After a bit of a break to cover the official announcement of the sale of the team and the last burst of three games in four days before the bye week, my short series grading the Carolina Hurricanes at the midway point wraps up today with the goalies, coaches and management.
The format again offers the chance for readers to chime in, so with this being by far the most controversial set of evaluations, hopefully the bye week lull will keep things under control and most importantly civil.
If you missed them last week, the grades for the defensemen are HERE, and the grades for the forwards are HERE.
Without further ado, here are my grades at the midway point of the 2017-18 season.
Carolina Hurricanes 2017-18 mid-season grades
Please remember to click ‘vote’ after each individual poll response.
Goalies
Scott Darling — C-. Per readers’ votes on my previous grades, I am on record as being an easy grader, and I do generally stay in the A through C range, so to put it bluntly Scott Darling’s C- is pretty harsh by my standards. Graded as an NHL starter who needs to be at least league average, Darling just has not. Early in the season, he seemed to alternate in a reasonably balanced way between good starts and ‘meh’ at best starts, but more recently he has struggled more often than not. His statistics place him near the bottom of he goalie heap. Important to note is that I think it is far too early to declare this story over and consider his addition a bust. He has shown flashes of what Ron Francis thought he was getting. If Darling puts together a strong second half, the first half will be quickly written off as an adjustment phase, but in looking backward not forward, the first half just has not met hopes or expectations.
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Cam Ward — A-. VERY IMPORTANT is that I am grading Cam Ward as a backup goalie. That was his role starting the season, and that is the level of play for which I am holding him accounting. That level of play is less than that of an NHL starter. As a backup, I think Ward has done about all one could hope for. Ward’s .904 save percentage is not great, but it is really hard not to like his 11-5-2 record as a backup and even his ability to at least hold the fort as a starter while Darling tries to find a higher gear. My quick math has him as ‘good enough’ or better in 12 out of 19 starts and then at least okay even in a few of his seven lesser starts. That is at least good enough if not better for a backup. He has sputtered a bit of late, and now is when he hit the wall and faded in 2016-17, so his second half of the season is something to watch. But looking backward not forward and considering Ward as a backup, I stand strongly by my A-. If pressed to grade him as a starter, I would give him a B. Ward’s consistency has not been ideal, but he generally has had enough good efforts to give the team a chance as reflected by his strong record.
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Coaches and management
Ron Francis — B. In some ways, grading Ron Francis at the midway point of the season is not worth the time. For him, think a HUGE percent of his end of season grade is whether the team pushes into the playoffs or not. His is a class for which the final exam is 75 percent of the grade. That said, I give him a mixed review on his work over the summer. The team is right where it was at this point last season which is not catastrophic but does lean slightly toward disappointing. As for Francis’ specific moves, after a fast start Justin Williams has settled into a scoring pace that is more depth than catalyst, but his leadership has already visibly helped the young team. Trevor van Riemsdyk has proven to be a tremendous value acquisition as a solid #5 defenseman playing in a key role next to young, still developing partners. And I am on record as saying that I do not think the fourth line additions of Marcus Kruger and Josh Jooris have panned out quite as hoped. But at the end of the day, the biggest need Francis filled this summer was adding Scott Darling in net. Thus far, all of the other goalies who moved teams into #1 roles and could have been options for Francis (Mike Smith, Marc-Andre Fleury and Ben Bishop) have played well and far exceeded Darling’s play. The fact that Francis’ other moves have been more positive than negative and also that the team’s 2017-18 season is still to be decided pull him up to an even B.
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Bill Peters — B. I started at B- but instead decided to keep it simple and put Peters in exactly the same boat as his partner Ron Francis. The 2017-18 Hurricanes are one point worse in terms of points through 45 games and two points worse in the standings. I wrote an article at the tail end of the 2016-17 season entitled,“The honeymoon for Bill Peters is officially over.” Put simply, now past three years deep and with a better team on his bench, he will be measured by results with at least the near-term cut line being playoffs or not. So based on that, his results through 45 are not a huge miss, but at the same time they are not good enough. But as with Francis, 75 percent of Peters’ grade will be decided by the end result, and the team is still very much in the mix for making that end well. Below the ‘results matter’ level, my assessment of Peters thus far is that he has been okay but has yet to find any levers, magic or whatever else that boosts his team from being good enough to make the playoffs up a notch to actually being in the playoffs.
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Steve Smith — B. In recent years, Smith has earned an A for his role leading a penalty kill that has been among the league’s best despite annual changeovers in personnel. Though it has been intermittently better of late, the #23 ranking thus far is sub-par. My expectation is that Smith and the group are on the brink of figuring it out, but through 45 games, I think even a B is generous given the ‘meh’ results thus far.
