Sunday kicks off open season for teams looking to use heavy ammo in the form of bunches of dollars to attract free agents. For the longest time, the Hurricanes have been small players in these yearly festivities mostly quietly adding depth players while the fireworks were going off across the league. The team did add Justin Williams on the opening day of 2017’s free agency, but even medium size additions have been few and far between otherwise.
With new management in place that already made a blockbuster type trade during draft weekend, might this year be different?
At a minimum, the Hurricanes are definitely in the market for a goalie and per comments by Don Waddell at the prospect camp Summerfest, that addition could be made within 24 hours.
As you settle in for what can be an interesting day on Sunday, here are a few articles from earlier this week that set the stage for today’s deal-making article.
Part 1 shopped the goalie options that will likely come into play.
Part 2 assessed and slotted the team’s forwards.
So by position, here is a quick guide to Sunday’s NHL fun…
At goalie
This is one area where the team is certain to make a deal at some point. Cam Ward seems destined for the Chicago Blackhawks which leaves one opening for a goalie with the Hurricanes. The article above handicapped the primary options.
My 2 cents says this:
1) I want a goalie on a one or two-year commitment. As desperately as I want to improve the position, I just do not see any of the options available as being more than another round of high stakes gambling on a 3-year deal or more. Further, I think each comes with his own set of risks such that I do not see any of the options as being far and away better than the others. So I want short-term
2) I am on record as very much disliking the idea of adding another backup who is unproven in a starting role and hoping that the player can survive the double transition of changing teams and transitioning into a #1 role.
3) So from there, I find it hard to say ‘he will work for sure’ with any of the options available.
I lean toward Robin Lehner or Jonathan Bernier on a short-term deal or possibly even trying to add a higher-end goalie via trade. I am not a big fan of Petr Mrazek who has been linked to the Hurricanes. I just see him as more inconsistent than the others. I also am not as high on Carter Hutton as many. His history is that of a capable but not spectacular backup on good hockey teams until his numbers bumped up in 2017-18 just in time for free agency. I like him, but he looks eerily like Eddie Lack and Scott Darling. If someone else wants to commit a bunch of money over three or more years, I pass. Of all of the names making the rounds, Jaroslav Halak, who gets minimal attention, is actually the goalie with the most starter experience and best basic statistics over recent years if you look out a few years.
What I would do: Steer clear of any big commitment. From there I am torn between Lehner, Bernier and Halak.
On defense
The article above talks in more detail about the odd situation that the Hurricanes find themselves in having traded a left defenseman in Noah Hanifin for a right defenseman in Dougie Hamilton. The logjam on the right side features three top 4 types at least salary-wise in Brett Pesce, Dougie Hamilton and Justin Faulk in addition to Trevor van Riemsdyk who performed well in a third pairing role in 2018-19.
Though I actually figured that something would happen before Sunday when a partial no-trade clause would kick in for Justin Faulk. But even with that not happening yet, I still believe the Hurricanes could be in the market for a top 4 left shot defenseman.
As I said on Twitter earlier this week, the player that jumps out to me is Calvin de Haan from the Islanders. He has had some injury issues over the past few years, but when in the lineup he has been a steady top 4 defenseman. As an efficient, defense-leaning defenseman, his skill set could be a good fit for Dougie Hamilton and in the process leave Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce together.
There are a few other options, but I am not really high on any other blue line free agents for a top 4 role. Tobias Enstrom is one left shot possibility if he is ready to take a shorter-term deal. If de Haan is not a viable option, I think it is more likely that the team balances the blue line via a trade or two.
What I would do: Yes, he will cost a bit too much because higher-end free agents almost always do. And yes the term will be uncomfortably long. But if I was going to go out on a limb in free agency, I think it would be to add de Haan. I think he combined with re-signing Trevor van Riemsdyk balances out a pretty good, experienced blue line without any reaches in the lineup. That could be significant in terms of stabilizing things and creating a good environment for a goalie rebound regardless of who is in net. If de Haan is not obtainable, I would not reach for other options.
