yave1964 Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 I started with the Flames yesterday, I plan on doing about 3 of these a week, maybe 4 until I get through the teams that missed the postseason, and then within a day or two of a team getting knocked out doing the eliminated team as well. Sorry, meant to post this yesterday with the Flames and just realized I forgot to. PRESEASON OUTLOOK: Bleak, not much of anyone thought the Canes would contend in the rugged Metro, and with long time iconic players such as Ward and Eric Staal free agents to be, it seemed as if they would be lottery contenders at best and quick sellers come the deadline. FINAL RECORD: 35-31-16 86 points 6th in Metro, 10th in the conference STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR: Jordan Staal had the month and a half of his life. From January 6th thru February 23rd, a stretch of 21 games he had 9 goals and 24 points and was a plus 17, going even or plus in all but 2 of the 21 games. For a quarter of the season you could have argued that he was the best player in the game. But the rest of the year, well lets take a look: 21 games 9 goals 15 assists 24 points plus 17 61 games 11 goals 13 assists 24 points minus 11 In short, for nearly 2 months he was an absolute monster. The rest of the season, he was Jordan Staal. HIGH POINT OF THE SEASON: They hung around all year on the fringe of a playoff spot, usually in the 8th or 9th spot as fall turned into winter. When they beat the Flyers on February 23rd they had just went 4-1-1 to climb to 28-23-10 and although Ron Francis was talking of deadline deals out of town reporters seemed finally to notice that they were having a damn good year and some begun to wonder if they would add instead of subtract. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR: Then they lost three in a row, by a combined score of 12-3. The team lived on the razors edge and it was clear they were not really quite contenders after all. A few days later Eric Staal was dealt to the Rangers and right behind Versteeg was shipped to the Kings. The season was essentially undone by that three game stretch. WHAT WENT RIGHT: Jeff Skinner (28-23-51) rediscovered his goal scoring touch. Eddie Lack proved a capable partner in net alongside of Ward. Nordstrom and Versteeg were donated by the Hawks and Versteeg was turned into a pick, Nordstrom (10 goals, solid P/K player) showed promise. Jordan Staal as mentioned was inconsistent but his overall numbers were good. Viktor Rask (21-27-48) established himself as a comer. Noah Hanifin got a valuable first season on the blueline under his belt and did not embarrass the same with young Brett Pesce and Jaccob Slavin. Lots of kids got their first real taste of action giving very underrated coach Bill Peters an early jump on seeing what he has for next year. WHAT WENT WRONG: Justin Faulk missed 18 games and was good not great when he was in the lineup. Elias Lindholm whom I figured for a breakout year (11-28-39 and team worst minus 23) looked lost most of the year. cam Ward will not be back but they could not find a taker and get a pick for him. James Wisniewski brought in for his veteran presence on the back end and power play ability was lost for the year on his second shift. Nathan Gerbe (47 games 3 goals) was injured and then awful when in the lineup. Most of the kid forwards which is the teams biggest need looked awful in their short tryouts. MVP: I would have to go with Viktor Rask over Skinner. Rask established himself as a player to be reckoned with in the league and looks ready to take the next step as he is only 23 years old. FREE AGENTS: Lots, headlined of course by Cam Ward, but a lot of guys who have just been taking up roster spots while the kids get their time in at lower levels are moving on: Cam Ward Chris Terry Brad Malone Nathan Gerbe Riley Nash TOP PROSPECTS FOR 2016-17 Hayden Fleury will join a quick and talented blue line. Skilled center Sebastion Aho looks to come to North America and hopes to crack the top six forwards with his puck skills. Valentin Zykov is a skilled center who came from the Kings as part of the payoff for Versteeg and looks like he can play a bit. Di Guissepe, Brock McGinn and Sergey Tolchinsky all got a taste of life in the NHL and are hoping to stick as replacements for the forwards who are being moved out. Beyond Fleury and Aho the players all appear flawed and have holes in their game but there are lots of them and several are certain to stick. QUESTION MARKS GOING FORWARD: With Eric Staal and Cam Ward coming off the books, do the Canes make a play for a big name or spread the money around to fill multiple holes? Who will play in net with Lack? How close are they to contending for at the least a bottom playoff spot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Nice read @ yave1964 you do a great job with these. Keep up the good work. The Carolina Hurricanes signed prospect Sebastian Aho to a three-year entry-level contract on Monday. He was selected in the second round, 35th overall, in last summer’s Entry Draft. Aho will make $832,500 if he sticks in the NHL and $70,000 if he plays in the AHL. His signing bonus is worth $277,500. http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/06/13/hurricanes-sign-top-prospect-sebastian-aho-to-entry-level-deal/ I forgot all about this kid. Man they have a nice bunch of young talent on the backend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 The Carolina Hurricanes and prospect forward Aleksi Saarela have agreed to terms on a three-year entry-level contract, the team announced Monday. They got him for Staal. http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/06/13/hurricanes-sign-prospect-aleksi-saarela-acquired-in-blockbuster-eric-staal-trade/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs&yptr=yahoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted June 15, 2016 Share Posted June 15, 2016 @yave1964 It's started!!!! Nice trade for the Canes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 'Canes sign Ward to two-year, $6.6M deal http://www.tsn.ca/ward-on-verge-of-extension-with-canes-1.508843 Looks like the Canes aren't wasting time and mean business being very active.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.