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Rod Brind’Amour — B. The power play that Rod Brind’Amour leads is somewhat similar to the penalty kill. It would rate as a C or worse for the first quarter of the season but has been trending upward of late and has risen to #20 out of 31 after being near the bottom early in the season. But while the trajectory is upward right now, the results thus far yield a B at best as group that is below the league average.
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Mike Bales — C. I was very hard on former goalie coach David Marcoux because of the poor results under his leadership. In being fair and grading actual results, I have to do the same with Mike Bales thus far. If you grade him based on the players that he coaches, I think you could credit him for Ward’s play but would also have to downgrade significantly for Darling’s thus far. As a new coach who is working with two new goalies, it is reasonable to hope that the best is yet to come, but in grading results through 45 games, I have to give him a C which is near the bottom of where I grade.
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What say you Caniacs?
1) Which, if any, of the grades do you most disagree with?
2) Do you agree that grading Peters and Francis at the midway point with the team in the playoff chase is mostly meaningless and that at the end of the day their grades are almost solely based on whether the team makes the playoffs or not?
Go Canes!
I probably disagree most with the high score you gave Ward. He has certainly aced some tests but has also had some duds. I would place him at a B- overall, in part because he has assumed a larger role than a typical backup and he is doing more than trying to adequate spell the starter.
As for Peters and Francis, I think you are right about Francis – his finals test is greatly overweighted. But I can’t say the same for Peters. The team has been very inconsistent in the level and style of play. I think a large part of that has to be on the coach who doesn’t seem to be getting the most out of his players night in and night out. So I would grade him lower (C+) and say that the finals are important, they are not nearly as important relatively speaking.
Honestly not doing it just to try to stir the pot, but when I wrote Ward’s review, I fully expected near mutiny level disagreement with my grade.
For me, it is about role. As a backup, I really do not think one could ask for much more. Inconsistency is the norm because of the breaks between games, and I while wins/losses do not tell the full story, when you are aiming for .500-ish from a backup Ward stands out as a significant plus in that regard.
Regardless, the best part about the site and the coffee shop especially is the diversity of opinions, so as long as everyone stays respectful, I look forward to reading what I think will be a good number of different opinions.
No mutiny here. He is a backup with a great record and is trying to make up for a totally failing #1. I hope we do not burn him out again.
1. I think the grades above are actually accurate. Wardo has been a very good backup (A), whereas Darling has been a subpar starter (C). Goaltending remains average at best when you net it out, no pun, hence why I agree Bales is a (C). Coaches and GM across the board has the team in playoff reach (agree with B).
2. Final exam for coaches will be early April. I think this is GMRF’s team for the next few years and Dundon trusts him as the architect. BP and coaches will likely have remainder of this year and early next to implement change.
Lastly, I love the general debate and think it really surrounds one question between all fans. Is the current roster good enough to make the playoffs? There are some who prefer a major shakeup and make it known after every loss, while there are equally others who project their confidence in the current group after every win. I agree sometimes that can appear as though both sides trying to prove another wrong. Such is the life of a mediocre team!
I’m somewhere in the middle, leaning in the ‘not YET good enough’ category. I think we are one impact forward and veteran defenseman away from grabbing a spot this year. We’ve sniffed the line enough with the current group the last two years, yet the same troubles getting above that line persist. If we can grab a player or two to help bridge the gap then I think we’ll be fine. Doesn’t mean sell the farm, but we have enough on the farm to sell a small piece for short-term. The gains felt from a playoff seed will be long-term for this group.
I’m with you – I do think the Canes will eek into the playoffs, but I also believe they’re a couple of players away (at least) from being able to do any damage in the playoffs. Also agree on a veteran, more physical defenseman and same for a forward. I lobbied in another post for someone like Patrick Maroon. Yes, the high scoring, incredibly gifted center would be great but let’s be honest, the likelihood of obtaining someone who fits that mold is slim. Keep building the talent and depth, but just as important is recognizing when a player has hit their ceiling and it’s time to either slot them in the spot where they can be successful or package them in trades and move on with younger versions to determine if there can be a net gain in production. Rask, Lindholm, Faulk come to mind in that category. If Skinner doesn’t soon step up, then his name will come up in trade conversations as well. What we don’t need is him scoring a 1/3 of his goals when they’re out of the playoffs. With Aho out a minimum of a few weeks, now would be a good time to re-elevate his game. I’m still positive on the general direction of the team but as expected, they’re still a ways away from being in that top tier of legitimate Cup contenders. It was never going to be easy this season in the Metropolitan division and it’s playing out as expected. Everyone has a shot so it should be a fun ride.
