Tuesday marks the start of the Carolina Hurricanes preseason slate with a road game in Tampa. The addition of Jake Gardiner makes the Canes blue line pretty full without much room for surprises. With Justin Williams and Saku Maenalanen’s late decisions not to return, there could be a bit more room at forward especially if the team encounters an early injury. And in net, the logical starting point is the two goalies on one-way contracts.
The Hurricanes enter preseason without much for room for players to win open slots, but nonetheless today’s Daily Cup of Joe identifies a couple possible dark horses.
In goal
Alex Nedeljkovic
Regardless of how he plays in preseason, and I do figure he will see some game action, Alex Nedeljkovic is almost certainly destined to start the season in the AHL. But I do think the team wants and needs to get him some NHL ice time to evaluate him for the 2020-21 season if not sooner. As such, I think this training camp is an important one for Nedeljkovic. More so than just level of play, he needs to show the demeanor of a capable NHL netminder. If he looks ready, Nedeljkovic should punch his ticket to return to the NHL level if/when there is an opening and also be given ice time when he does.
At forward
Janne Kuokkanen
Kuokkanen was out with an injury when both the Checkers and Canes surged in the second half of the year. That combined with having maybe a somewhat lower ceiling than a couple other young guns, and Kuokkanen is a bit of a forgotten prospect. What I like about him is his hockey sense. Though his scoring potential might not match Julien Gauthier and other higher-end prospects, I think Kuokkanen is as close to plug and play as you can get for his age and experience level. And he offers offensive upside to someone like Clark Bishop. As such, I think Kuokkanen could surprise and win a roster spot especially if an injury opens one more at forward.
Julien Gauthier
More than any other player not expected to make the opening day roster, Julien Gauthier has the potential to throw down a gauntlet and force the team to adjust its pre-training camp thinking for who makes the team. As a player with the skill set to be an elite power forward, if he suddenly finds a way to be more engaged and become an every-shift difference-maker, he could add an a unique element to the lineup. His development thus far has been more step-wise progression, but is it possible he has just been building a platform for a massive leap up the depth chart in the coming weeks?
On defense
Jake Bean
I have a couple times chronicled the Hurricanes numbers game on defense that has the team with a couple young depth defensemen who could be at risk if sent across waivers to the AHL. Being waiver-exempt, that puts Jake Bean in a position similar to Alex Nedeljkovic in that he is almost certain to start the season at the AHL level simply because he is on a two-way contract, is waivers exempt and can still benefit from playing there. The one opening I saw for Bean about 10 days ago was proving to be a spark as a puck distributor on the power play that struggled last season. But the acquisition of Jake Gardiner fills that role with an experienced player and adds yet another NHL level player. As such, Bean is almost certain to start the season in Charlotte. But I still training camp could prove fruitful for him if he can show that he has matured some defensively and is capable as suggested above on the power play. If he does that, I think he sets himself up for a return when injuries hit or after the team can make a deal or two to lessen the logjam at the bottom part of the blue line.
What say you Canes fans?
Who do you like as dark horses to surprise and make the Hurricanes opening day lineup or at least position for a quick call up when a spot opens up?
Go Canes!
Matt, you hit on the usual suspects. I would add just a few minor corrections.
Nedeljkovic can enhance his demeanor as a capable NHL net minder. While it was one game, his start and win last season demonstrated much. The Canes started 2019 well (we all remember it as the beginning of the “surge”). However, the team was actually heading into the All-Star break struggling. They played two of their worst games on Jan. 15 & 18 against the Rangers and Senators. A win against Edmonton stopped the slide. But then the Finns needed last minute magic to salvage a loser point in another uninspiring performance in Calgary. The weeks before and after the break had spoiled the Canes season in recent history. Finishing January 1-3-1 could have derailed the team. Facing that situation, Ned was better than solid in a win over Vancouver. It is hyperbole to say Ned saved the season, but it is understating the importance of that game if we don’t acknowledge that it was a pressure-filled first NHL start that Ned passed with an A grade.
Kuokkanen didn’t really miss the Checkers “surge.” Charlotte already had a substantial lead in their division and the overall AHL best-record standings by the middle of December. Kuokkanen was a big part of that—thus his being named an AHL all-star. I agree that he is the prospect with the best all-around game. At some point he will be in the middle six in Raleigh.
If there were an injury at center, wonder if Geekie could make the case for a call up?
I thought it was interesting – yesterday or the day before RBA was asked if he liked what he saw in Necas. His answer: “No.” He did say he was improved from last year but Necas does not appear to be a RBA-style player. It will be interesting to see how that works out this preaseason.
But if any player has been “fogotten” here in Raleigh and, to a certain degree, in CLT it is Kuokkanen. As ct said, the Checkers didn’t surge at the end. They started 10-1 and never looked back. Kuokk was a big part of the first half of a very successful season for the Checkers. So I completely agree with ct – provided Kuokk is a “RBA-style player”.
Gauthier is interesting because his trajectory was so positive from start to finish of last season. But I really think this is his make-or-break year in the organization – hopefully he takes his lessons learned with Vellucci and capitalizes on them. But I think he is down the depth chart.
Someone asked Sara Civian about this and she replied: “That’s not really what happened. He meant it’s only been four days and he can’t get a gauge on it just yet. He said “In these four days? No.” then went on to say he looks way more mature. It was right after he answered, like, three questions with something along those same lines. He is a very blunt person and I can see how the combination of that and what he said could be misinterpreted. I’ll ask him to clarify tomorrow but I am sure that’s not what he meant.”