At forward
Perhaps the most uncertain position is forward. The Hurricanes have a decent starting point and also a bunch of potentially ready youth in Andrei Svechnikov, Martin Necas, Valentin Zykov, Warren Foegele and others. But the current version of the lineup feels more like rebuilding with optimism that things happen sooner rather than later.
With the goalie and defense positions still in play and Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk supposedly on the trading block, my best guess is that the team holds off on significant forward additions until a couple other things shake out.
If allowed to dream, Paul Stastny would add an offense-leaning center to the mix to boost the top half of the lineup, but I figure he is a player who will see multiple high bids and would be tough to get and quite possibly not even worth it given the price.
What I would do: It is difficult to handicap the forward situation without an understanding of the status of Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk. If Skinner goes, the team definitely needs to add more proven offense, but that very well could come via trade.
Give me Calvin de Haan and a goalie, and then I think the stage is set for the team to shift to dealing one of both of Jeff Skinner and/or Justin Faulk.
What say you Canes fans?
1) With decision time here, who do you like at goalie?
2) Which reach (unlikely) not named John Tavares do you like?
3) Take a shot…Predict one deal for the Hurricanes either free agent signing or trade.
Go Canes!
1) At this point with Hutton & Bernier gone, I would rather have Lehner. He has put up good numbers the previous 2 years before last. Even last year on the worst team, his numbers were as good as both of our goalies. He has starting experience & is a big solid goalie as well. Not so confident on Halak even though is was a #1 & had some good years. Definitely do not want Mrazek.
2)My choice would be to go after ROR if St. Louis doesn’t beat us to him. His bonus has been paid now so that is not a concern. He would solidify our middle & add leadership for the young ones. Obviously now that BUF has paid the bonus we would have to add more to it but I think Faulk and maybe Rask (hopefully), a high prospect may get it done.
3)My guess is if TOR lands Tavares, we could trade Skinner to them (home town like Tavares) for Nylander since they will have to clear some cap room for JT soon.
And that’s my call.
Go Canes !!
1. In the multitudes of rumors, it seems every goalie has a team but Robin Lehner. If the Canes can get a reasonable 2 year deal and allow Darling and Lehner to compete for the starting role that is probably the way to go. No goalie situation is perfect but Lehner has had success in the past and is only 26. (Still want a goalie fight)
2. One forward I would like to see the Canes get is Riley Nash. He is a right shot center who can play wing and move up and down the lineup. In all the trades and promotions from Charlotte the team can’t forget the penalty kill. In looking at the roster I don’t see anyone who would be the 2C on the PK. Nash is familiar with the Canes, can play 4th line and can play with top line talent in a pinch. I think he would be a great addition.
3. On defense I think upgrades will come through trade or the young players will step up. Unless a third pairing left d is available on a one year deal, dont block the kids.
Should be a fun day. If anyone has contacts please tell Tavares to decide already.
Tom Dundon is on record as saying that he does not want to invest in UFAs. He believes that they are overpriced and unwanted by their previous team for a reason. I concur, unless, of course, we know what we are getting (e.g. Willy).
From what I have seen of the braintrust, they know what they are doing. I sincerely doubt that they would have cast Cam adrift unless they had a couple of trade targets identified or someone within the organization picked to fill the slot.
Back in the pre-Cup days, I grew accustomed to reading about a trade Jimmy had just pulled off and asking myself, “Who the heck is this guy?” I learned to trust that he knew much more than I did. So I defer to the braintrust on this one.
On defense and forwards, I have a hunch. Edmonton. They desperately need a scoring forward as well as a scoring right d-man. Their pp needs a quarterback. Chiarelli needs a trading coup. He is under a lot of fan pressure to do something to turn things around for the Oilers. He is handcuffed by the cap. He needs to make a “hockey trade”. Skinner and Faulk for either RNH or Draisaitl, and either Nurse or Sekera (pending a physical).