While I agree with GMRF grade, it is more difficult to grade on trades not made (e.g. duchene) than trades made (as listed). Many fans badly wanted the trade with Colorado, and now Duchene’s 22 points and -8 are significantly below J Staal’s 28 points and +0. As he said the price was too high, and I give him props for patience.
I think this is an important point. Thus far, Francis style has been conservative and methodical. That is not overly exciting, but it also has much lower chance of big misses that become big setbacks and oftentimes financial issues.
I am thinking Ward’s grade is a tad bit high )I would have gone with a B+) Then I realize I am partly basing that on his salary (3million is a lot for a backup) and then realize that is on RF more than Ward himself.
I think BP’s grade is too high. It is not about this spring, it is about eliminating big whoopsis and getting the best out of the roster. Peters has had a few years to instill his system, and he is responsible for getting the best results out of his team every day. I’d have to grade him below B based on what we’ve seen (if the talent is sufficient, then the coaching is the problem). I’d say C+.
I agree with the rest of the grades.
As I have mentioned elsewhere I am firmly in the “we’re a player or two short of getting over the playoff hump, and a possible coaching change).
We can grade RF based on any trade that was made around the league.
I think the Markus Johansen trade worked out pretty good.
The Eberle trade likewise.
Last year the Taylor Hall trade was something the Canes should have gone all in on.
The Duchene trade has not worked out so well.
We can pick and choose, but my overall position is that RF leans too far towards doing nothing where incremental favorable trades have apparently been available.
Of course we don’t know if he didn’t wan to do those, or he tried but did not manage to lure the player or get the deal done.
Regardless, the team should be better this year, we have a lot of great young guys on cheap contracts and his would have been the year to bring in a pricy veteran on a short-term deal. JW is a warrior but he is not, b himself, the difference maker we need.
And, regarding his comments on the Semin deal.
Semin played phenominal in his first year with the Canes. It was reasonable to think, at the time, he would continueto play great.
The fact that he stopped playing and trying once the money was in the bank is on him (in fact, it is crazy the league guarantees salary for grossly under performing players).
All Canes fans wish somebody had seen the warning signs and parted ways intead of committing him, and I thought his contract was ridiculous (2 years less at 2.5 mill lts would have made sense) but still, I don’t think anyone could have predicted the disaster that it turned out to be.
Totally agree on Semin. That was just inexplicable, particularly for a professional athlete. Nobody saw that coming.
1) Darling, I find it difficult to give a goalie who was expected to be a difference maker but is now one of the very worst in the NHL a C-. Sorry, much lower. That does not mean I think it is a bust yet, he could still come out of this but he is nowhere near what we expected. If he was average, we would be in the playoff picture right now.
Ward might be a little high, but he is doing his job well.
2) Yes. Coaching, Rod Brind’Amour’s power play has been pitiful. We are less then average by far. B is way off. Even a C is too high. In my grading curve when you are below average that means below C.
Not sure about peters. I guess he does not want to throw his players under the bus publically but it just seems to be okay to have total implosions. I would think there would be some emotion when our all star centers a pass to the opposition. I just do not see consequences for bad play. It makes me question his coaching.
I think RF really did go out and try to get what we needed. I still believe PK held him back for big bucks acquisition. I think he did the best he could with the rope he had. No proof, just opinion. Some of the guys are not working out as well as hoped. Dunden will probably give him more to work with. The thing about the trade deadline is you have to be close to a playoff spot to make a move. This team is so inconsistent we will not know until we get there.
I am not trying to be supper hard grading but when things are less then average I cannot give them Bs. I agreed with some of the earlier As, so it not like I do not see good, because there is plenty of good. I just cannot give high grades for those who are less then average. Again, just opinion and open to change my mind with others comments.
It’s clear to me that many folks see many things differently than I, so I’ve got a question for you. Does the team record enter into your evaluation? The Canes are last in the Metropolitan Division.
Five teams within three points of each other so it’s all relevant. It would mean more if they were last and also with no shot of a playoff spot but that’s not the case. I get your point….but there is an asterisk in this case. Probably the more relevant statistic is comparing their record to the prior season. If we’re looking for improvement the record should reflect that and unfortunately by that metric the Canes have not made the gains expected of them.
Tenininumee and Puckgod have interesting points…well put and I’ve been agreeing with this somewhat. Compare this year’s record to last year, maybe even go back a few years. Then add in the fact this division is rarely forgiving. Without a significant addition both upfront and on defense, not sure we have enough to make that final push over the playoff line (and to stay there long enough in creating separation).
At this point I’d trade Faulk for a competent defenseman and try to make a decent short-term splash on offense. Faulk fumbles the puck too much and can regain himself elsewhere. Lindy has high draft pedigree and may fetch that gritty scoring forward we need. Bottom line is we’ve stood still in the standings for too long.