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2019 Carolina Hurricanes Off Season Thread

CanadaCanes said:
Let’s not get too caught up in the size of mighty mite defensemen...the two shrimps on the Bruins blue line Clifton and Krug got the better of the Canes and seem to be doing alright against the Blues too!
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I also want to point out that Canes had Torey Krug in camp one year and let him go because of size, yet we drafted Ryan sMurphy. Krug went on to be picked up by Boston. When someone claims size as an issue, one can look at Ryan sMurphy or one can look at Torey Krug or Ryan Ellis.
 
SlapShots said:
I also want to point out that Canes had Torey Krug in camp one year and let him go because of size, yet we drafted Ryan sMurphy. Krug went on to be picked up by Boston. When someone claims size as an issue, one can look at Ryan sMurphy or one can look at Torey Krug or Ryan Ellis.
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Murphy never really seemed interested in throwing a hit or taking a hit, something that guys like Krug and Clifton and Ellis are willing to do. It sounds like Sellgren might be the type of smart, quick two-way defenseman that might be decent despite his size.
 
It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog.
 
SlapShots said:
I also want to point out that Canes had Torey Krug in camp one year and let him go because of size, yet we drafted Ryan sMurphy. Krug went on to be picked up by Boston. When someone claims size as an issue, one can look at Ryan sMurphy or one can look at Torey Krug or Ryan Ellis.
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Yeah ... IIRC we had Krug in camp the year we drafted Murphy. And look, there was no guarantee that just because you have a college free agent camp that you'll be able to sign them. Either way, our scouts liked Murphy enough to draft him and you can't really get a high end college guy to commit unless you're either a club he really wants to play for or you promise him an NHL shot. Krug wasn't ready, but when Boston signed him they threw him straight into a couple of late season games before letting him spend a year marinating in Providence. I'm sure the thinking in Raleigh was that Murphy was going to be ready fairly quickly and that you could only afford so many small, scooter guys on D. Also, the league has changed a bit and with the increased emphasis on speed you can maybe get by with a couple of small guys in the back end, so long as you have the beef to back them up.

Hindsight is always 20/20, I guess ... but these are not simple decisions and as somebody above noted, we don't know how big an impact that horrible concussion played in Murphy's lack of development.
 
TheBigKahuna said:
Yep, he's way too small unless he's ridiculously talented. Which I've seen no hint of. Likely Beans replacement?
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They threw Sellgren straight into the AHL playoffs and from what little I've seen, he's held his own. You go and and nail down those guys, regardless of size concerns.
 
TheBigKahuna said:
Id rather pay mrazek/mc combo 5m than gamble on someone elses problem.
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This. If you can't get Bob in free agency, and there's NO way that happens, then go with what works for now and continue to try and give Ned some chances to show what he's got. With McIlhenney's age and injury history, you have to figure that Ned will get some looks. He's got another year of waiver exemption, so you might as well use it.

That said ... I'd love it if the Canes could identify a goaltender in this draft and bundle extra picks to make it happen. While Booth has been solidly growing, nobody in the front office seems all that excited about him and Ned is FAR from a sure thing. If you don't develop and you can't attract the top free agents, then all you're ever going to get is "somebody else's problem." Sometimes that works out ... more often, not so much.
 
The Canes signed forward Eetu Luostarinen to his three-year, entry-level contract today. Here's to hoping another Finn second round pick of the Canes can be another diamond in the rough draft steal...
 
CanadaCanes said:
The Canes signed forward Eetu Luostarinen to his three-year, entry-level contract today. Here's to hoping another Finn second round pick of the Canes can be another diamond in the rough draft steal...
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He spent most of the year as KalPa’s 2C and was 5th in the league in scoring among players under 21.
 
Hockey Twitter has delivered rumors that the Canes are interested in the Maple Leafs attempts to offload Zietzev's contract ... the general thought is Zietzez and Kapanen for one of Faulk/Hamilton/Pesce. No, I wouldn't do that as Zietzev has one of the worst contracts in the whole league. I think Pierre LeBrun is ultimately sourced on this and he is generally reliable however, so ... buckle up.
 
jeffbear said:
Hockey Twitter has delivered rumors that the Canes are interested in the Maple Leafs attempts to offload Zietzev's contract ... the general thought is Zietzez and Kapanen for one of Faulk/Hamilton/Pesce. No, I wouldn't do that as Zietzev has one of the worst contracts in the whole league. I think Pierre LeBrun is ultimately sourced on this and he is generally reliable however, so ... buckle up.
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When you go down the rabbit hole on this one it sounds more like LeBrun on TSN radio completely speculating that the Canes might have interest in such a deal, remembering that he's been self-admittedly "obsessed" with the possibility of a trade between Toronto and Carolina for quite some time. Even the program description contains the summary: "LeBrun also wonders if the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes will come together for a trade in the upcoming weeks."

He basically just strings some "mights" together and lumps "one of" Pesce/Hamilton/Faulk even though those three have differing values as the return.

- Canes might like to trade one of their right-handed D (latest talk from the Canes front office says they do not)
- Who needs right-handed D more than Toronto?
- ??????
- Profit

You can basically find this kind of Toronto fantasy trade talk on any fan trade board. Maybe some of those posts are Pierre. :sarcasm

The link to that radio show is here with this speculation occurring somewhere around the 11:40-ish mark.
 