Huh…could be a comment on the short amount of time, or it could have been walking back something he said without thinking it through. I guess we’ll see as the pre-season goes on.
I’m not sure that Kuokkanen is forgotten in either Charlotte or Raleigh. He’s been playing on what may be the putative top line in Charlotte – Kuokkanen/Luostarinen/Gauthier. Perhaps Geekie knocks Eetu off that group, but they’ve been playing together since the start of camp….and are a line tonight in Tampa.
Man, that’s disappointing to hear Brind’Amour’s comments about Necas. I don’t think it’s fair to say he isn’t a “RBA-style player.” Maybe he’s just not good? The AHL and other pro leagues are full of very talented players who lack hockey-sense. Very, very few players are so talented that they can play in the NHL with poor hockey-sense. Necas showed little hockey-sense last year with the Canes.
I’m afraid Gauthier is in a similar boat with Necas. He’s big and strong with a scoring touch, but the knock has been on playing a team game. His lack of assists kind of points that out. I do think Gauthier has a path to the NHL, but he has to be willing to embrace it. He needs to learn to use his body and be a checking forward. He will get his scoring chances, but I don’t think his overall offensive game is good enough to get him a top 9 slot in the NHL at this point.
Kuokkanen has been knocking on the door for a while. I’m not sure there is room for him anymore. I’m assuming he’s a top 9 forward. If he can play a fourth line role, then he has a shot.
Saku Maelanean. Finished a nice playoff performance with a “hand injury” against the Islanders that kept him out of most of the games with Boston. Does anyone have real insight to Matt’s comment, “late decision to not return.”? Do the Canes retain his rights if he does decide to return to the NHL? Is his injury healed? Is it just a contract dispute? Once the cap and roster question settle out might he come back? He does give us a little extra “grit and grind” that we could use.
We do retain Saku’s NHL rights at least for a while in the NHL. When Puljavarvi opted to return to Finland rather than re-sign with EDM I read that EDM had his rights “in perpetuity” until he plays a certain number of games. I am not sure it works that way but I don’t know the threshold for age and number of seasons before he would become a UFA per the NHL.
With Saku and Ferland gone, the role of a heavy-checking forward with a scoring touch that can disrupt in front of the net is still there for the taking. Gauthier seems to have the body but does he have the mind to play that brand of hockey? Every teams needs a player like that. He seems to be the only candidate left on our roster.
I know this isn’t exactly the spirit of the “dark horse” question, but we really stole a player from Vegas when we got Haula. He’s a dark horse that could very well be the Comeback Player of the Year.
This is a question for you guys that have followed hockey much longer than I have… are there examples of someone like Goat that was a high pick, big guy, skill, but somewhat lacking of work ethic (and I do not mean to be derogatory, just can’t think of a better way to say it) that after several years finally gets it and becomes what they thought they would be? Or, is it typical that after several years, if “it” hasn’t happened, it likely never will?
Just curious to what you guys think!
I think you are misreading Gauthier. Until he got to CLT he was not well coached at all. My comment two seasons ago was “I went to CLT to see a hockey game…Gauthier was going the same thing, except he was on the ice.”. He wasn’t skating and he seemed to be afraid to move for fear of putting himself in the wrong place. Vellucci worked hard and worked well with him – and Gauthier really learned well under Mike’s tutelage, resulting in continuous improvement from mid 2o17-18 season on. He had a solid season in CLT last season, skate with confidence and picked up an impressive 25 goals. His trajectory is excellent – he just got derailed for a few years (but he was not a high draft pick; he had fallen to 21 because his game had already started to unravel in juniors).
The other thing about Gauthier when he got to Charlotte was his inability to utilize his team mates. He was always a scorer, a good skater, and a gym rat (read: strong). He just didn’t know how to play in a system. His 1st year w/the Checkers he had a rough first 20 games or so. Then he met w/Vellucci and things seemed to click. Last season he got progressively better in all aspects of the game, even killing penalties periodically. A guy who went from 16 goals to 27 goals is developing the way you’d like to see. He also was one of the big contributors during the playoffs w/over .50 points per game. He’ll almost certainly see some time in Raleigh this season and has a realistic shot at the big club next season.
Frank Mahovolich
Gary Dornhoeffer
These two come to mind, ptblespaul.
Frank’s first coach was very frustrated with him. His coach, the legendary Punch Imlach said to news people, “Hockey is a streetcar named desire. The problem is, sometimes Frank misses the train.” Frank was traded to the Red Wings, hooked up with linemates Gordue Howe and Alex DelVecchio and tore up the NHL. Dornhoeffer was used by the Flyers for a couple of seasons as the guy who would start fights with Bobby Orr. The only way the Flyers could beat the Bruins was to keep Orr in the penalty box. Dornhoeffer wasn’t much of a fighter, so Orr kicked his tail.
Later, the Flyers discovered that Gary could score (30 to 40 goals). Who’da thunk it?
Bigger guys need more time to grow into their bodies and really learn how to use their size and strength.
They aren’t really big, but both Jeff O’Neil and Eric Cole needed time to blossom. Unfortunately Jeff could not maintain a high level(it also helped that Ron Francis was his center). Eric’s neck injury from the Orpik hit really limited Eric’s potential.
Some may or may not like this, but from what I’ve seen so far Julien Gauthier is showing better than Necas. He was a beast last night in Tampa as well. Could be a very interesting decision by Roddy.