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End of Year Thoughts ... the D Corps

jeffbear

Mod Squad
Staff member
Moving attention to the defense group as we bust up this group for the summer. Again, only looking at guys who finished the season on the roster.

Justin Faulk ... this was really the year where Faulk paid off big. His defensive game was even more solid than in the past and his offensive game became one step more mature. Faulk is now not only a true first pairing defenseman, he's also a true All Star level player ... not just some guy who makes the team because somebody has to rep Carolina. Finished at exactly half a point per game, and really got some bad luck down the stretch or it would have been more. Also, being the only point man on the PP who can score from distance meant he got marked hard. His minus 22 for the year is more a factor of his partners and the overwhelming task the team asked him to take on this year. It's hard to over-rate his meaning to the team. He's their rock.

Ron Hainsey ... I thought Hainsey did a good piece of work this season. He's really a support guy, but Carolina has always over-slotted him and he has gamely worked hard at the job. He was solid enough in his own end, but really shone as a veteran caddy for the young kids that worked on his off side. He hung around the zone to be an outlet so many times that I lost count. Yeah, you'd like to see better point production from a guy with that good a shot who can pass it pretty well, but that wasn't job one for Hainsey. Quality year for the vet.

James Wisniewski ... expletives deleted. Worst luck in the history of ever. Less than a minute and out for the year. Worth noting though, that since he was stuck in rehab all year, the Wiz took on a ton of community work at home for the Canes. He's a quality human being, and maybe next season he can prove how good a player he can be as well.

Noah Hanifin ... wow. 19 years old, one season of college and not even close to grown into his frame and he puts in THIS body of work right out of the gate. Just wow. Already probably the best passer in the D group, at least in terms of touch and vision, and very sound positional smarts from someone with no real experience. He's got ton yet to learn ... he needs to work on getting his shot off quicker, odd man breaks baffled him at times, and every young defenseman has to get a feel for when to play the man behind the net and in the corners and when to man your zone by the post ... but the bar for this one is sky high and the staff took it as easy on him as circumstances allowed. Awesome rookie year.

Brett Pesce ... speaking of awesome rookie years, Pesce put in a VERY solid 69 games after starting the season outside of the club's NHL plans. He's got a very mature positional game in the D zone, and a very good feel for when to pressure and when to back off. He also competes very hard and is really good at making up for his own mistakes. Three full seasons of college hockey smoothed off some of the rough edges, but his confidence level was amazing. I think this kid can grow into some offensive game and continue to improve his passing out of his own end and be a REALLY good all-arounder.

Jacob Slavin ... everybody who saw this coming, raise your hand. Didn't think so. Two seasons at Colorado College and this kid is jumping straight into a 60+ game NHL season? And more than holding his own? Sure. Don't post while high, man. And he was the only Canes defenseman to post a positive plus/minus number? Whaaaaaat? Yup. Not only that, but as good as Hanifin and Pesce were, it was Slavin who emerged as the most trusted of the trio. He drew the more difficult defensive assignments, generally with Ron Hainsey's help, and still more than hung in there. He's a bit of an awkward skater, but never gives up on a play and competes so hard that his awkwardness makes him even more endearing. I love his game in the D zone already, but I think he's got a lot more offense in him than we've seen so far. Sneaky heavy shot, pretty good vision and a good sense of when to sneak in towards the back post ... he's got some game on which to build.

Michal Jordan ... remember those circumstances I mentioned in Hanifin's write up? Yeah. Meet Michal Jordan ... the biggest reason we couldn't really let our teenage rookie take the odd game off to watch, learn and heal up. Well, to be fair ... Wiz's injury factored into that issue as well. But this guy was bad in so very many ways that it forced the Canes to rely on two completely unproven rookies ahead of him. Honestly, the only NHL thing about his game is his shot. He's absolutely brutal in all other phases.

Ryan Murphy ... speaking of brutal. Look, I wasn't expecting much from Murphy this season and he disappointed even me. He took a step backwards in basically every phase of the game, largely because he seems to have absolutely no confidence left. This organization has well and truly broken a kid they had no business drafting in the first place ... again. By the end of the season, other teams just sat back in their zone traps and let Murphy turn it over all on his own. It was beyond painful.

Trevor Carrick .. incomplete.

This group managed to improve dramatically while being the youngest D Corps in the NHL by a hefty margin. Still can't get my head around that. Other than some tinkering around the edges, I expect few changes to this group. Clearly the 7th and 8th guys could be addressed, but beyond that ... let's just hope the sophomore slump thing doesn't bite us in the butt.
 
