End of Season Topic 2: What's the dead minimum you expect from the team this summer?

Kahuna's comments in another thread about the next two weeks got me thinking about my own mortality as an official, all-in season ticket holding fan of the Carolina Hurricanes. It also got me thinking about what my actual expectations are for this off season. I'm interested in your thoughts.

Dead Minimum

- Hire a competent General Manager
- Put fresh leadership in place in the administrative offices
- Make some moves to address obvious holes in the NHL roster

I mean. I don't want to ask too much as a baseline, but that stuff above ... that's pretty got to happen if the club hopes to maintain my business. No GM by Committee. No same old same old while we figure something out. No bringing in one of two rookies to pretty much the same roster and calling it an improvement. Actual, meaningful shifts towards forward progress.

Notice ... I left the coaching staff out of my equation. Personally, I think a competent GM will take one look at our staff and want to clean house, but whatever. I'm not looking for specific roster moves and I'm not going to be particular about the staff either. If they hire a proper GM and he decides to stick with it ... fine. But I'm serious about the rest of this. If it doesn't seem like a whole new day when it comes to the leadership of this team in the front office then I'm more than likely saying goodbye after 20 years of being a more than loyal customer.

I never thought I would say this when the sale of the Canes was completed a few short months ago, but I think the team is in worst shape today then they were solely under Karmanos. Dundon had a couple of weeks of shaking hands and kissing babies but in general has looked like a clueless owner that just has taken a few balls of shit and thrown it against the wall with hopes it will stick.

The two biggest elephants in the room are the GM search and Scott Darling. Both of those need immediate addressing. After that, you have a nasty summer of work ahead that better make heads turn come September. Personally, I think this team is in a world of hurt on and off the ice right now and it’s going to take a long time to fix it.

1. Competent GM from outside the org w/ power to replace coaching (that may go hand in hand with the competent word.

2. Change in goalie options. I've got no confidence in Darling, but I now think there is a Cam Curse and we'll never be out of this cycle until he is gone. Hindsight is 20/20 but when we did our 1/2 dismantle the core, it should have been Cam gone rather than Eric--we would have got less, but what have we done with the Staal assets? Also contract issues, but whatever

3. Some player acquisition somehow that is really about improving the core v. the edges

CanadaCanes said:

I never thought I would say this when the sale of the Canes was completed a few short months ago, but I think the team is in worst shape today then they were solely under Karmanos. Dundon had a couple of weeks of shaking hands and kissing babies but in general has looked like a clueless owner that just has taken a few balls of shit and thrown it against the wall with hopes it will stick.

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Yeah. I'm trying hard not to come out and say that, but you covered my feelings. I really don't think that a clueless owner with money to spend is actually better than a broke owner who at least knows what he's doing. We fell for the classic grass isn't always greener scenario ... just not in the obvious way everybody thought. From the outside looking in the danger in a sale was that the new owner would want to move the franchise. I never thought that would be a real threat so long as the club wasn't sold to Quebecor or somebody else with obvious movement intentions. I think that distracted me from the potential outcome of a new owner who had money, but didn't know squat about the NHL or about hockey. Frankly it never really occurred to me to be wary of that.

It should have.

Limping into next season with minimal changes, GM by committee, and Bill Peters as coach, I just can't do it again. I won't. That's a copout, lazy, unimaginative and a dozen other words many of which won't pass the sensors.

I want to see at the minimum, the 1st center hole addressed, goaltending patched up, and a new coach.

Not sure what to expect, to be honest. The shiny happy feeling of a new owner wore off quick. He needs to convince me he's competent.

I'm not buying tickets and driving over to PNC to watch more amateur hockey. Even though I work around the corner.

BTW ... after Peters' presser last night I'll give him credit for at least some shrewdness. He clearly figured out that down-playing the kids wasn't going over well with this boss. When asked about the impact of his AHL call-ups he decided to go with "well, they're clearly all very good."

God help us ... we're probably stuck with him.

Hey new guy ... prove me wrong.

What I’d like to see and what I expect to see are two different things. I expect to see maybe some new hockey pucks.

This is a really a tough topic because we have no clue at all who will be in charge, how they will work with Dundon, what the approach will be, who the coach will be, anything really. I probably have nothing really insightful to add here, but here goes:

1) First off, any continuing talk about GM by committee needs to end. Sorry Tom Dundon, SOMEONE needs to be the guy. Find him and find him soon because there is a lot of work to do.

