Ekblad hasn’t played a full season since 2019-20. He missed 21 games in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, 11 games in 2022-23, 31 games in 2023-24 and 26 games this year. I don’t think he’s going to get a long term deal at his expiring $7.5 million, going into his age 30 season. But I’d definitely kick the tires.
2024-25 Canes Miscellaneous Thread
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CanadaCanes
Well-known member
Is Gavrikov the safer long term option on D if he makes it to market, or does Ekblad make more sense as the better fit as the right shot guy? You know the Canes love to have that D position stocked up nicely and I see both of those 2025 top of the list UFA D as guys the Canes would be interested in.
cmaleski2
Well-known member
I trust Gavrikov more than I do Ekblad, both from a health perspective and 'can actually defend' perspective. Ekblad is better offensively but worse defensively (doesn't check the advanced stats as he says this). I would rather the Canes get the better defender than try to keep up the 3 pairs, Left and Right shot on each.
All the reasons you guys prefer Gavrikov are why he's going to be more expensive, and why LA is busting their chops trying to get his re-signed.
Oh, and I did check the advanced ratings. The Athletic has Ekblad at a +8 overall in the 90th percentile on offensive impact and the 50th percentile on defensive impact. Honestly, pair him with Slavin and he's fine. They set his market value at pretty much his current cap hit of $7.5 million. Gavrokov is a shutdown defender at 100th percentile on D, with a 48th percentile ranking on offensive impact. The Athletic pegs his market value just short of $10 million AAV. Basically they're mirror image players.
I'd suspect that Ekblad will end up taking something close to his existing AAV, for 2 or maybe 3 years. His injury and suspension history will keep it reasonable, which is why people keep linking him to Carolina. That's the kind of deal they've made many times before.
I do suspect that LA will get a deal done with Gavrikov although they have to extend Kopitar and Kempe as well. If he goes to market he'll be a BIG swing so Carolina in particular would need to make dead sure of his commitment to actually play their system. I don't think they ever got more than 75% buy-in from Orlov and won't want to repeat that.
Oh, and I did check the advanced ratings. The Athletic has Ekblad at a +8 overall in the 90th percentile on offensive impact and the 50th percentile on defensive impact. Honestly, pair him with Slavin and he's fine. They set his market value at pretty much his current cap hit of $7.5 million. Gavrokov is a shutdown defender at 100th percentile on D, with a 48th percentile ranking on offensive impact. The Athletic pegs his market value just short of $10 million AAV. Basically they're mirror image players.
I'd suspect that Ekblad will end up taking something close to his existing AAV, for 2 or maybe 3 years. His injury and suspension history will keep it reasonable, which is why people keep linking him to Carolina. That's the kind of deal they've made many times before.
I do suspect that LA will get a deal done with Gavrikov although they have to extend Kopitar and Kempe as well. If he goes to market he'll be a BIG swing so Carolina in particular would need to make dead sure of his commitment to actually play their system. I don't think they ever got more than 75% buy-in from Orlov and won't want to repeat that.
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CanadaCanes
Well-known member
They did just announce this week they are building a shitload of new music venues including the one adjacent to Lenovo Center…you may have made a contribution to that with your purchase.
bagopux
Well-known member
Well that raises another question: have they started the demo on sections 317-319? Would love to see pictures of their progress if anyone knows of any.They did just announce this week they are building a shitload of new music venues including the one adjacent to Lenovo Center…you may have made a contribution to that with your purchase.
Par for that very crappy course. Ticketmaster still owes me like $40 from a cancelled concert from 2020. They refunded the cost of the tickets, but there was a $20 fee on each ticket that they conveniently "forgot" to refund. I no longer actually care aside from curiosity to see just how long it will take. I send an email every couple of months.
Just checked the Lenovo Center webcam. The lights are down so it’s a crappy picture but there are banners that will block the view across the arena. It does look like there is some equipment in the floor though. But there is a concert on Sunday, so they’re probably not doing much right now.
bagopux
Well-known member
Yeah, the webcam is not much help for much in the 300s.
This poster says the Canes are in the final stages of negotiating with Russian goalie Amir Miftakhov. He’s 25 and has played his entire career except 1 North American season for his hometown Kazan organization. He was drafted by the Lightning in 2020 and played 22 games for AHL Syracuse and 5 games for ECHL Orlando in 2021-22. His numbers since returning to Russia are really good, his worst numbers were in 2022-23 at 2.20/.917 in 34 games.
View: https://x.com/uggg_uggg/status/1933604479850402257?s=61
View: https://x.com/uggg_uggg/status/1933604479850402257?s=61
Fayettenamcanesfan
Well-known member
They had a segment on Sirius this morning and had a Russian scout talking about this guy and he seems to love the idea. He thinks this guy is really good. Having trouble finding a lot of video on him on the interwebs so I’ll take this scouts word for it until I hear differently
Reports out of Russia (again) that Stanislav Yarovoy will sign his ELC
View: https://x.com/canesprospects/status/1933918491305799853?s=61
View: https://x.com/canesprospects/status/1933918491305799853?s=61
CanadaCanes
Well-known member
This past season, he played in 30 games with Kazan, posting a strong 2.18 GAA and a .927 SV% along the way. Those were largely in line with his career numbers of a 2.19 GAA and a .922 SV% in 82 outings over parts of five seasons at that level. Guy sounds legit when you look at his 5 year stats in the KHL!They had a segment on Sirius this morning and had a Russian scout talking about this guy and he seems to love the idea. He thinks this guy is really good. Having trouble finding a lot of video on him on the interwebs so I’ll take this scouts word for it until I hear differently
HeyKurtz
Well-known member
This is his Instagram...
Hard not to notice that Svech has liked the vast majority of his posts!
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Yeah, Svech is in recruitment mode back home. And good on him. I'm only seeing good notices on Miftakhov, so this fills the need to plug in some other bloody options other than just Freddie and Kooch. Martin had played out the string and one assumes Tokarski will go back to his couch to await the Bat-signal next year when somebody gets in goalie depth trouble. I think there's one more slot to fill there, hopefully with either a move for a more reliable 1B than Kochetkov or an AHL vet.
Teams playing in the Olympics named their first 6 players today. To the surprise of no one, Sebastian Aho is among Finland’s first 6, as he was for the Four Nations Tournament.
In Canes alumni news, Nino Neiderreiter was named to the Swiss team and Martin Necas was named to the Czech team.
In Canes alumni news, Nino Neiderreiter was named to the Swiss team and Martin Necas was named to the Czech team.