Hurricanes Off Season Thread 2022
- Thread starter jeffbear
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Yeah ... if PP1 is Aho and Burns' unit with Svech in the trigger role then I think PP2 is going to need to be Turbo and Gardiner's unit with Necas in the trigger role. The thing that sticks with me is that the Canes stuck with a one-sided PP for the most part, while most teams seem to be trending towards a shooter in both circles. When you're so one sided, teams can concentrate on taking away the seam pass to the bumper without worrying about what's happening on the weak side. That bit Carolina hard in the backside in the second half and playoffs last year, and you saw Aho's PP production dip dramatically in that bumper role. If Gardiner can actually play, that gives you two point guys who are very, very good at getting shots through traffic, which is all well and good ... but the key issue is what you do from there, because nobody really scores directly from the point anymore. It's the secondary action that determines success. Carolina has a lot of smart, mobile wingers who can handle more dynamic roles than what the Canes have been asking of them. I'll be looking at the PP units not so much for the personnel involved, but more for how they're being used. IMO Carolina's got to start from scratch and come up with less predictable patterns and they SHOULD have the personnel to be more flexible than what they showed last year.
Scott Burnside has a great article about video coach Chris Huffine.
www.nhl.com
Burnside: The Tale of Huffine's Tapes | Carolina Hurricanes
"There's no one better. I know that for a fact. There may be guys as good, but nobody's better. Can't be. Because he won't' stop until he gets it right. Any little thing."
www.nhl.com
Fayettenamcanesfan
Well-known member
I remember the first time I met chris. His video room is back by the coaches offices and across from the laundry. I was bringing over laundry from the visitors room during the first training camp in Raleigh. I went in that video room and had a million questions for him. Back then we would record games for any visiting teams coming in and they would provide game tape for us of their last few opponents. It was surprising how much info they shared. I used to stand there while he was making the tapes so I could run it out to the bus before the visiting team left for the airport. I am sure it is much less cumbersome than it was in 1997. He was the hardest wokrking man on staff. No doubt.Scott Burnside has a great article about video coach Chris Huffine.
Burnside: The Tale of Huffine's Tapes | Carolina Hurricanes
"There's no one better. I know that for a fact. There may be guys as good, but nobody's better. Can't be. Because he won't' stop until he gets it right. Any little thing."
Reports on Twitter that the Canes are bringing in Derek Stepan on a PTO. We’ll see how that shakes out in camp. His contract last year had a $1.35 million cap hit. If he makes the team, I’d expect the same or maybe even the NHL minimum. He’s not 35, so bonuses can’t be built into the contract.
cmaleski2
Well-known member
Good for us, bummer for him. I would have thought SOMEONE would have been impressed enough with his level of play to have him find a 1 year $1.5 million contract somewhere. He showed some game with us.
Unless he completely forgot how to play hockey in the offseason OR the Canes make some other move or someone in this organization really really really steps up, now that Stepan is being brought back on a PTO, I would put the chances of Stepan being offered a 1 year, NHL minimum deal by the Canes at quite a bit better than 50-50. Why?
Svech-Aho-Jarvis
Turbo-KK-Necas
Kase-Staal-Fast
Martinook-Drury-Pederson
As we noted before, that lineup is missing a + right handed faceoff guy. Derek Stepan was 55.9% last season. Now I say that and I throw out that 55.9% stat ( 65.6% shorthanded), but the truth is that before last season with the Canes, Stepan had NEVER BEEN BETTER THAN 50%. But he has been much better than Necas over the past 3 seasons.
I would much rather have Derek Stepan instead of Lane Pederson in that lineup above. Now when Pacioretty comes back, unless Drury hasn't panned out, Stepan would likely be back to the 13th/14th forward role again. But before that point I think he would be a good hedge as a right handed faceoff guy, especially in the Dzone.
Unless he completely forgot how to play hockey in the offseason OR the Canes make some other move or someone in this organization really really really steps up, now that Stepan is being brought back on a PTO, I would put the chances of Stepan being offered a 1 year, NHL minimum deal by the Canes at quite a bit better than 50-50. Why?
Svech-Aho-Jarvis
Turbo-KK-Necas
Kase-Staal-Fast
Martinook-Drury-Pederson
As we noted before, that lineup is missing a + right handed faceoff guy. Derek Stepan was 55.9% last season. Now I say that and I throw out that 55.9% stat ( 65.6% shorthanded), but the truth is that before last season with the Canes, Stepan had NEVER BEEN BETTER THAN 50%. But he has been much better than Necas over the past 3 seasons.
I would much rather have Derek Stepan instead of Lane Pederson in that lineup above. Now when Pacioretty comes back, unless Drury hasn't panned out, Stepan would likely be back to the 13th/14th forward role again. But before that point I think he would be a good hedge as a right handed faceoff guy, especially in the Dzone.
The lineup gives RBA the righty/lefty option on the 4th line without putting the awful at faceoffs (44.8% career) Martinook in the circle. As for when Patches comes back, you know Martinook is going to go down at some point, he hasn’t played a full season in the last 3.