Just my not-very-humble opinion.
Riley Nash is not likely to give us a first look, let alone a second. We cast him adrift a few seasons ago. I never agreed with that decision. I am dead certain that he didn’t agree either. He will have bunches of suitors, given his performance for the Bruins last season.
We won’t even be in the running.
Powerless, I think Riley Nash was from Boston area and wanted to go there in free agency. I know he was well respected as a clubhouse leader with the Canes and Canes hated to lose him. I believe you are right…he will have a lot of teams after him.
No thanks to Riley Nash. Incredibly overrated player. Was happy to see him go. If you want more scoring why bring in a guy that struggles to score? Sure, he had 40 points last season. Best season by far. He also got time in the top 6 for Boston. He doesn’t belong there. He’ll want 40+ points money and go back to scoring 25 points. Pass. Elias Lindholm with no upside.
1. Halak at goalie. He has a proven record over many years as a starter. No thanks to Lehner and Mrazek. I was on the Hutton bandwagon, but have cooled as he apparently wants big dollars and more years. Halak has better long term record IMO.
2. DeHaan would be a very good pickup at defense. He has some offense to him as well as being qualified as a good 2nd pairing defenseman. Otherwise, let’s go with one of our in house prospects.
3. Reach. Svechnikov’s brother from Detroit. Another big winger. I’ve seen his in camp films this year and this guys ready for prime time IMO. Otherwise, we have plenty of top notch in house prospects. Saarela is an intriguing prospect. Maybe Archibald from Vancouver as a real reach. If powerless can get Edmonton to go for the Faulk for Draisaitl deal, I’m in on that for sure.
We can add Steve Mason to the list of UFA goalies.
I think it will be Mason–no real basis for this, just a hunch.
Halak just signed with Boston.
Bad news for us IMO. That leaves us with Lehner. He has been a clubhouse nightmare on his other teams. Let’s see if he is the guy. If so, I’m going to back the move and cross my fingers that it was the right decision.
Is Lehner the clubhouse nightmare, or a truth-teller?
Could be both. As I have stated, if he comes to Canes I don’t care about his history. I will just judge him on what he does from day one with the Canes. I’ve decided to take this attitude on all our moves. If the Canes want to change the attitude in the clubhouse, I’m following suit and will approach the new season with optimism. I will say, so far it has been easy to do this as we have made some excellent moves IMO.
Khudobin to the Stars. The goalkeeper market is hot.
I am from Missouri – I won’t speculate; I am just going to sit back, watch, and then evaluate.
I agree with you. It’s exciting to watch who goes where, but in the end as far as the Canes go I am going to judge their results on what happens on the ice this coming season. All of these free agents have wonderful writeups right now, but for some reason their original teams didn’t want them or at least didn’t think they were worth what it would cost to keep them. For example, Ryan to Calgary for over 3 million a year for 3 years. Better hope he plays better than he did for Canes where he was good, but not over 3 million bucks good.
Luke DeCock’s comment was funny about Ryan…”Someone in Calgary just lost their power play time.”
A story on Khudobin – he will sign with Dallas for about $2.5M. He had a lot of interest and told the Russian press he wanted to stay in Boston and the Boston offering was only $150K less than the other offers. He asked for $50K more and Boston said no.
This is the type of stuff I don’t get – if Boston O&M were willing to offer $2.4M to a goalie who performed well and was popular on the team, why not $2.45M? I don’t see how $50K makes a difference.
Ego. Happens all the time. Aaron Ward to NYR was about ego. The cost of living and taxes more than ate up the extra money they paid him.
Conversely, if he wanted to stay in Boston, why would he change his mind for $50K? These are salaries in the millions folks, not 40K vs. 90K or even 90K Vs. 140K. I think concepts like hometown loyalty are fan pipe dreams. Players sign for the highest $ available.
Hutton to Buffalo?
Lack staying in NJ. Go Eddie!
Hutchinson to Florida.
