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The Official Hurricanes Playoff Position Tracker

Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

Paulie Walnuts said:
yes I mean eventually he will be fired. he certainly won't get 4 years without playoffs like Peters. I think he can survive this year and next season and after that if no playoffs he's gone.

of course the main reason coaches are fired so quickly is that's what fans want so the owners give in to fans and swing the ax. Firing the coach is the thing fans can accept as a way to improve the team even though the next coach may be no better.
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There's a lot to unpack here.

First, no duh. All coaches aside from true legends get fired.

Second, Peters got four playoff-less seasons at least somewhat because of the pending change in ownership. Karmanos put everything in a holding pattern once he decided to sell. That gave Peters one and maybe two extra years that his results didn't really merit.

Third, you tend to blame fans for stuff they simply have no control over, although a truly unpopular coach will certainly get less rope than a guy who has the support of the paying customers. GMs fire coaches even when it's the GM's crappy roster that's causing the problem in the first place. The old saw is true ... it's cheaper and easier to change coaches than it is to change your roster.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

The more I ponder the state of the Canes roster and prospect pool, the more I think they need to stay the course with the top shelf kids they have coming and just let them play. What is it really going to hurt to let Necas play center with the big club and play often the last 30 games? Why not take a long hard look at the NHL level with a Jake Bean or a Roland McKeown? Why not after the NCAA season wraps up that you get Adam Fox signed and guarantee the kid a spot on the NHL roster and let him get his feet wet? Just making a trade now and trading away guys like Necas and Bean or Fox is really not going to help things much. The guys that should be trade bait on this team at this point are Jordan Staal, Justin Faulk, Viktor Rask and even Dougie Hamilton.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

On defense the short term looks pretty clear ... at least pending trading away a player. I think the organization seems to have already made up their mind about McKeown and Carrick (ie, that they're depth guys only), but I think we're going to have to sink a bit more in the standings to start handing out auditions to other guys. Especially on defense. The defense group has only just settled in and started to hit their stride a bit and I'm certain they don't want to muck with that just now. I think they'll probably give it until the end of January to start looking at next season and maybe playing around with possibilities. Recognize of course that injuries could always change things. And Fox should absolutely be signed and then played as much as possible as soon as Harvard's season is over. If it's possible to sign him, of course ... but reports indicate that he'll sign if he's offered NHL minutes right away. There's NO reason not to do that.

Up front, I just don't have a handle on what we're trying to do other than survive.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

CanadaCanes said:
The more I ponder the state of the Canes roster and prospect pool, the more I think they need to stay the course with the top shelf kids they have coming and just let them play. What is it really going to hurt to let Necas play center with the big club and play often the last 30 games? Why not take a long hard look at the NHL level with a Jake Bean or a Roland McKeown? Why not after the NCAA season wraps up that you get Adam Fox signed and guarantee the kid a spot on the NHL roster and let him get his feet wet? Just making a trade now and trading away guys like Necas and Bean or Fox is really not going to help things much. The guys that should be trade bait on this team at this point are Jordan Staal, Justin Faulk, Viktor Rask and even Dougie Hamilton.
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It may take some time before ticket-sales-driven management is willing to talk out loud about this season being yet another out-of-the-playoffs-by-December season...but it is.

So I do agree there is no time constraint on the Canes as to when trades need to be made, other than the trade deadline date...same as everyone else. But there is no longer an urgency to do something sooner instead of later, as there might have been before December's swoon.

Therefore we are free to entertain hockey deals between now and then, or simply wait until the off-season. That's important as I have a saying that goes: "He who is time-constrained loses."

Player-for-player offers entertained, but no need to squander our one or two defensive chips on anything other than a true organizational need, not quantity or futures.

And a whole new category of trade possibilities open. UFA's for playoff-bound teams. And yes, I would include Ferland on that list.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

Priority one needs to be locking keepers up on new contracts. Aho is the most pressing need, but Teravainen will also be an RFA after this season. That's 2/3rds of your first line ... such as it is ... and that HAS to be sorted out before the last minute. And yes Mr Dundon ... weirdly enough that's going to cost you actual money. Get used to it. Then you've got two key UFAs in Ferland and Martinook. Yes, I just called Jordan Martinook a key UFA. He's earned the designation as well as a raise. Ferland's pay level is way out of whack with his production, so that's going to be tricky too. I think you have to keep Ferland, but at this point if you can't get him signed before deadline day you HAVE to think about moving him. Williams is a UFA as well, but aside from leadership he's not going to give you a ton down the road. That can wait.

Then you've got some tricky decisions ... both goalies are UFAs and Fleury is an RFA this summer. Tough calls all around. You'd like to upgrade in net, but neither of these guys is likely to be the answer for more than another year, at best. You probably try to extend Mrazek and let McElhinney walk, but that's got to play out on the ice. Fleury is a hot button. He apparently hasn't impressed the current staff, but surely he's still got some value. Barring a trade, he's not better than 7th in the defensive pecking order, and Fox probably skips right over him come spring. You're probably going to have to move him, I'd think.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

jeffbear said:
Priority one needs to be locking keepers up on new contracts. Aho is the most pressing need, but Teravainen will also be an RFA after this season. That's 2/3rds of your first line ... such as it is ... and that HAS to be sorted out before the last minute. And yes Mr Dundon ... weirdly enough that's going to cost you actual money. Get used to it. Then you've got two key UFAs in Ferland and Martinook. Yes, I just called Jordan Martinook a key UFA. He's earned the designation as well as a raise. Ferland's pay level is way out of whack with his production, so that's going to be tricky too. I think you have to keep Ferland, but at this point if you can't get him signed before deadline day you HAVE to think about moving him. Williams is a UFA as well, but aside from leadership he's not going to give you a ton down the road. That can wait.