Yeah ... Hockey Twitter being noted essentially should serve to clue one in to a potential lack of foundation for these things. If I ever see anything actually credible, I generally mark it as such. Still ... suffice to say that it's kind of nice to be included in the annual Toronto trade rotor roulette this year. We've been considered irrelevant to the Toronto media for so long that it's almost refreshing to be included in the parade of BS.
 
Zaitsev is a right shot dman. So trading him and getting one of our righties is a straight up salary dump for TO. He has 5 years left on a 7 year/$31.5 million contract that has a 10 team NTC that kicks in on July 1. He has a $3 million signing bonus this year and $2 million in both 2022 and 2023, offset by lower salaries those years.
 
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The version of the rumor that went through Facebook had the defenseman being Hamilton.... so Hamilton and a prospect for Zaitsev and Kapanen. Obviously the part of the deal that's supposed to tantalize us is Kasperi, not Zaitsev.

The issues with the deal are the fact that Kapanen needs a new contract and Zaitsev's contract kinda sucks, otherwise it would almost be straight up Dougie for Kasperi... and it also depends on who the prospect would be.

Also, a couple of Leafs fans scoffed at the idea of wanting Hamilton... which is fine by me. We should keep him.
 
Hamilton AND a prospect? Depends on who that prospect is but that better be a lesser prospect. Also how does adding Kapanen to the mix fix the still gaping hole at center?

That wouldn't make any sense for the Canes to do. I appreciate that Kapanen is good but Zaitsev's contract is a joke and Kapanen would be another winger begging for a good center to play with.
 
cmaleski2 said:
Hamilton AND a prospect? Depends on who that prospect is but that better be a lesser prospect. Also how does adding Kapanen to the mix fix the still gaping hole at center?

That wouldn't make any sense for the Canes to do. I appreciate that Kapanen is good but Zaitsev's contract is a joke and Kapanen would be another winger begging for a good center to play with.
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Yup. And several reporters noted the same. Kapanen just isn't good enough to off set how bad Zaitsev's contract is for what amounts to a third pairing guy with speed issues. NO WAY I let Toronto off the hook that easily, and I suspect that if they do end up moving Zaitzev's contract, they'll get a lot less in return than a really effective offensive defenseman AND a prospect. More like, you'll take a draft pick and a prospect AND have to throw in a player on par with Kapanen just to make anyone else pick up the phone.
 
I can see a role for a player like Kapanen, but wouldn't give up much to acquire him. He's good, not great. But then, good might be good enough.

He would presumably slot into our thin RW depth between Teravainen and Williams (assuming Williams returns) as our 2RW. That's where he is slotted in Toronto's line combinations, as well.

Williams was the only right-shot RW we deployed this season. Teravainen, McGinn, and Maenalanen are all left-shots, although played the RW position at various times this season. Negative would be that Kapanen is also a left-shot RW playing his off-side...but that can be effective for those that know how to do so.

Also would perhaps allow Teravainen to be PP only for special teams and not PK, too. Have seen elsewhere that Kapanen can play PK, but have no research or observations (yet) to support that claim.

Find a 2C and we now have the Staal/Williams pairing down at the third line level where they can presumably feast as a scoring line against 3rd D-pairs and AHL-level forwards on top-6 loaded teams.
 
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Here's the thing ... if the forward move you're going to make this summer is for a winger instead of a center, then I'd like to see see somebody who is a proven producer. I love Kasperi Kapanen's game, and I am 100% sure he would make the Canes better up front. He's fast, tenacious and well rounded ... and I think he's got another level of production in him. But if that's your big play up front, then ... no. Carolina needs real scoring danger, and somebody who can help elevate that power play. Even if you lean towards an older guy, that would be fine. Because Svech is going to be that guy eventually and the Canes could badly use somebody to bridge the gap while he continues to develop. Williams played that role, among others, fairly well this year. But you saw what happened when his offense sputtered and he's not getting any younger. Even if he's back, Williams is moving into the territory where Recchi was when Carolina had him in 2006 ... a couple of "on" games, followed by a couple of "off" games ... simply due to his age and the number of miles on his odometer.

I don't think the Canes need a blockbuster, game-changing trade this summer unless it brings them a No 1 center. They need a fairly simple hockey trade for a proven scorer. Given the assets available, that's really not too difficult of an ask.
 
Some additional names I'd like to float out here as potential targets for the Canes, to discuss:

- Nazem Kadri > IIRC he has 3 years left at 4.5 mil. That's pretty affordable with salaries continuing to trend up. Issues with his head (?)
Comment: Maybe he's a good in between option? Has a modest all round game. Might slot in well with a bunch of our guys.

- Michael Frolik > Expiring contract @ 4.3 mil. I guess Calgary won't ponny up (?) so maybe out of range for what he'd bring.
Comment: Can play either wing. Not a center, but would maybe give some more experience. Good playmaking and shot abilities. Question on his size though?

- Kyle Turris > Too lazy to look up. But since a 64 point season in Ottawa, he's been up and down production wise, one season up, next down. Since moving to Nashville, trending down only. If he's on an expiring contract... maybe his recent issues of production can make for him to be had at a decent price. Not particularly large, another issues on size.

- Artem Anisimov > Never reached full potential? 30? Too lazy to look up contract status. Could he be of good use for us.?
 
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