Resigning Ward? Wouldn’t be surprised by now, I don’t think Chicago is confirmed.
The options are getting thin in goal.
You have my vote.
Cam to Chicago. 1 year 3 million. Go Cam!
It’s Mrazek. 1 year $1.5M. Like the term and the price.
This can turn out to be a great sign or a total bust. This guy seems to play miraculously for a few games and then turns to lousy for a few. GOOD GAMBLE AT 1.5 million for one year. My only problem is if he has a great year, then we are going to have to bid against the whole league to resign him. Nevertheless, I’m all in and going to support this acquisition. So far he hasn’t allowed a goal against while playing for us.
Low risk signing. Gives Ned another year to develop some consistency. If Mrazek has a great year it will put the Canes in a difficult spot. Can you pay two goalies #1 money? Hard to justify. Another interesting story to follow with the Canes this season.
St Louis takes themselves out of the Oreilly running with Bozak signing (5 mill i’d pass). I wonder if the Canes can outbid Montreal for Oreilly or if they even want to. With the money being handed out to bottom 6 players today I feel a WHOLE lot better about Victor Rask’s 4 million dollar salary – I just still don’t see him as a fit on a competitive Canes team due to the lack of high-end (and reliable) offense at the top 9 center spots. A free agent I think that could be useful would be Dan Hamhuis -left handed and he’s a veteran could be a Ron Hainsey type that would help.
I am a little sick to my stomach watching those deals go out to Stastney and Perron – both deals where I think the Canes could have paid more salary and similar term and gotten a solid player that would help. James Neal is still available and I think he is someone to look at. I know the goalie thing is in the cards but I really pray that Waddell isn’t neglecting the forward and defense market. I think Walmart as he referenced would be fine on the blueline as the options are pretty bad – but especially up front i’m hoping they can add another 40+ points to the lineup (preferably on the goal scoring side like a Neal or Grabner, with neal getting the edge for leadership and physical qualities).
Grabner is gone to AZ. I am not a Neal fan. Still a knucklehead to me. Also believe his career is on the downswing. Don’t think you can trust the guy not to blow a few games a year doing stupid things.
Necas may be the answer you are looking for. The Canes aren’t winning the cup next season. They need to build to be ready in a couple years. I would rather see what Necas, Zykov and Foegele can do this season as opposed to signing a declining player to a bloated contract.
I would have said the same thing about the Leafs signing Marleau last summer. They paid a lot for an older guy but in the end of the day his veteran presence on a young team certainly helped – his production was good for year 1 of the deal, and despite what appeared to be a monster cap hit they still signed John Tavares – and overall they had less cap space than the Hurricanes. At some point the team has to be willing to increase the payroll to get better. The answer is not going to come from a bunch of young players at least not NEXT season. Best case scenario is that 2 of them emerge to enhance an already shallow core (Aho and Staal up front? Who else?) and that leaves the Canes still needing lots of players. It’s a big leap of faith to think that all these rookies with zero NHL experience but tons of upside will come in and both fill key top 6 spots AND key depth contributor spots – to me that’s unlikely to play out and holding out for that scenario is a recipe to missing the playoffs.
Teams that have had a lot more success than the Canes went out and despite the prices and terms filled their HOLES. And I would argue their filling in of depth pieces (as St Louis did with adding Bozak and Perron for a combined 9 million cap hit – not terrible) those teams already have better core forwards than Carolina.
This team needed at least one more Justin Williams than they had at the start of last year and a bunch of those guys are already off the market. David Perron signed 4×4 – williams signed at 4.5 million last summer and the prior is 29 years old, a playmaking powerforward who would have seemed like a perfect fit with Jordan Staal. Paul Stastny for 3 years at 6.5 I would have gone 3×7 even or 4×6 for him he is a legit top 6 center who can help the Canes become a playoff team. Other than Aho will be getting big money (but not Mcdavid or even Tavares money) who do the Canes have that really they need to be worried about preserving cap space for? Their whole d corps is locked up! Terevainen and Aho are certainly not going to cost 10 million each…
You do realize owners want to make money? Spending to the cap is for big market teams and guys who don’t care about making money. (or losing a ton of money)
TT is a legit top 6 forward. So is Ferland. There are four top 6 guys. A few weeks ago everyone was so hip on Zykov playing with Aho and TT. What happened to that? Sounds like four or more young forwards may make the team including Zykov, Foegele, Necas and Svechnikov. They all don’t need to be buried in the bottom 6. Give them a chance to contribute and develop. Finally, the Canes will either have Skinner or another forward, IMO.