Then you've got some tricky decisions ... both goalies are UFAs and Fleury is an RFA this summer. Tough calls all around. You'd like to upgrade in net, but neither of these guys is likely to be the answer for more than another year, at best. You probably try to extend Mrazek and let McElhinney walk, but that's got to play out on the ice. Fleury is a hot button. He apparently hasn't impressed the current staff, but surely he's still got some value. Barring a trade, he's not better than 7th in the defensive pecking order, and Fox probably skips right over him come spring. You're probably going to have to move him, I'd think.
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If there was any confidence in finding a true #1 goaltender between now and summer,I would prefer Curtis as the capable, trusty backup over Mrazek moving forward based on play and experience in that role.

But again, the chances of this org finding a capable starter appears to be slim to none.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

CanadaCanes said:
If there was any confidence in finding a true #1 goaltender between now and summer,I would prefer Curtis as the capable, trusty backup over Mrazek moving forward based on play and experience in that role.

But again, the chances of this org finding a capable starter appears to be slim to none.
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Yeah. I'm assuming that the default position is that they're trying to survive until Ned is ready. That's the lowest bar, even though I have roughly zero faith in Ned because the guy might be the worst puck handler I've ever seen ... including Irbe and Ward. If that's the general idea, then you'll need a couple of seasons and Mrazek is the most likely to give you that. I like Mac better in just about every way, but he's ... umm ... old.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

CarolinaPen said:
I really wish the person in the organization that wanted Skinner gone (coaches, players, ownership, whomever) would stand up and own it. They can then F-off. What idiot thought it was prudent to trade a proven 30 goal scorer and get practically NOTHING for him in return? The Canes sit dead last in goal per game. The Skinner trade just makes me crazy as they could have gotten no worse than the same garbage, and likely a 1st round pick, at the trade deadline this year.
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+1
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

Funny, Chip Alexander is on the road covering the NCSU/Miami basketball game tonight. Anybody know the last time he attended a Hurricanes road game in person?
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

perfectstormhits said:
Funny, Chip Alexander is on the road covering the NCSU/Miami basketball game tonight. Anybody know the last time he attended a Hurricanes road game in person?
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I mean ... does Chip need to be anywhere in person to do whatever the hell it is he does? No.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

jeffbear said:
I mean ... does Chip need to be anywhere in person to do whatever the hell it is he does? No.
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Oh, I agree. Just pointing out the difference in coverage by the N&O between the Canes and other local college sports teams.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

If you ask them they claim the lack of coverage of Canes on the road is due to lack of success. Don't know if that is true or just BS. It's also true many other papers no longer cover all road games for their local pro teams. As we all know papers have been bleeding cash for a long time so they have to cut stuff . N&O has cut a lot of other areas and people. One thing that is not talked about as much is papers used to make a lot on classified ads and now that's all gone to craigslist and similar sites.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

I still subscribe to the N&O and I'm not sure it's worth it. The paper is thin, sections have been eliminated or reduced. Half the stuff in it is from Charlotte and the internet has made much of the news old news. Sunday coupons are not impressive and the black Friday paper I expected to be filled with inserts and flyers was light. McClatchy does have a good reputation and has, at times, been breaking stories related to Trump's criminal activities that the other papers such as the WP and NYT don't always get. However, I'm not sure it's worth maintaining a subscription. I can see why the paper does not wholly cover the Canes-- too costly for a struggling paper to allocate a resource to something so repeatedly bad. Joe Giglio and Luke DeCock are good reporters/writers. Chip is the king of the Canes human interest story. His reporting is so light. He will never ask the elephant in the room question and all other questions are all softballs-- he's like the Fox and Friends for a fragile team. For hockey coverage, I subscribe to the Athletic.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

SlapShots said:
I still subscribe to the N&O and I'm not sure it's worth it. The paper is thin, sections have been eliminated or reduced. Half the stuff in it is from Charlotte and the internet has made much of the news old news. Sunday coupons are not impressive and the black Friday paper I expected to be filled with inserts and flyers was light. McClatchy does have a good reputation and has, at times, been breaking stories related to Trump's criminal activities that the other papers such as the WP and NYT don't always get. However, I'm not sure it's worth maintaining a subscription. I can see why the paper does not wholly cover the Canes-- too costly for a struggling paper to allocate a resource to something so repeatedly bad. Joe Giglio and Luke DeCock are good reporters/writers. Chip is the king of the Canes human interest story. His reporting is so light. He will never ask the elephant in the room question and all other questions are all softballs-- he's like the Fox and Friends for a fragile team. For hockey coverage, I subscribe to the Athletic.
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I do Sundays only because they were running a special that included digital access for a stupid low price. But there isn’t a lo new in the paper; it has articles that I read online a few days previous. And I finally broke down and subscribed to The Athletic.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

The NandO still does important reporting work, just not in sports. I support them digitally, simply because as a society we need a professional reporting class (even if they don't alway represent your worldview) to keep politicians and business honest. All the amateur web outlets in the world simply aren't capable of what's needed for an informed society.

Sports was coverage that sold papers, but let's be honest. In the grand scheme of things that stuff just doesn't matter all that much.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

Before we get all ahead of ourselves, the futility thread is still appropriate even thought he Canes have now won four in a row. 3 of those wins came against the Seas and Flyers who are in terrible shape this season. Perspective is everything.

Carry on.
 
Re: The Official Hurricanes Futility Thread

Since the Canes are barely averaging a point a game at the halfway mark, I'm in complete agreement.
 
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