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GDT: Canes v. Canucks 2/9 7:30

While hoping for something as dramatic as cmon3's trade scenario as the driving force for the roster count reduction, the more realistic scenario is the stated objective of transforming the 4th line into more of an offensive weapon than the penalty-kill storage drawer it was.

If so, then what happens tonight drives the call-up decision process for Saturday's game. That seems the most likely explanation for the assignment.

Then, presumably Kruger is dealt somewhere with a retention percentage that amounts to something less than the buyout cost and/or made a part of a larger move.
 
anyone who is still calling for Peters' head on a stick should stop wasting time asking for that . Unless he commits a crime or something he's not going anywhere before the offseason.
 
CarolinaPen said:
I can't believe I am going to defend our GM, but here goes....

Maybe Francis knows that shaking up the bottom 6 or making a trade for most of the warm bodies on TSN's trade deadline list is not really what Carolina needs. The teams two most glaring needs are a 1C and Goalie, along with half the teams in the NHL. I don't think this is an easy trade. Francis deserves crap for swinging and missing this past season on Darling in goal, but revisionist history is a great thing. Most of us were pretty thrilled when he was signed. It just hasn't worked out.

If Francis is fired tomorrow, I would probably be ok with it as long as Peters goes with him, but I think this is better accomplished in the off season. Either can everyone at end of year and get a fresh start building the team over the summer with new GM and coach, or let Francis have one shot at doing it right with a budget over the off-season. I don't think you can materially fix the Canes at this point in the season and I really don't think anyone in Charlotte is the answer the Canes are looking for. Incremental improvement isn't going to cut if for Carolina this year with who the Canes have in goal.
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I agree in general, but the specifics of the situation are even worse than that. Specifically, we've got a group of forwards who don't particularly fit well together. That inevitably leaves us with at least one but usually two of what I'll call throw away lines. Lines that are just out there occupying time with little hope of actually scoring the puck or doing any kind of job on D either ... just killing time. It's NOT because those 6 guys suck, so much as it is because there's no combination of those 6 guys that make a proper line combination.

So yeah ... big picture, we need a goalie and a top line center. But in the mean time we need a heck of a lot more than that and not all of it as is difficult to come by as everybody around here acts like it is. Example ... highlighted by Kruger's massive failure and subsequent banishment, we REALLY need a checking center. Guess what? Those are a dime a freaking dozen and you could get one for the price of a mid level pick or a middling prospect ... both of which we have in abundance. How about we start small and build up to the heavy lifting?
 
Simply ridding ourselves of Kruger and Jooris from the NHL roster doesn't gain us much. About $2 million in cap room which we obviously don't need. It doesn't save us a penny salary wise. It does send a message you could argue to the rest of the team, but I doubt that is of much use.

Really the 2 open roster spots is the only value of this move...and we elected not to use either of them for tonight, and I doubt we will use one for tomorrow...so....who the heck knows what the plan is here. I expressed my opinion on Kruger prior to Tuesday nights game, so his parting from the roster I think is appropriate. Useless is the term I believe I used, and I will stick by the assessment.

As for AHL callups from the Checkers....maybe that happens after this weekend? The Checkers also play tonight and tomorrow night...it might have been deemed 'too disruptive' to do the callups at this point in time? (trying to cut RF and Peters some slack here....).

As for where Kruger and Jooris fit in Charlotte, I suspect neither will play tonight. Here are the forwards the Checkers played Wed night:

Saarela, Bishop, Gauthier, Roy, Foegele, Miller, Stortini, Poturalski, Kuokkanen, Brown, Zykov, Wallmark

Stortini is the only one of those 12 that doesn't have a 2 way contract with the Canes. Tolchinsky is injured. Other than Brown, Bishop or Stortini, none of those other guys should come out of the lineup for Kruger or Jooris. And really Brown (the captain, 42 games 6 goals, 13 assists +15) and Bishop (46 Games 5 goals 13 assists +5) probably shouldn't be out of the lineup for Jooris or Kruger either. Sortini is a vet former NHL tough guy (275 NHL games 725 PIMs), so his spot in the lineup is definitely not secure and should not be protected....
 
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The Checkers tweeted that neither Kruger or Jooris will be in the lineup tonight.
 
I'm looking forward to this game tonight as much as I look forward to my trip to the Dentist.
 
TheBigKahuna said:
No Boesser for the Canucks tonight.
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You could argue that's the Canucks best player by a country mile this season, does that make things better or worse for the team in Red??? Looks like they also lost Chris Tanev and Mikael Granlund to injury, along with Sam Gagner and Brenden Gaunce. Logic would say a huge break for the Canes but you know how this story usually goes...
 
TheBigKahuna said:
No Boesser for the Canucks tonight.
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If the Canes lose this one....

There is no excuse without Boesser in the lineup and the Canucks playing their 3rd game in 4 nights.....along with a 3 game losing streak. This game is a perfect fit for Darling to look decent.
 
CanadaCanes said:
You could argue that's the Canucks best player by a country mile this season
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Not really. Horvat. Then, there's Tanev. After that, then there's a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge step down to the next player.

VERY few bright spots on the Canucks lineup (mostly just those three players).
 
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Referring to when he tripped over Gubrudson's skate? on that soft pass play to and from Staal?
 
Yeah. About as expected against a bad team that’s a long way from home and a long way from healthy. Only surprise for me was that Darling held up. Good on him.
 
Darling made some very strong saves early to prevent the quick answer-back goal.

After two, I doubted the Canucks had three in them. And after our third I knew they didn't have four.

Really liked the offensive push all the way to the end. No defensive shell like we've seen before. Feed that killer instinct.

Also we need some big wins to offset the huge GF-GA number we are carrying from all those blowout ugly losses. Playoff teams don't have negative differentials...much less double-digit numbers (-17). Only the soon to be replaced Islanders carry such a number (-16). Philadelphia is the only other playoff team with a negative balance (-1).

Standings
 
Yeah ... I thought the energy level was high all through the lineup. Makes sense after the ritual sacrifice of two vets ... even if they both had only been in Raleigh for a few months. The other guys looked a bit jolted. That said, it's an opponent working on their fourth loss in a row and having played the night before against the best team in the East. That was going to be a win unless Carolina completely spit the bit.
 
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