While Marelau helped the Leafs, they were not a cup contender with that defense. Not sure Tavares changes that. The Leafs print money. They don’t have to worry about a contract mistake will hamstring them for years. The Canes have to worry about that.
Money is not the only consideration players look at when they look at teams to sign with. One very important consideration is does the team have a chance to play for the cup. The Canes fail this test. Another is does the team have a solid core and no achilles heels so it will be relevant for more than one season. The Canes fail this test. Are there better fits around the league for the player’s talent.
Very few of the free agents signed today will make any team into a playoff or Stanley Cup contender. The high priced players went to teams that are already successful to allow them to CONTINUE TO BE SUCCESSFUL. Those teams could offer dollars AND SUCCESS (Playing with other high end players and playing for a chance at a CUP).
I do realize owners want to make money but I think if your goal is to make money and not win stanley cups then you are already setting yourself up to fail. Red Ryder truly is on the same wavelength thought wise with me on this one – besides, one thing that has been proven in ANY market is that if you win fans will come and you will make money. Small market is not an excuse, small market is a description of the result of poor organizational philosophy in building a contending team. The past has had a large rammification on the current perception of the team and the only way Tom Dundon can change the perception is by literally changing the way the Canes do things – sign some free agents and pay more money to your staff members and hire more staff members. They have to become a more attractive organization perception wise around the league. They have everything going for them on paper except for everyone around the league thinks they are a total joke and waste of time.
Also, if Derek Ryan is worth $3M+ a year what do you think the Canes will have to pay Turbo after next year? Ferland’s contract is up as well. Another guy who won’t be cheap if they can even keep him.
If the Canes do not stay with the playoff pack well into the season they won’t sell tickets and TD will lose just as much money as he would have with a more expensive roster with a better on ice product.
It’s good to be sensible but you can’t go cheap.
Not saying the Canes have done that, but I think they are one high end F (center) and D short for even a reasonable bet on rookie miracles.
JVR and Carlson are next up in the high priced sweepstakes. After that chances may start opening up.
Amen brother. Now for the left side of our d. Hmmm. We traded Hanifin and cast Dahlbeck adrift. That leaves us with Carrick, Fleury and Bean and one surplus righty.
I’m good with Carrick. But the rest? I guess we need a trade.
Also a guy named Slavin. I hear he’s good.
Did you see where the Yotes signed Grabner for 3 years at 10 million per? Wow!
3.5 million per, 10.5 total over 3 years.
I think if Darling blows another year for the Canes he will be bought out or dumped in return for an equally bad contract, and I sure hope that won’t be the case.
There are some outrageously overvalued deals going on, 3 years 3.25 mill for Ryan out of Calgary. Great guy but I would not sign him for more than 1.5 mill on a 3-year deal, very happy for him though, he’s worked hard, he deserves a break, and he got it. Wonder what they’ll pay for Lindholm if they pay that much for DR.
Tavares 11.5 mill 7 years is actuallly not so bad, if he lives up to the billing, problem is he is getting older and the tail end of that contract is likely to be a disaster, but the Leafs are in “win now” mode, all in. Hopefully the Canes can seize an opportunity to pick up a casualty or two.
. I like Kapanen and think he has a lot of promise on an overloaded team, but he’s not a center.
Still hoping for an Oiler trade, I think the two teams can both balance their line ups and benefit from a sensible hockey trade involving 2 or more of Faulk, Skinner, RNH, Draisaitl, Larsen or Klefbom.