I feel like Stepan probably did have options, but maybe not on competitive teams. I've got a feeling that Pederson is bound for Chicago to be the designated call-up forward. He's on a $750K contract, so he's not going to kill the payroll in Chicago if he's slumming it ... and he's split time between the AHL and NHL for his entire career. Thus the PTO for Stepan. He's a known quantity and so long as he can kinda/sorta keep up with the younglings then he should be able to old man his way into a roster spot.
I'd like to see Stepan hang around for another reason ... I think he'd make a good coaching trainee, and I think he's got the right makeup to want that. Carolina is still running VERY lean on the coaching staff and could really use a quality control guy. Most contending teams have 3 full time assistants in addition to a goalie coach or consultant. Heck, most contending teams have two video guys. I know Dundon likes to keep it tight and cheap, but ... yeah.
BadgerCane58
Active member
Hello I’m new here. I just want to know if anyone else is as concerned as I am about the upcoming season. After getting Burns & Patches, I was quite fired up. I still thought we needed a bit more scoring depth. Now with Patches out, there seems to be too much hope in KK & Necas to make up for the loss of Nino and Vinnie. I’m afraid if nothing is done before the season starts, we may see a 10-10 start or worse. We have a over abundance of defenseman, I’m hoping DW has something up his sleeve before training camp opens. Who to get? I have no clue. I’m just hoping something is done. We have (as of today), a worse lineup than last year.
cmaleski2
Well-known member
I think everyone shares a concern about reliance on KK and Necas to step up and be productive top 6 players. That is a risk. The team made a pretty big bet on KK, and this season is going to be the first real test for that decision.
Its hard for me to not give this team the benefit of the doubt though. They are 4 for 4 in terms if delivering a playoff team. Until a Dundon/Waddell/Tulsky squad fails to make the playoffs, I'm going to assume that they are way smarter than everyone else and the team we are icing is way better than we might think.
You aren't wrong to think we a are putting a lot of faith in 2 youngsters that haven't consistantly delivered much of anything. But this is the squad I expect we are going forward with to open the season. I don't think they will struggle as much as you are worried they will.
Its hard for me to not give this team the benefit of the doubt though. They are 4 for 4 in terms if delivering a playoff team. Until a Dundon/Waddell/Tulsky squad fails to make the playoffs, I'm going to assume that they are way smarter than everyone else and the team we are icing is way better than we might think.
You aren't wrong to think we a are putting a lot of faith in 2 youngsters that haven't consistantly delivered much of anything. But this is the squad I expect we are going forward with to open the season. I don't think they will struggle as much as you are worried they will.
Welcome aboard! Have you been on previous versions of this board, I thought there was someone with a similar name. If not, I’m sure you and our other resident Badger, @dwind, will have plenty to talk about.
BadgerCane58
Active member
Thanks, I’m new on this board. I used to be on a Canes message board last year, but it disappeared. After hunting for a new one, here I am. I enjoy reading the posts and updates daily. Go Badgers!
GO CANES!!!!!
GO CANES!!!!!
BadgerCaniac
Member
I think you are remembering me. Great to have another Badger around !!
On the subject of the roster, I honestly think that Carolina is going to try and gut it out until Pacioretty comes back without a major roster move, if at all possible. Yeah, that puts a lot of pressure on Kotkaniemi and Necas to produce, and yeah ... they're paying those 2 grown ass men a collective $8 million and change so that's not even close to an unreasonable amount of pressure. It's a big boy league and if you commit that much to a couple of top 6 forwards, then you SHOULD be able to count on them to get you some offense. If not, then you've got bigger problems than whatever bandaids would be available on the market at this late date will fix.
dwind
Well-known member
Badgers don’t have to be reasonable.
welcome aboard.
If you’re interested in badger hockey history there is a Facebook group ‘Madison area hockey history’ run by Greg Apologia that is very interesting.
TheBigKahuna
Well-known member
This roster needed veteran leadership and playoff experience. They added that, but also lost their best power forward. On what was already a very soft team. Waddell has a lot of faith in B- to B level talent taking this team to the next level. I'm not as optimistic. Our top 6 can very easily underperform, and none of them are game breakers, or able to carry a team at times.
CanadaCanes
Well-known member
Before the Patches injury I was ok with the summer moves and once again fully expected the UFA guys to move on for bigger money elsewhere. With the Pacioretty long term injury coupled with the fact the Canes addition of a very fragile, often injured Kase being relied upon for offense screams of danger and trouble from the get go. This team may have a decent farm system but the fact of the matter is outside of Drury there is really no one else capable of filling a top six or top nine role up front if another injury occurs. This team is likely once again going to struggle to score goals unless the younger guys like KK and Necas suddenly put up much bigger offensive numbers than a year ago. In a division that seems to get tougher every year I’m a bit concerned a Canes sputter out of the gate missing a front line scoring threat along with the losses of Trochek and Nino might be very tough to overcome.
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