2) Peters should be replaced. You sacked the GM, you sack the coach. The fact that Peters hasn't won anything in the NHL should make this pretty painless.

3) Something substantial needs to happen either via a trade or free agency. I'm talking about an actual change to the top 6 forwards. Has to happen, whatever that change is. If we go into next season with our 'best 6 forwards' still as Aho, Teravainen, Staal, Lindholm, Williams and Skinner and expect that somehow our scoring is going to improve drastically, well then, we deserve to continue to suck. Not to say that any of them are bad players, and who knows what Aho's ceiling really is, but those 'top 6' collectively are not good enough.

4) Obviously we need to find a starting goalie. I have no idea how that is going to be accomplished. Its not going to be Neds yet (at least it shouldn't be). It shouldn't be Cam. Darling is hopeless.

Note that I'm not saying anything about the D, you could go in any direction there really. Could roll the same main 6 out there with Carrick taking Dahlbeck's role. Who knows. Trade Faulk? Trade Hanifin and pray he isn't Pronger V2.0 just waiting to blossom? Trade Fleury (are we really giving up on him after 2 pro seasons?) TVR was one of our most effective DMen, but how much does he get paid as a RFA? What about McKeown, doesn't he need an NHL roster spot? There are so many options.

I have no clue what Dundon really wants to see or have his new GM actually do. Are we going to be more bold with trade and move kids/picks for established NHL players? Is Necas going to be ready for the NHL next season? The payroll already is going up next year, how high above that are we willing to go? Zykov and Wallmark...what are they really at the NHL level? Would anyone claim Wallmark off of waivers if we try to send him back to the minors?

Really in a nutshell:

* Fix the goaltending
* Fix the offense
* Get rid of Derek Ryan
* Fix the horrendous D breakdowns
* Replace the coaches

Is that too much to ask for the dead minimum? This team has a lot of issues. Its the players, its the coaches, its everything really.

Ryan is one of the few that has lived up to expectations (BP not withstanding) and is a quite serviceable 4C. Why in hell do so many act like he's the reason for the failures? He's earned his place and money. How about ragging on those who haven't and who actually are the problems.

Because if Peters is still the coach Ryan will continue to be overslotted, get PP time and be rolled onto the ice in OT, where he has no businesses being. Remember Chad LaRose? Not the players fault, but coach can't quit him man....

My Minimum.

#1. Hire a GM with NHL experience and pay them what they deserve.

#2. Fire Bill Peters and hire someone with NHL experience.

#3. Buy out Darling.

#4. Find a top 6 centre. I'd love a true #1 game changer, but would settle for someone like Ryan Nugget-Hopkins.

#5. Teach fans to sit the hell down when the puck is in play. Do you really need another tray of nachos right this second?!? Wait for a stoppage in play. Damn it all to hell! I missed two goals this year because of this crap.


The cherry on top. Let's move on from
Nordström, Joakim
Stempniak, Lee
Ryan, Derek
Di Giuseppe, Phillip

They're OK, but we could probably get the same thing done with Cherkers. I want to see Zykov, Kuokkanen, Roy, Foegele, Gauthier, Smallman, Necas, Saarela, Lucas Wallmark, Patrick Brown or perhaps even Andrew Poturalski get more than a cup of coffee in Raleigh.


I'd also like to jettison Rask and Faulk. I'm not mad, I just think they could use a change of scenery. Faulk could be used to get that center we need. I don't know who would want Rask. Maybe when we trade our #1 pick, Jake Bean, Hanifin and Skinner for Erik Karlsson, we will make them take Rask for us to take Bobby Ryan.


I, too, like van Riemsdyk, but I don't think we should spend money on him when we have Fleury, McKeown, Carrick and Rissanen in the pipeline. I think Dahlbeck is an excellent, #7, he's cheap, knows the system and can sit out long periods without too much rust.

I'm not totally sure here because I think we should use Faulk and/or Hannifin for some offensive help.
Slavin/Pesce are my keepers
Faulk/Hannifin one or both should be considered trade bait
McKeown/Fleury not a bad third pairing, I'd be worried if they were our #2.
Carriuck/Rissanen are they ready for prime time?
Dahlbeck break glass in case of an emergency.

TheBigKahuna said:

Because if Peters is still the coach Ryan will continue to be overslotted, get PP time and be rolled onto the ice in OT, where he has no businesses being. Remember Chad LaRose? Not the players fault, but coach can't quit him man....

