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Carolina Hurricanes 2024 Summer Talk ... press the reset button?

If you want to go through the cap exercise and take it one step further in terms of planning....NEXT season we will have an additional $25 million in cap room freeing up (Burns, Orlov, Kuznetsov, Fast, Eric Robinson, Tyson Jost, Brendan Lemieux and Freddie). Buyout KK and that frees up another $4 million taking you to $29 million. Cap goes up another $4 million and you suddenly have $33 million in cap space. A whole lot of teams just locked themselves into tighter cap situations next season. The Canes will be flush with space.

Barring some big trade that really shake things up, this quite possibly is going to be a 'step back and reshuffle' season while we wait for Nikishin and our other kids to build into pros. That doesn't mean this cannot be a playoff team this coming season but certainly the lineup as constructed right now is not anywhere near as strong as our recent teams. Add in that the Devils and Caps are probably a whole lot better it might be a struggle this season. However, at least to me, I see a vision towards what NEXT season is set up to potentially be.

JB is 100% right though....we absolutely need Svech to be a 70-80 point player this coming season or we are probably cooked. And if we are going to keep KK around for one more try, he MUST be an offensive contributor.

Want to start thinking about our PP units as we currently stand now?

Svech-Aho-Jarvis-Gostisbehere-???

Kuzy-KK-Drury-Burns-???

One of those ??? will either be Necas or someone who comes over in a Necas trade I suspect. The other ???. Yeah, that remains to be seen.

There are going to be a lot of fans who will be very unhappy. Unhappy with what happened today. Unhappy with what will likely unfold this season. KK is going to seriously face the wrath if he stinks again. Orlov is going to be beaten up every time he screws up. But there really really way absolutely no possible way for the Canes to 'play it back' this season unless all of our UFAs took massively low salaries. The Canes said that quite frequently, and it was completely true. Waddell got out just before the bomb was set to go off.

Now more than ever 'trust the process' is going to need to be the guiding motto for this team this coming season.
 
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Look ... crappier teams make the playoffs all the time and I'm going to hold off until their done to make judgements
 
One more thought on roster construction year to year and trusting the process ...

You know where NHL teams get stuck making truly bad personnel and contract decisions? Here. Right where the Canes are now. They are set up for a big churn because of a bunch of contract terms running out, they're frustrated because they haven't been able to get over the hump and win a Cup (or even make the Finals) and there's an expectation from your fans that you always go all out to do your best to win EVERY year. You know what you get when you go balls to the wall every summer and at every trade deadline with a base that maybe just isn't quite good enough to deliver on its own? You eventually get a broken down roster that's just good enough to kinda/sorta compete with no room to get better. See any number of teams that have been in "win right freaking now mode" for a couple of years too long for an example of what I'm talking about. I'm OK not taking a big swing right now so long as they follow through on a big swing later and at least put a competitive team on the ice in the meantime.
 
I feel like that’s at least partly what I mean that they’ve not been constructed quite right and aside from making drastic changes they’re not going to be able to fix it. They could have maybe done more to keep elements of this year’s team together but that’s not going to get better end results and we can chase that until our core age out and then crash and rebuild.

I think the Slavin/Aho/Jarvis and maybe Svetch core of this team is lacking the superstar dimension so far. So to win you need to either add that or build overall depth. But when you’re consistently good your UFAs get offers you can’t match and maintain your depth. So you end up a good team with no superstars and less depth. So you have no choice but to rebuild it and hope to draft/develop enough of a superstar or two to go with your depth. This year we were there but Svetch and Necas didn’t get to the party.

Your other option is to massively suck for year after year amassing 1st and second picks in the draft until you have your superstars. Nobody’s trading those guys. So we replace the expensive high quality guys we gave a platform to with cheaper guys and build it up again.

Think about it. Nobody was thinking Skeji was a clear win when we got him. Guentzel might have been the biggest name at the trade deadline and UFA group this year but he’s not a superstar just a very good supporting piece. Paying 9 million per for a guy like that til he’s 40 is a recipe for collapse down the road.
 
For what it's worth, Tulsky noted in his media availability this afternoon that the Canes are effectively making sure there are spots open for our young players to step into as a necessity for us to be able to manage competitive rosters every season. Now, whether or not any of them are capable enough to do so at this time remains to be seen, but if you go back to those PP groups I posted earlier in this thread, there definitely is a clear open spot there.

Tulsky gave typical answers to the other questions today noting that this is just the first day of the offseason and there was much more work to get done and that the Canes always are considering impacts of any signing on future years and avoiding bad contracts that hamstring future rosters.
 
I wouldn’t imagine they’d leave space if they didn’t think some kids are ready to step up.
 
cmaleski2 said:
There are going to be a lot of fans who will be very unhappy. Unhappy with what happened today. Unhappy with what will likely unfold this season.

Now more than ever 'trust the process' is going to need to be the guiding motto for this team this coming season.
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Count me as one of those unhappy campers - at least initially. Driving to the mountains yesterday and only getting glimpses of what was happening (or not happening) was painful. Appreciate the sober assessments that come from this website with helping me step back from the ledge.

I would like to see some of the newbies get a real chance of making this team - even allowing for a learning curve that's sure to include some mistakes, to gradually integrate tomorrow's veterans into this franchise.
 