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The beauty of the way the D developed this year is that Fleury and McKeown (assuming neither are traded), should be able to spend most next season in Charlotte getting used to the pro game. With Hainsey and Wiz on their contract years, allowing these 2 kids to ply their trade in the AHL will serve us well should either or them prove capable of stepping into the NHL in the 17-18 season.

You couldn't have set it all up better than this as far as our D goes. We went from giant disaster on the blueline to potentially one of the stronger young D corps in the entire NHL in just a couple of years, with 2 more prospects coming on board next season. Who saw that coming? Suddenly the focus can be almost exclusively on the forwards and the goaltending as the blueline appears to be set for what hopefully will be a very long time.
 
Yup. Even with Wiz coming back though, I'd be looking for a veteran depth guy if I was Ronnie. Doesn't have to be anybody spectacular, just somebody better than Jordan and Murphy to step in when the inevitable injuries hit.
 
Yup. Even with Wiz coming back though, I'd be looking for a veteran depth guy if I was Ronnie. Doesn't have to be anybody spectacular, just somebody better than Jordan and Murphy to step in when the inevitable injuries hit.

Best case scenario for next year on the blue line is to find a seventh defenseman on a two-way contract with some NHL experience. No, not Michel Jordan or anyone that even closely resembles him, but a guy that does not mind being a healthy scratch with the big club and still useful when needed. In the event that Fleury or McKeown look NHL-ready at some point, that same seventh defenseman could be sent down to Charlotte if needed.
 
You wonder if the Canes will really go out and find a 'vet Dman' on a 2 way or if they will simply give that role to one of Biega, Lowe or Rissanen (rotate them depending on need?) who are all easily going to be on 2 way deals if retained.

If the Canes retain all of their pending RFA DMen and sign Kyle Jenkins to an entry level deal and don't trade anyone, we will have the 6 NHL Dmen and:

Trevor Carrick
Haydn Fleury
Roland McKeown
Ryan Murphy
Danny Biega
Keegan Lowe
Rasmus Rissanen
Tyler Ganly
Dennis Robertson
Kyle Jenkins

All jockeying for AHL spots (the end of Jake Chelios?) Ronnie has his work cut out for himself there because obviously we don't need 10 Dmen on 2 way NHL contracts in addition to our top 6 NHL DMen. But it wouldn't surprise me if one way we cull that herd is to have Biega, Lowe or Rissanen as our 7th DMan. Is that the smart thing to do? Probably not, but what are we really going to find as a 7th DMan that is willing to ride the pine most nights, knowing that we will be itching to get McKeown or Fleury in there for a bit when injuries arise?

Some of that list above likely won't be qualified and just let go (JB already has a ride ready to take Murphy out of town :smilewinkgrin:). Some will be throw ins with draft picks for whatever Ronnie cooks up in the trade department when teams are trying to get under the cap OR as they prepare for this year's draft.
 
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(JB already has a ride ready to take Murphy out of town :smilewinkgrin:).

1. My truck stays gassed up and I'm a phone call away. I can get to the North Hills area in 10 minutes and to the airport in 20. And it would be on the house.

2. You could be right on the D group, but I suspect that we're going to move some of those assets for forward help this summer. That would free up the log jam and perhaps create a need for a steady-Eddie guy to hold down the 7/8 spot just in case. I mean, it would be GREAT if Jordan or Murphy were competent to fill that role, but alas ... clearly not the case.
 
You wonder if the Canes will really go out and find a 'vet Dman' on a 2 way or if they will simply give that role to one of Biega, Lowe or Rissanen (rotate them depending on need?) who are all easily going to be on 2 way deals if retained.

If the Canes retain all of their pending RFA DMen and sign Kyle Jenkins to an entry level deal and don't trade anyone, we will have the 6 NHL Dmen and:

Trevor Carrick
Haydn Fleury
Roland McKeown
Ryan Murphy
Danny Biega
Keegan Lowe
Rasmus Rissanen
Tyler Ganly
Dennis Robertson
Kyle Jenkins

All jockeying for AHL spots (the end of Jake Chelios?) Ronnie has his work cut out for himself there because obviously we don't need 10 Dmen on 2 way NHL contracts in addition to our top 6 NHL DMen. But it wouldn't surprise me if one way we cull that herd is to have Biega, Lowe or Rissanen as our 7th DMan. Is that the smart thing to do? Probably not, but what are we really going to find as a 7th DMan that is willing to ride the pine most nights, knowing that we will be itching to get McKeown or Fleury in there for a bit when injuries arise?