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This. A thousand times this. AH is right, Ryan is a perfectly serviceable 4C. But he only played there after all hope was lost. Even after Kruger was sent down, Peters kept trotting him out on the 3rd line. It wasn't until Peters moved Aho to center that Ryan was slotted correctly. But when Rask went down, Ryan moved back up. Last game of the season, Nic Roy, a center, is recalled and Ryan centered Skinner and Stempniak.

For the record ... after Dundon's presser yesterday I no longer have any expectations for this summer. I no longer have any idea what the guy is trying to do or how he means to go about doing it.

TD wants to run the team. He’s said so several times and wants a direct pipe to the players. The gm would be nothing more than a puppet that tells the players and coaches exactly what TD tells him to say.

dwind said:

TD wants to run the team. He’s said so several times and wants a direct pipe to the players. The gm would be nothing more than a puppet that tells the players and coaches exactly what TD tells him to say.

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Correct. So, there go any expectations for a GM. It may as well be Waddell. He's as good a puppet as the next guy

*AH* said:

Ryan is one of the few that has lived up to expectations (BP not withstanding) and is a quite serviceable 4C. Why in hell do so many act like he's the reason for the failures? He's earned his place and money. How about ragging on those who haven't and who actually are the problems.

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Wild Bill is that you???

:couch

Agree, we need to see some major departures from our organization. I think Peters has to go - he hasn't exactly inspired anyone on this team to be better. I also think we need to end the ugly experiment with Darling and also unload the under-performing Rask and Faulk. I'd be OK with Skinner and Hanifin leaving, too if we can get some value in return. Although he's not a critical piece, I'm hesitant to see van Riemsdyk go. On a team that stinks to high heaven in plus/minus, he's been the highest positive, all season long. Clearly, something's going on there.

As for Dundon's unpredictability, Luke DeCock's article in the N&O today is pretty interesting. http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article208380674.html

I can't believe he conducted the player exit interviews - not Peters - which is pretty telling. His comment to all of them: "It's our job to find better players than you, and it's your job to make it hard." Whether we crash and burn or reach the starry lights, Luke believes it is unlikely that the Canes will remain in the "mediocre middle" - where we've been the last decade.

cmaleski2 said:

Really in a nutshell:

* Fix the goaltending
* Fix the offense
* Get rid of Derek Ryan
* Fix the horrendous D breakdowns
* Replace the coaches

Is that too much to ask for the dead minimum? This team has a lot of issues. Its the players, its the coaches, its everything really.

Click to expand...

You indeed have to change or upgrade the Top 6, that looks like it only happens with a very large trade because Tavares is not coming here!

The goaltending is a train wreck and who knows how you can fix that, I found it amusing that Scott Darling's "Big" sister has felt the need to stay all over social media on FB and Twitter to defend her little brother...she even went as far yesterday as saying he will be back for at least 1 more season...so maybe the Scott Darling Restoration Project will still play out here next season.

The D needs a tweak or two...I would swap out Faulk and bring in a seasoned top 4 defenseman either via trade or free agency and also swap out Dahlbeck and let McKeown have his roster spot next season.

The coaching is going to get some sort of change, what that means may not play out for a few weeks, but change is coming for sure.

The other thing they must add is at least a couple of tougher, hard to play against guys that really change the way this team plays on a nightly basis. It certainly does not have to be a fourth line cement head, but you have to find a couple of players that can play that role nightly and also play a regular shift.

CanadaCanes said:

I found it amusing that Scott Darling's "Big" sister has felt the need to stay all over social media on FB and Twitter to defend her little brother...she even went as far yesterday as saying he will be back for at least 1 more season...so maybe the Scott Darling Restoration Project will still play out here next season.

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Worth noting that Darling's sister is hardly in a position to make that kind of statement. That's what she wants, sure, and it may well happen. Waddell basically said as much and we all know he's not the most original thinker on earth. But to act like that has been decided given what's going on a around here is presumptive at best.

jeffbear said:

Worth noting that Darling's sister is hardly in a position to make that kind of statement. That's what she wants, sure, and it may well happen. Waddell basically said as much and we all know he's not the most original thinker on earth. But to act like that has been decided given what's going on a around here is presumptive at best.

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I was half joking JB...she adds a certain flavor to the Canes Twitter and FB feeds many a nights sparring with some of the fanbase, it's right up there with some of Commie's online drunken rants and posts.