This should be a re-tooling year as has been mentioned. IMHO the Canes can still be a playoff team, the roster doesn't have to be set for another 7 months...
 
polarbare said:
This should be a re-tooling year as has been mentioned. IMHO the Canes can still be a playoff team, the roster doesn't have to be set for another 7 months...
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Yeah, see ... that's the thing. You can re-tool along the way and still keep a competitive core. And some summers requiring bigger changes than others. This was one where the contract logistics sort of forced their hand, but I honestly think they were on the wrong track anyway. I was always hedging my bets with "let's see how they close out the year" because you never know when lightning will strike, but there always structural issues. Fixing that stuff in free agency is do-able if what you're missing are couple of specific pieces. This team was at that point last summer and maybe the summer before ... now, it's going to take more ... and longer.

IMO, one of the key missing pieces is special players. Aho is a specific kind of special, as is Slavin but there's nobody else on that level just now. They have two others who can be that kind of player. One is stuck in Russia until next spring or summer and the other is Svech, who has been agonizingly close but always seems to step on a rake somewhere along the way. I guess you can throw Necas into that column as well, but I don't think so. He's got a special skill set, but not not the mentality. Sometimes you can fill the need for difference makers by committee. Sometimes guys step up for a season or a playoffs and get you where you need to be. Goalie play is always a wildcard. But this core won't be cooking on all burners until Svech gets to that next phase and Boom gets here.
 
ThinIce said:
Hope isn't a strategy, but I'm hoping that Jarvis will also become that special player.
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Yeah, I see Jarvis as more of just a play driver but he's got room to grow. You need those guys too, otherwise you're the Oilers.
 
polarbare said:
This should be a re-tooling year as has been mentioned. IMHO the Canes can still be a playoff team, the roster doesn't have to be set for another 7 months...
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I agree about the retooling year and the contract mess all coming to a head at once was bound to see some losses for sure, but what will be the most shock to the senses for a ton of the fanbase will be the loss of Guentzel (which seemed like a guy that would stay) and that type of high end player suddenly gone with no real plan or player to replace that. Yeah Turbo, Pesce, Noesen are guys that really needed new contracts and were probably not coming back, but Jake still in the fold would have given you a really good solid top 6 core to build around...this team for me from where it stands today is a fringe 8th playoff seed at best next year. I'm not casting blame at anyone in the front office, it was just too many guys lost all at once that you simply do not recover from in one season...the loss will be felt on both ends of the ice and we have been spoiled here with some really good hockey the past few seasons but the reality for next season will be hope of sneaking into the playoffs. Do the Canes have a rabbit to pull out of their hat on the trade front still this summer...maybe, but unlikely. Next summer with a lot more cap space to spend should allow a reshaping of this roster that may have everyone more excited. Not doom and gloom for me, just more realistic expectations based on where the roster stands vs where the rest of the Metro sits.
 
CanadaCanes said:
...this team for me from where it stands today is a fringe 8th playoff seed at best next year.
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If next season is anything like the one that just concluded, there is no way that this version of the Hurricanes is a fringe 8th seed. This team will still be much better than the Capitals team that ended up being the 8th by attrition.
 
Aside from Guentzel the guys they lost/need to replace is what the Canes do. They let Dougie go and everyone was all doom and gloom. They added replacements and they were fine. They let TDA go and same thing. There’s nothing magical about the guys they lost. They’re all nice players. They’re all overpriced because there are a limited number of UFAs and ours have gotten attention as part of a very successful team. Guentzel is not a superstar. He’s a very good forward. He was maybe the best forward to move as a UFA but not the best forward on the Pens or the best forward on the Canes.

The Canes will likely replace the guys we lost and continue forward as a very solid team looking for the magical combination of quality depth or for one or two of their draft darts to develop into a superstar. It’s a great approach because it should lead to sustainably solid teams. This season may drop off a bit but maybe not. Those guys are all replaceable for less than the contracts they signed yesterday. You can’t overpay compared to replacement cost.
 
With the departure of Guentzel, Teuvo, and Skjei, 46 of last seasons goals went with those guys. No way Svech, Aho, Necas and Jarvis can make that up. GM ET has also got to get goal scoring to compensate for the changes on defense as our GAA is likely going up. I will be quite curious as to what moves can and will be made by the Hurricanes brain trust.

I’m not doom and gloom, but to me these are real concerns.
 
We replaced Skjei with 2 defenders who can score. Whoever fills TTs role is going to score something. Thats 3 guys out of the lineup who averaged 15 goals each. That’s replaceable.
 
NoMich said:
If next season is anything like the one that just concluded, there is no way that this version of the Hurricanes is a fringe 8th seed. This team will still be much better than the Capitals team that ended up being the 8th by attrition.
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If you think the Caps deserved a playoff spot last year and think that will be the playoff line next season than I have $100 to place a bet on that...that was smoke and mirrors based on a few others spitting the bit...including what happened in New Jersey with that injury mess.
 
SlapShots said:
With the departure of Guentzel, Teuvo, and Skjei, 46 of last seasons goals went with those guys. No way Svech, Aho, Necas and Jarvis can make that up. GM ET has also got to get goal scoring to compensate for the changes on defense as our GAA is likely going up. I will be quite curious as to what moves can and will be made by the Hurricanes brain trust.

I’m not doom and gloom, but to me these are real concerns.
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Great post and 100% correct.
 
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