Some of that list above likely won't be qualified and just let go (JB already has a ride ready to take Murphy out of town :smilewinkgrin:). Some will be throw ins with draft picks for whatever Ronnie cooks up in the trade department when teams are trying to get under the cap OR as they prepare for this year's draft.

Hmmm. I think I read somewhere that Jake had been performing well above expectations and that he had a hand in helping sustain Charlotte's defense after Pesce and Slavin were poached for big club duties.
But yeah, if there is a log jam, then maybe he's on the outside lookin' in.
 
Murphy, Biega, Lowe, Robertson and Rissanen are the RFAs on the list.

There are only 4 right hand shots on that list; McKeown, Murphy, Biega and Ganly (who spent part of the year with the Everblades). I can see Rissanen heading out. He didn't get a recall this year and, with Fleury coming in, falls farther behind on the left side. By the time this season is over, he'll have almost 300 games in Charlotte compared with 6 in the NHL. He's pretty well paid for a Cherker; his AHL salary is $125K with a guaranteed minimum of $150K total, assuming time in the NHL. But it might take a Michal Jordan contract to keep him.

Jay Harrison and Jamie McBain are UFAs...
 
Jake Chelios will need to convince someone he is worthy of an NHL entry level contract or find another AHL only deal. I think his days are numbered for the Checkers, there are just too many guys that will be ahead of him next year.

I wonder just how bold or brave Ronnie might be willing to get trying to improve the situation at forward during the offseason. Bold enough to trade Fleury away for a young top 6 forward? If we want to get our mitts on some great young forward via trade there is a price to be paid. There is a certain team in Alberta opening a new arena next season that still has plenty of gaping holes on their blueline with whole pile of offensively gifted forwards (not talking about Yakupov).

This has the potential to be one of the most interesting offseasons this franchise has had in a long time. If the hockey gods smile on us with some incredible draft lottery luck it will REALLY be an interesting offeason.
 
The two major defenseman prospects we haven't seen yet at the pro level are Fleury (left shot, drafted 7th overall in 2014 by the Canes) and McKeown (right shot, drafted 50th overall in 2014 by the Kings).

Hate to give away presents we haven't even opened yet, but scouts might know enough already to make some decisions, if necessary.

Peters sure was full of praise at the post-season press conference for the progress that Fleury made this season, as reported to Peters by his juniors coach. I've not heard anything on McKeown, but he is captain of his juniors team and had similar production.

Fleury: 12-29-41 in 56 GP +18
McKeown: 7-35-42 in 59 GP +21

Assuming they're both NHL material (which is a pretty safe assumption), then in some order we eventually have:

Hanifin / Faulk
Slavin / Pesce
Fleury / McKeown

And that's with a whole slew of competent defensemen listed above for the 7th slot and/or injury fill-in duty. In fact, one or more of that 7th slot crowd might be better suited for the third-pairing, particularly when its second contract time.

Francis certainly has defensive trade assets to spare if needed.


EDIT: Here's another thing to like about the three pairings listed above:

6'3" / 6'0"
6'2" / 6'3"
6'3" / 6'2"

All listed at over 200 lbs. except for McKeown at 195 lbs.

It's still a shock to me to look at us on the ice and appreciate again just how big we have become as a team these days.
 
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Great post by JB and comments by all. It's hard to think that just 10 months ago we were most concerned about our defense and now it looks like an embarrassment of riches. Maybe having a bunch of 2-way contracts isn't a bad strategic move after all. Giving the young guys a taste of the NHL in Peters' system where he really wants to see what they can do (unlike Mo) will keep a healthy competitive pressure going. Otherwise, we can wrap a trade using a combo of D-men and draft choices - something I can't believe that I actually wrote down!
 
Great post by JB and comments by all. It's hard to think that just 10 months ago we were most concerned about our defense and now it looks like an embarrassment of riches. Maybe having a bunch of 2-way contracts isn't a bad strategic move after all. Giving the young guys a taste of the NHL in Peters' system where he really wants to see what they can do (unlike Mo) will keep a healthy competitive pressure going. Otherwise, we can wrap a trade using a combo of D-men and draft choices - something I can't believe that I actually wrote down!

What I also like are the riches that Francis seems to have in terms of draft picks this summer to really target the forwards and goaltending positions to shore up both of those areas for the future. Two first rounders, two second rounders and two third rounders really gives the Canes the flexibility to be creative on the draft floor both with picks and trades.
 
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