I got sidetracked with other hockey stuff on Sunday afternoon (see below) and then had to spend an hour or two calming down before writing part two of my article on Saturday’s big trade. That article which is the meatier entry today is up now and can be found HERE.
#4 if it doesn’t jump to there instantly…
? ANOTHER ONE ?
Congrats to Matt Karash on hitting the fourth shot of the day! pic.twitter.com/GkxUjUZvkH
— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) June 24, 2018
Will have to share some of the details of the full story at some point.
But back on the beat of real hockey players who can score goals without massive fits of hockey god-gifted luck, today’s Daily Cup of Joe takes a quick look at the Hurricanes unique entries to bolster its blue line prospect pool.
As I have written a couple times, because the team’s blue line is so young and because the prospect pool in total is so much improved, fans sometimes like to leap to the conclusion that the blue line prospect pool is deep as well. But when you do the math that is not really true. With Hanifin jumping straight to the NHL from the draft and Pesce and Slavin mostly skipping the AHL, a gap developed age-wise in the prospect pool. The majority of the Charlotte Checkers blue line is comprised of veteran AHLers. I wrote up the details HERE, but the short version is that the Hurricanes are a bit lite on defense prospects.
Trevor Carrick who is on the older side to still be called a prospect would seemingly be NHL-ready for depth on the left side, and Roland McKeown seems similarly ready on the right side. Jake Bean who will move up to the AHL this season represents the highest ceiling player in the current group. Past that, the team has a couple of lower probability prospects in Josh Wesley and Tyler Ganly (who would need to be re-signed) otherwise at the AHL level. The team does have the beginnings of a next wave in Luke Martin, Brendan De Jong and Ville Rasanen from the 2017 draft.
But entering this summer, there was still room for more depth. And the Hurricanes added a couple interesting prospects creatively without spending an early-round draft pick to do so. First, the team signed Michael Fora out of Switzerland. He is a big older at 22 years old still a prospect. He adds a bigger defenseman and a physical presence. Then in Saturday’s trade, the Hurricanes added Adam Fox. He might or might not be signable coming out of college hockey, but if he is, all indications are that the Hurricanes added a really good one with a really high ceiling because of his offensive ability. Then the team did add Jesper Sellgren from Sweden in the sixth round of the 2018 draft. In the end, the Hurricanes spent only one draft pick on a defenseman but managed to bolster the blue line prospect pool with three players. And just like that the Hurricanes blue line organizational chart looks a bit fuller.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Does anyone have any kind of wild guess as to whether Adam Fox is signable?
2) What, in general, do you think about the current state of the Hurricanes defense prospect pool?
Go Canes!
1) I don’t know. But given Will Butcher’s path, if I were advising Fox I would tell him not to sign. Butcher got to enjoy college–my guess is the bus trips in college are better than the trips in the AHL–and then starting making $3M+. That is what I call a win/win.
2) I really like Martin; based on information you have posted I think De Jong might be a sleeper; and Fora seems like a smart add. I have watched Fox play twice and he has potential to be good, but as I stated above I don’t see him signing.
Finally–Congratulations!!
1. Here’s to hoping that Fox and Drury become good friends at Harvard; and that Carolina becomes a desirable team if you want to win in the near future.
2. I think Fora was a great pick-up; Fox could turn out to be a good move if we get him signed; I think McKeown is NHL-ready; Carrick would be a good Dahlbeck replacement at #7; excited to see what Bean does next year in Charlotte. Don’t really know much beyond that but hearing good things about Martin and De Jong. It’s not as deep as our forward pool but I don’t think we’re in a bad spot; especially given how young our NHL D-corp is.
As CT said – Congrats!
Congrats on a great shot.
Is it possible that Fox comes to camp and the canes get a feel for future plans. If he signs, great. If not he is part of a package to another team? I think he has great value whether he ever suits up in Raleigh or not. It would surprise me if he just walks away.
Congratulations! – aren’t you glad you wasted that hour going to the arena! 😀
1. I don’t see us signing Fox under any circumstances. To repeat myself,
“I really think Fox is going to go the post-college FA route and I don’t blame him. It isn’t just getting a Harvard degree, although it is always nice to get a degree from the “Stanford of the East” – ? – he gets to enjoy playing the game in college knowing that he is going to get a great-paying job when he graduates. Unlike other sports, there is no real incentive for a top-end college hockey player to leave college when FA beckons in 4 years.”
2. I think your read is spot on. It will be interesting to see what Bean does in Charlotte, which is where I think he will start the season. Carrick is, at best, depth defense at the NHL level- I think McKeown can play at the NHL level and as a RHD he could be an attractive part of a trade package – or replace TvR if we do not resolve the contract negotiation issues dmilleravid alluded to in the other post today. Right now we actually have 5 NHL or NHL-ready D-men in the organization – I don’t think we will go into the season with that many.
1. No idea, but I can think of a million reasons I would prefer to live in NC rather than Calgary, even if it’s just for the hockey season.
2. I am optimistic about the Canes D. I think Faulk will be traded this week, even if we have to “lose” on that trade. Fleury will be better. We have McKeown and Carrick chomping at the bit to get a chance. Dahlbeck is quite capable, and the perfect guy to have in the no. 7 spot. I expect that Hamilton will be just fine leading the 2nd pair. If nothing else, his physical play will be inspiring and, I hope, contacious.
3. Random thought: we just traded away 2 of the best flows on the team. Oh well, we still have J. Willie.
Can I get traded to Calgary right now? It’s friggin hot.
Dahlbeck signed in the KHL for next season.
But don’t say second pairing to Dougie. He wants to be top pairing & run the first team PP unit. Part of a problem they had with him in Calgary according to their mgmt.
Eh he made up half of one of the best pairing’s in hockey last year with Giordano. I think pairing him with Slavin as D1 is a great idea. Move Pesce down with whoever is the 2LD. Fleury would likely benefit greatly from a steady presence like Pesce next to him. And we have zero options better than Hamilton on the point on the PP. He’s a top 10 defenseman easily speaking strictly on his offensive ability. His little half snapslapwrister is one of my favorite shots in the league. Gets it off so quick with so much power… I’m real excited about Dougie.
Fox IS attending development camp, and I would like to take that as a good sign. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything, there’s no reason NOT to go to an NHL developmental camp and work with coaches and other prospects. But I wanna see us build a rapport and let him see the bright future it looks like we have. I think we have a solid shot at signing him, but it’s definitely far from a sure thing. I’d say like 50-50. Certainly a better shot than if he’d stayed with Calgary and went the FA route wherever he wanted.
Coming to camp he gets a great feel for the organization, do I fit, do I think I can start soon (whether leave early or after senior year), can this group of folks win the cup. Will Butcher, much like Jimmy Vessey, were looking for things they didn’t find in the teams that drafted them. Our guys get one solid week to make a great impression on him to show just how great Raleigh is, what he can get for his money, playing team, organization, etc.This is coaches, team mates, everyone.
He is a NY boy, and I recall seeing somewhere that maybe this may play a part in not wanting to sign. In the end, I think it’s all about opportunity. Can I be a star.Llet’s face it, you can become a FA after college, get you 2 year contract and think you’re fat. Then, if you crash, well, hope those first 2 years were enough to live on. However, if you’re the standout, you’re gonna get paid even more. If he is what he is from the right side, depending on what we do with Faulk, he will have that spot. If things are right, we don’t have someone from this side with this talent level in the pipe.
I wouldn’t read too much into it. He attended the Calgary camps as well. These prospects camps are a great opportunity for professional-level development for college players. They would be foolish to turn it down regardless of their long-term plans.