yave1964 Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 2016-17 a quick look back: As per usual the Hurricanes were a bottom feeder in free agency signing the likes of Lee stempniak and Viktor Stallberg and agreeing to take the Bryan Bickell contract from Chicago in exhange for for this albatross the Hawks donated Teuvo Teravainen. A team with a good coach and a few more usable pieces among the forwards, they hoped to contend for a bottom tier playoff spot. They wound up a respectable 36-31-15 which may have been close a few years ago but the East and especially their division is on the upswing. Teravainen was solid, so was Stempniak, misfortune rode alongside of bickell who had to retire with MS, 19 year old Sebastian Aho came out of nowhere with 24 goal and 49 points. Jeff Skinner put his mark on making this his team with 37 goals.Viktor Rask, Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm were all a mixed bag, good at times, invisible at others. The defense is supposed to be the heart and soul of this club with Justin Faulk the straw that stirs the drink but he had, for him anyway a bad year while elite youngsters Slavin, Hanifin and Pence were meh, not bad but not really noticed on a nightly basis.Much more is expected this season from all four especially Faulk and Hanifin. In net, Eddie Lack was awful, even called out by coach Ron Peters, he sort of kind of turned it around in the second half. Cam Ward continues to show that he is a below average goalie who a decade ago caught lightning in a bottle winning a surprise cup for the team and since then has done not much of nothing. It was so bad in net that they even got Leaky Leighton into a few games. The first thing they did after the end of the season was get with their usual offseason dance partner the Blackhawks and trade for Scott Darling in the hopes that he will fix their ails. FREE AGENTS: Jay McClement, a nice complimentary penalty killing 4th liner is an UFA. Derek Ryan who came out of nowhere at 30 to have a middling career including 11 goals last year is as well. They are both hard working 4th liners but easily replaceable. That is it. The Canes have done a good job of locking down their key players. OFFSEASON QUESTIONS: 1) HANIFIN, PESCE, SLAVIN, WILL ANY OF THE THREE STEP UP? Lets be clear, none were bad last year, all were okay but none stood out and all were expected to. They are considered the jewels of the organization and more was expected and the pressure is now on with other top tier defense prospects such as Jake Bean and Haydn Fleury and to a lesser extent Trevor Carrick all chomping at the bit. My guess is that Hanifin and Slavin turn it up a notch and become first pair defenders as soon as next season. 2) SHOULD THEY TRADE JUSTIN FAULK? Yes, yes a thousand times yes and that is not a crack on Faulk who I absolutely love. The team is built wierd, Skinner and Aho becoming offensive forces and then three or four other guys who are 40 point a year guys who look like they should score more but every year it becomes more apparent that is who they are. Faulk even coming off of a poor season may net a Duchene or a solid top line center for the two young gifted wingers to feed off. And with the monstrous field of top tier defensive prospects and kids pushing for ice time Faulk will be missed but will net a great return overall improving the team. 3) IS SCOTT DARLING THE ANSWER? I dont know, I am not a fan of guys who start a NHL career mid to late twenties. Much more often than not I am right, for every Cam Talbot there are ten or more Alex Stalocks. A lot of goalies get a break as a backup behind a 60 game a year guy on a quality team while the real prospects play 60 games a year in the AHL and look better than they are because of the team around them. I am afraid that is what I think of Darling, IMHO he is not muich of an upgrade, if at all, over Ward/Lack. The goaltending is probably five percent better. 4) IS THERE ANY SCORING BESIDES AHO AND SKINNER THAT THEY CAN COUNT ON? Well Teravainen wasnt bad, signed a long term deal so they hope he may be a 25 goal a year guy like Saad in Columbus. Rask gets hurt but scores when he plays. Lindholm and Staal, what you see is what you get. A kid to keep an eye on if he sticks out of camp is Julien Gauthier. His numbers were good but not great in the QMJHL last season, traded halfway through the season even, but the 21st pick in the draft last year is a monster, six foot five and fast as almost any player in the game, not afraid to mix it up, fearless ion front of the net. If he sticks and the Canes add a top line center he may be my dark horse candidate for the Calder Trophy. So the future is (maybe) a bit brighter with Darling, more kids on the way for the defense and Gauthier coming to the aide of the forwards, Faulk likely on the block to fix the 1C problem that they have had since Eric Staal quite playing like one four or five years ago. IMHO things are hopeful in Carolina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 Hurricanes sign 2017 first-rounder Martin Necas http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2017/07/14/busy-hurricanes-sign-2017-first-rounder-martin-necas/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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