Habsy
Not playing around anymore.
Perimeter players tend to do that
Carolina Hurricanes 2024 Summer Talk ... press the reset button?
- Thread starter jeffbear
- Start date
Habsy
Not playing around anymore.
He’s worth far more than a 25 goal guy.
Fayettenamcanesfan
Well-known member
Yes of course he is. That’s why he said package. It would take a lot more than Necas and that’s why it will likely never happen. but they will at least kick the tires and see what the market is.
And am I suggesting otherwise? No.
In a perfect world, yes. In truth, Carolina's going to end up committing 8 years to Guentzel if they get him re-signed and I'm FAR from convinced that's a good idea.
Yeah, you can only play the value game so long. Either you have to find a goalie who can come through at the right time or spend dumb money of offense ... which also has to come through at the right time. You can pick and peck at the other stuff and make smart moves, but without some lightning somewhere along the way it's going to end up the way it has the last 3 years.
Personally, I'd think about cleaning up obvious shortcomings up front, making sure the D doesn't take too big of a step back and make a play for a goalie. I'd rather see them spend the money on a 2C and in net and then figure the rest out. You've already got Svech locked in and there's about as good a chance of him taking the next step as there is of some free agent gamble paying off up front. Finding a proper center to support him would go a long way towards helping that to happen ... IMO. On D maybe re-sign Pesce and find another LD to soak up minutes in the middle of the rotation, but keeping in mind that Nikishin is coming and he'll change the math when he gets here. And I think they're letting a new Slavin deal set the terms for the budget on D, and that makes sense to me. I know people might freak out if they don't make a move for a scoring winger, but I honestly think a proper 2C is more important to establishing two proper offensive forward lines. And yeah, go find a goalie please. A real goalie. 2 out of the last three seasons you've screwed around and let bad goaltending kill you in VERY tight playoff matchups. Do. Something. Else.
ThinIce
Well-known member
2C or not 2C, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune...or bite the bullet and go buy a proven performer! KK was the hope, but it didn't work out.
And yes, a proven goalie would be great. Don't know if it's affordable with all that needs to be done, but it's clear that Freddie can't handle the extensive load and I don't think Kochetkov can either.
And yes, a proven goalie would be great. Don't know if it's affordable with all that needs to be done, but it's clear that Freddie can't handle the extensive load and I don't think Kochetkov can either.
I don't think it's even a question. If they're going to have a better shot at winning anything that matters, they HAVE to get a productive, reliable 2C in the mix. I'd say they also need to stop playing Jordan Staal 15+ minutes a game if he's never going to score enough to justify it, but we all know how that's going to go. Brindy's gonna play him too much from here out until he retires, which puts even more pressure on finding a legit 2C.
Oh and hindsight being 20/20, Carolina absolutely should have signed Trocheck to a stupid contract two years ago and not let him walk. He was the bird in the hand and I'm 90% sure they beat NYR this year with two proper attacking forward lines. That could have been enough to tilt that Florida series the year before as well, as fine as those margins were.
The thing is, in the grand scheme of things, he didn’t sign a stupid contract, it was 7 years/$39.375 million. Would he have taken a bit less AAV to get an 8th year? Who knows? KK hasn’t been the replacement they anticipated and might never get there.
ThinIce
Well-known member
Not being aggressive for Trocheck and letting Nino go for nothing were two huge mistakes this organization made.
The stupid part was the term ... and it remains stupid. NYR still has Trocheck for 5 more years and he's 30. Yeah, he had a career season this year but he's going to be half that player before the end of his deal. And, that's something they can worry about in 2026 or 2027 when he starts to decline. In the meantime, yeah. KK ain't anywhere close to getting it done here and he's the only long term option under contract.
Somebody mentioned Nino, but I still think that was the right call. He's managed to remain a 30-40 point middle 6 guy who scores a handful of pretty goals. Trocheck? That decision has hurt.
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hindsight is 20:20
My idea. Keep Necas. Have Rod adjust his approach to be able to handle a line that is not playing his defensive system up to his standards. Let Necas Center it. You can’t take an offensive minded super skilled player and make him fit a defensive system without killing that offense to some extent.
Based on the results other teams have gotten from our cast offs maybe we need to adjust the approach from a system standpoint.
My idea. Keep Necas. Have Rod adjust his approach to be able to handle a line that is not playing his defensive system up to his standards. Let Necas Center it. You can’t take an offensive minded super skilled player and make him fit a defensive system without killing that offense to some extent.
Based on the results other teams have gotten from our cast offs maybe we need to adjust the approach from a system standpoint.
have Rod change he said 
It also didn’t get the Rangers to the finish line.
Might have gotten us the chance to lose to FLA again.
We all know full well Carolina would been better and more balanced with a proper 2C the last two years. And Tro has been that.
The rumor on Nino was that the Canes offered him $4 million. He was coming off a $5.25 million contract and his agent turned up his nose at it. So the Canes moved on. Then Nino signed with Nashville for 2 years/$8 million. Then he re-signed with Winnipeg for 3 years/12 million.
cmaleski2
Well-known member
I understand the Canes not wanting to give Trocheck term as he would be well into his 30s when his long term deal ends. But we are not going to retain very many UFAs without giving them term. If we really felt KK would take over that #2 center role that has been a big mistake so far.
Jake Guentzel isn't signing here for 5 years or less. Neither is Brady Skjei. That is not how the market for those level of players at their ages works. If the Canes don't want to play in that market because of those 'years of decline' that is ok, but it isn't always easy to simply replace every UFA to be by going out and finding someone else. That is putting a lot of faith that 'someone else' is going to produce or that you can even find that 'someone else' or you even have the right assets to acquire such a replacement.
We have been missing a good 2nd line center/right handed Faceoff option since Trocheck left.
Jake Guentzel isn't signing here for 5 years or less. Neither is Brady Skjei. That is not how the market for those level of players at their ages works. If the Canes don't want to play in that market because of those 'years of decline' that is ok, but it isn't always easy to simply replace every UFA to be by going out and finding someone else. That is putting a lot of faith that 'someone else' is going to produce or that you can even find that 'someone else' or you even have the right assets to acquire such a replacement.
We have been missing a good 2nd line center/right handed Faceoff option since Trocheck left.
And this is the rub. You can do the "our market value and not a nickle more" all you want to, but if you let key guys walk then you have to freaking replace them. Not one for one, exact, specific replacements maybe. But in terms of quality, you have to get it right. Thinking they could plug KK in for Trocheck turned out to be folly.
IMO, wingers are easier to replace and I'm not as hung up on Skjei as a lot of people are. He's fine. He got over-utilized because his baseline is pretty high, along with his capacity to eat minutes. His offense was a nice bonus, but streaky enough to not be reliable. So, I'd 100% understand making a value decision on Guentzel and Skjei (and Pesce). That said, thinking you can just plug and play from within is probably not happening with either of them.