) Aho is always dangerous. I do believe he will get even stronger. Yah, some new moves for breakaways would be good. I bet he will do something about that.
4) you have to be able to do more then score in the nhl. Defense is very important as well. I have no feel for how Gauthier is doing 2-way. We have a full slate of forwards. Somebody is going to have to fall off or an injury for Gauthier to get a call up. I wish McGinn and Marty would do more offensively but they fill a role as well.
1. I think as the season has progressed we have already seen that and we will probably see it even more in the near term. But I think it will shift back – Mrazek runs in streaks; he has throughout his career – from DET to NJ and now here (last year).
What is nice now is that we have two goalies who can play with competence at the NHL level.
2. Svech on Aho’s line adds to the scoring for both. In addition to adding a scoring threat that Aho can use to his advantage, I think Svech’s increasingly heavy game will open up space for that line. I like it, and I like moving Turbo as a playmaker next to Staal (is that how the lines were set up through the game?).
3. Aho is starting to rev again, no doubt. I thought there was a hesitancy in his offensive game a little while ago but his confidence in the o-zone appears back.
4. Gauthier only sees NHL time this season in the event of an injury. As Vellucci did last year, Warsofsky is working hard this year on Gauthier’s 2-way game. And it appears Gauthier is is more cognizant of the importance improvement than Zykov was.
I think an interesting counterpoint might be do you prefer a defense-light Dzingel (speed/skill) to a defense-light Gauthier (power forward) – stipulating that Gauthier can actually score at the NHL level (not yet demonstrated).
On Checkers auditions with the big club, I think there are a couple more players who deserve an audition, (depending on situation/need).
Kuokanen has been playing lights out for some time now, fits the mold of a playmaking winger and he’s another guy who has had a few NHL auditions but has yet to put it all together (he had bad luck with injuries, which is at least in part responsible).
Geekie has been playing extremely well at center, may be a good third or 4th line C in case there are injuries. I would ultimately start grooming a younger and less expensive replacement for Jordan Staal soon. Not this year, maybe not next, but his scoring and general play has been digressing at a pretty significant rate this year and if this is the start of a trend the team needs to consider a replacement. Steven Lawrence would ultimately be a great fit for such a role (if he realizes the highest aspect of his potential), he’s been playing red hot but may not be ready for an NHL audition yet.
Then there is the much maligned Jake Bean who, according to Shaya’s 10 thoughts, is every bit worthy of an NHL audition and has been playing fantastic of late. He always seems to fade once he gets the opportunity and our impressions of him have not matched with the voice of the Checkers, but if he is to become an NHL-er he has to start somewhere and sometime, either with the Canes or as a trade chip to get a more established player.
Not to mention the situation in net. I think if we got a strong offer for Mrazek that it might be worth looking at trading him and calling up Ned for a real audition.
The sky isn’t falling, but the team has not played lights out lately and it’s good to know there are options in the system.
Ideal would have been (or maybe would be next year) if the Canes could play their way up the standings with some breathing room in the playoff standings. That makes for a more comfortable situation to give players like Gauthier and Bean an extended audition and have a chance to play through some early hiccups. Unfortunately, that looks increasingly unlikely in this year’s playoff dog fight such that the more likely scenario is necessity due to injuries.