That’s insane money for Derek Ryan. If I were Dundon I would sit it out too.
It will be interesting to see what Toronto has to do with cap space over the next couple years. They still need help keeping pucks out of the net. More trades to come?
Good day so far for the Canes. They didn’t sign a stupid deal for an over 30 player whose best years are behind him. (i.e. Johnson of Pittsburgh) I have said before the canes are not in a place to get that one piece to make a deep run. Crazy GMs are spending big money on guys who will maybe have a good year or two and then have a terrible contract on their hands.
Now is where the fun starts. Frantic GMs will hopefully overpay for a LW who can score 30 goals or a RD who can run the PP. We shall see.
Mrazek is interesting in that he was signed to a one year tryout. I don’t know that much about him. I am sad that Lehner will not be going Hulk Hogan out there. Any goalie has their challenges and maybe the canes won the roulette spin this year.
A good perspective on things. You remind me of dmilleravid. Calm and reasonable (usually). I’m trying to get there, but still on occasion go into the “Chicken Little” routine declaring the sky is falling.
I agree that the Canes are wise to sit back and mostly watch today. None of the top-end UFA’s were considering CAR anyway so I doubt we lost out on many real opportunities. Other than Tavares going to TOR – and I would have signed him to that deal instantly – no other signing is going to move the needle all that much for any other team. Maybe JvR to PHI is the other exception.
Mrazek, other than his contract, is in the same situation as Darling: coming off a poor year with something to prove; not a terrible thing to have two goalies highly motivated to improve for more playing time. Very reasonable outcome given the options.
I’m happy for DR but that’s crazy money for him. Also very happy for Cam – CHI is a great fit for him and he gets to play for an original 6 – very cool.
If there is any good news today, it’s that the Metro looks weaker to me today with NYI losing Tavares and NJD losing Grabner offset only by JvR to PHI.
I felt really frustrated with the Canes’ lack of action a year ago. I think it was a critical time and the team could’ve been in a different spot if the right signings had been made then.
Somehow this year feels different. Maybe I’ve given up hope (I couldn’t be bothered to go to the summer fest, first time since moving to NC in 2008 that I didn’t go and take the family), but the more optimistic part of me thinks that nothing reasonable short of Tavares could’ve been had in the free agent frenzy, maybe a defenseman. The real key is to make the right trade or two to balance the lineup and I’ll attend a lot of preseason events and get my hopes up when the temps go down.
I’m the opposite I felt last year the actual options in free agency were quite abysmal. This year in fact I found there were at least 5-10 guys worth taking a look at and the Canes missed on all. Very sad with their inaction. I do have more optimism regarding the future but that comes from two very simple reasons – Svech draft and Necas/Aho/Pesce/Slavin all getting a year older and possibly better. And this will continue to be a case for increased optimism next year and the next as expectations keep rising. But they could have accelerated their competitive window while developing their young players by getting 1 free agent forward.
Mrazek was a smart deal given he has starting goalie experience, a decent number of games experience and has led a team to the playoffs (he also won the Calder Cup for the Wings org). He is known for going on good streaks, and yes has his ups and downs…but is still young and has something to prove. Package this with Darling who is in a similar boat and competition for the crease is a good thing.
I think any other improvements offensively or defensively come via Skinner/Faulk dealings. Glad we stayed out of the free agency pool otherwise.
Don wardell said recently that he feels confident that he is close to re-signing TVR. He says that management is ready to go with the six d-men we have.
Slavin-Hamilton
Pesce-Faulk
Fleury-TVR
He said Pesce would have no trouble playing on the left side.
He then said that we are ready to go with Skinny in the lineup. He said that he wasn’t going to give Skinner away.
I can live with that.
Waddell. My phone likes to correct me.
Waddell also told everyone there was little to nothing going on with Hanifin. We’ll see.
