Now 11 days past the conclusion of the Carolina Hurricanes 2016-17 season, the clouds of another playoff miss have parted a bit and the sun of a bright future is shining down on Hurricanes hockey land. Last Saturday, the Charlotte Checkers squeaked into the playoffs with an overtime win. We have AHL playoff hockey in Charlotte on Thursday and Friday night! (Read part 1 of Jordan Futrell’s Charlotte Checkers vs. Chicago Wolves playoff series HERE.) At the same time, a number of Hurricanes prospects in Canadian juniors are thriving. (Read Cory Fogg’s update on that HERE.)
Please also excuse us for making another plea for everyone to take a short survey to hep us prepare the 2017-18 season and also consider making a modest financial contribution to help provide a small budget for summer additions.
Carolina Hurricanes polls
Please remember to click ‘vote’ after each poll question.
How will you be taking in the Charlotte Checkers home playoff games on Thursday and/or Friday?
- I will be listening to the radio broadcast available for free on the Checkers website. (33%, 13 Votes)
- I will just check in when its over. (30%, 12 Votes)
- I will follow along on Twitter. (20%, 8 Votes)
- I don't do Checkers hockey, so it doesn't matter to me. (8%, 3 Votes)
- I will be hooting and hollering inside Bojangles' Coliseum. (5%, 2 Votes)
- I have the AHL TV package and/or will do 1-time pay per view and watch on TV. (5%, 2 Votes)
- Other (add in comments) (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 38
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Who leads the Checkers in the playoffs? (Select up to 3)
- Lucas Wallmark (24%, 23 Votes)
- Tom McCollum (19%, 18 Votes)
- Phil Di Giuseppe (16%, 15 Votes)
- Patrick Dwyer (13%, 12 Votes)
- Haydn Fleury (9%, 9 Votes)
- Valentin Zykov (7%, 7 Votes)
- Andrew Miller (5%, 5 Votes)
- Patrick Brown (3%, 3 Votes)
- Jake Chelios (2%, 2 Votes)
- Roland McKeown (1%, 1 Votes)
- Other (add in comments) (1%, 1 Votes)
- Trevor Carrick (0%, 0 Votes)
- Andrej Nestrasil (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 39
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Now through 2 rounds, which Canes prospect(s) in Canadian juniors has impressed you most in the playoffs? (Select up to 2.)
- Janne Kuokkanen (38%, 25 Votes)
- Steven Lorentz (18%, 12 Votes)
- Warren Foegele (14%, 9 Votes)
- Nicolas Roy (12%, 8 Votes)
- Spencer Smallman (9%, 6 Votes)
- Callum Booth (5%, 3 Votes)
- Julien Gauthier (3%, 2 Votes)
- Jeremy Helvig (2%, 1 Votes)
- Jake Bean (0%, 0 Votes)
- Noah Carroll (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 39
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Discussion questions
1) What are your observations, favorite moments or other thoughts on the first round of the NHL playoffs so far?
2) With my DCoJ post today with offseason predictions, what is your wild guess for the first 1-3 transactions (staff changes, contract signings, trades, etc.) that General Manager Ron Francis makes this offseason?
Go Canes! GO CHECKERS!
I know trading to teams in conference can sometimes be iffy, but I’d like to see RF swap some picks/ prospects to TB for Palat, or Johnson…whatever it takes!
If RF looks for another Dman, what do you all think about Kronwall,
from Det.? I had the impression he had been hurt, but his name wasn’t listed among the injury list! His salary for the next two years is only 3.5M, and 1.75M… not bad if he’s still playing well, eh?
I do not know details on Kronwall, but my fear is that his injury limitations are the kind at 36 years old that keep him from ever rebounding. So key would be assessing what, if anything, an offseason to recuperate does for his ailments.
That said, I think contractually and conceptually he is exactly what Francis is looking for – a veteran with only 1-2 years remaining on his contract and a reasonable salary. Key word is “salary”; key omission is “cap.” It matters none to the Hurricanes what the cap hit is, so they could do really well picking up a player with an inflated salary cap hit but at the end of a front-loaded contract that has actual salary much lower. Kronwall’s $3.5M followed by $1.75M works pretty well financially again with the important caveat being what to expect in terms of level of play.
Puckgod has some good ideas IMO. Palat or Johnson would be a good add for virtually any team. This move for me would have to be in addition to a scoring number 1 line center. I would have to think more on whether Johnson would fill that role adequately. Regarding Kromwall, he played all year on a bad leg and was a shell of the old Kronwall fom the games I saw. If in the offseason he recovers from whatever the injury was, maybe he would not be a bad idea.
Round 1 of playoffs: I’ve been watching three games a night. The things that stand out so far for me:
1. Speed is the key to any offense as it allows for the generation of more SCORING OPPORTUNITIES (both by gaining better shooting chances and by creating mistakes leading to scoring opportunities) and contributes to defense by controlling the puck. You have to match another team’s speed to do well.
2. Outstanding goaltending is a must and is really the major difference maker. Goaltenders have to be able to make numerous “big stops” (difficult) in a game as a matter of routine game after game, not just once in a while in a good streak or in a flurry in one game.
RedRyder. 1. Absolutely agree. Speed is big part of game and it changes how opposition must play in both ends of the ice. Also can create more penalties. Matching speed will be key as Canes become playoff team.
2. I would say more of “hot” goaltender. Because ranking of outstanding going into playoffs was probably 1. Holtby 2. Bobrovsky 3. Dubnky 4. Price 5. Crawford. Being outstanding has not helped 2 and 5. Dubnyk has been outstanding but is being outdone by Allen who is hot. And Holtby is not in top half for GAA or Sv%, probably because of speed of Toronto–of course, you did prioritize speed over goalie. Having hot goalie has definitely helped Nashville and St Louis. So being good in a streak is not necessarily bad if that streak is 4 out of 5 or 6 several times in a row. Though Gibson might be outstanding and hot. Anaheim is going to be hard to beat out west.
1. 1st trade or signing: Sign an experienced defenseman to cover for Vegas draft so we don’t lose Faulk.
2. Signs new goaltender coach or reassigns Curtis Joseph from his other duties to be the new goaltender coach.
3. Signs Slavin. This gives him some idea of what it will cost to resign Pesce, Hanifin and other young players so he knows what he can use to get us a goaltender and number 1 center.
I commented when the Canes signed Joseph that Francis might be hedging his bet on Marcoux and simultaneously pulling in more goalie expertise in addition to simply investing wisely in the prospects’ development.
I guess now we get to see if Francis was pulling in a #2 with the potential to be the #1 now that Marcoux is gone.
Since this post says “the future is bright,” I thought I would comment in this thread.
I just watched the March 9 Rangers game again. Observations:
1) Though only one game, Zykov really made a difference with his strong net-front presence.
2) Skinner had a great last 20 games, I actually think part of his motivation was to be the team goal leader. With Aho’s two PP goals, he was at 20 and Skinner at 21 after the March 9 game.
3) Pesce started to come into his own on the offensive end in this game.
4) The team on the ice March 9 does have a bright future–if they upgrade one center/forward with giving up too much, then the Canes will be playing meaningful games the last week of April 2018.