Just don’t see us keeping Faulk after all the trade talk, culture talk & he probably will not have a letter which could make him not give his full effort being demoted in a sense. He could still bring a good trade value for clubs who got left out on signings & covet a top 4 RHD.
Not sure about Pesce playing his off side, when we could easily sign a vet for a good number that will be much better than Fleury on 2nd pairing if we trade Faulk.
Heard we are in on de Haan. Just because they didn’t sign someone else on frenzy day doesn’t mean they can’t still sign a quality UFA after that. Some of the guys take their time to decide which offer is best for them which may mean waiting a few days.
Maybe DW is throwing a smoke screen. If not, it will be very interesting to see it play out that way.
If I had to guess Williams or Staal will be Captain with the other getting an “A” & I really believe Aho or Slavin will be wearing the other “A”.
The early read on Waddell is that when he is talking publicly or using the easy to get to N&O megaphone, he is doing marketing/posturing. The better source of what is actually happening on the phone lines has been the national hockey media who are getting information from agents and other inside sources.
If you take the fact that Jeff Skinner has been readily available, I do not see what would have changed to make that any different today. Certainly, at some point you pull back if the trade value is too weak, but I do not by for a second that the preference is to trade him especially after he was chucked under the bus by a team employee in Erik Cole’s interview last week.
Ditto for Faulk. Waddell has to at least try to suggest that he will keep them both at some price to try to boost the floor on trade value, but I am very skeptical that what seemed to be plan A has suddenly changed.
Matt, I listened to the Cole interview and I don’t think hid intent was to throw Skinner under the bus. He stated that Skinner has never been held accountable, has not played the entire game correctly, and hasn’t earned his laurels. True, those comments cast a negative towards Skinner. But IMO those comments are more of an indictment (throwing under the bus if you like) of how the team has been coached and managed. Who is responsible for holding Skinner accountable? Who had the responsibility to take this 18 year old with no minor league experience and showed him how to play the game correctly? Who has sold him as one of the faces of the franchise? In all cases the coaching and management is responsible. We took an 18 year old kid and because of the lousy way the team was run forced him into the lineup because he was better than what we already had. Being in that position was caused not by Skinner, but by the team coaching and management, not by Skinner. You can criticize Skinner all you want. He surely has his warts. But he always has played with maximum effort IMO. I sure would like to see what he will do if he gets a chance to play for Roddie, Wardell, and TD. You could ditto the above for Lindholm. Another sacrificial lamb who experienced the same treatment and never reached his potential with the Canes.
Red Ryder man me and you must have the same mind. I couldn’t have said it better myself. I feel the exact same way
I still like the idea of signing de Haan as free agent as LHD replacement for Faulk to complement Hamilton with bit more of stay-home type and balance the L/R. That sets dominoes in place such that team could possibly accept futures or forward for Faulk which might make him easier to move.
Lol.. Matt I just posted this a couple mins ago right above your comment.
“Heard we are in on de Haan”
Let’s hope we can get a player we really want this time.
DeHaan is fine as long as the term and dollars are reasonable.
DeHaan was signed by Colorado.
4 years for 17 million.
Ignore above. He has not signed with Colorado.
Then I too think de Haan should be primary target with Hamhuis as backup plan.
With de Haan gone, is Hamhuis a reasonable signing if it is something like 2 years 2.25M per yer? I know he is turning 26 in December, but that would mean he would be a veteran with experience like Williams. He has been in the playoffs 8 times.
Hamhuis has played all but 5 games the past two seasons. He played slightly more than 20 minutes last season including playing significant minutes on the penalty kill.
Seems like the last reasonable UFA LD still available.
I meant 36 in December.
I like LTS’s “Also, if Derek Ryan is worth $3M+ a year what do you think the Canes will have to pay Turbo after next year?”
Why did in the world did we not extend Turbo (and Aho, even!) this offseason? Both contracts will go through the roof on the next go. Pennywise and pound-foolish. I am glad we saved $150K on Z’s contract though (sarcastic vent there).