2016/17 Carolina Hurricanes

[lightsout]

1 hour ago, RealBitsOfPanther said:

Welcome aboard man! NHL seasons are crazy fun. I know @lightsout and myself loved doing the blog and hopefully will do it again next year the views are there. As far as canes prospects/young talent go, it starts with Jeff Skinner, Sebastian Aho and Noah Hanifin. 

 

Skinner went off the last quarter of the season and ended up with 36 goals and 26 assists. Prob the purest goal scorer the Canes have and is still a young guy (only 25) 

Aho just finished his rookie season with 24 goals and 25 assists and at 19 years old. Just a smart player. He will be good for years to come. 

Skinns and Aho stand out but there is a bunch of young guys already on the team, or in the system. Rask is a solid two way center that can net 20 and can lead in +/-. Teuvo as well. Lindholm has shown flashes of brilliance (his passing game improved greatly this season). There is also some guys in the pipeline like Gauthier, Kuokkanen Fillpe that we can get excited about, although they are years away. 

Hanifin is going to be solid. It takes a little longer for two way defensemen to adapt. He's only 20 years old as well. Really strong breakout pass 

The rest of the defense is crazy young and has tremendous upside as well. Slavin and Pesce especially. Look for Haydn Fleury to push for a roster spot this year. Jake Bean will be a name to remember as well. 

 

@lightsout did I forget anyone? 

 

 

You missed the future between the pipes. The man, the myth, the guy who needs to just be left on the main roster but won't be until Cam Ward retires. Alex Nedeljkovic. Seriously though, kid is gonna be special.

 

Also forgot Valentin Zykov. Big bodied Russian who got a couple weeks worth of games towards season's end and absolutely crushed it.

 

And as stated, a ton of young talent that will be up this year or the next. It's crazy that our best players are between 18 and 23. We'll be competitive, but we need consistent goaltending for at least 60 games to make the playoffs.

[MillionDollarCam]

As far as prospects go, Fleury seems to be ready to make the jump next year.

Wallmark, Zykov, Saarela, Roy, and Gauthier also have a chance. Especially Wallmark who can slot in as the 4C next year assuming McClemment is not brought back.

I also expect Brock to be a full-timer next year and PDG to spend the majority of the year with the Canes assuming he is extended as well.

Personally, I'm really excited about Saarela, he finally came over from Finland and it seems that the smaller rink actually suits his style more. He only played 9 game with the Checkers last year but he recorded 6 goals, 4 assists, 10 points, and was. +2; he's definitely one to watch.

[SOJA]

On 6/16/2017 at 11:17 AM, RealBitsOfPanther said:

Welcome aboard man! NHL seasons are crazy fun. I know @lightsout and myself loved doing the blog and hopefully will do it again next year the views are there. As far as canes prospects/young talent go, it starts with Jeff Skinner, Sebastian Aho and Noah Hanifin. 

 

Skinner went off the last quarter of the season and ended up with 36 goals and 26 assists. Prob the purest goal scorer the Canes have and is still a young guy (only 25) 

Aho just finished his rookie season with 24 goals and 25 assists and at 19 years old. Just a smart player. He will be good for years to come. 

Skinns and Aho stand out but there is a bunch of young guys already on the team, or in the system. Rask is a solid two way center that can net 20 and can lead in +/-. Teuvo as well. Lindholm has shown flashes of brilliance (his passing game improved greatly this season). There is also some guys in the pipeline like Gauthier, Kuokkanen Fillpe that we can get excited about, although they are years away. 

Hanifin is going to be solid. It takes a little longer for two way defensemen to adapt. He's only 20 years old as well. Really strong breakout pass 

The rest of the defense is crazy young and has tremendous upside as well. Slavin and Pesce especially. Look for Haydn Fleury to push for a roster spot this year. Jake Bean will be a name to remember as well. 

 

@lightsout did I forget anyone? 

wow thank you so much for the write up! eager to get on the bandwagon next season 

[MillionDollarCam]

The Canes have hired goalie coach Mike Bales away from the Pittsburgh Penguins after firing Dave Marcoux earlier in the offseason.

Bales was on staff for the Pens back to back Stanley Cups and is credited with Matt Murray's development and the rejuvenation of Marc Andre-Fleury's career.

For a statistical perspective: 

Pre Bales

MAF - Playoffs (9/-10 to 12-13)

31 GP, .880 sv. %, 3.18 gaa

Post Bales

MAF - Playoffs (13-14 to 16-17)

35 GP, .920 sv. %, 2.45 gaa 

 

 

 

[lightsout]

3 hours ago, MillionDollarCam said:

The Canes have hired goalie coach Mike Bales away from the Pittsburgh Penguins after firing Dave Marcoux earlier in the offseason.

Bales was on staff for the Pens back to back Stanley Cups and is credited with Matt Murray's development and the rejuvenation of Marc Andre-Fleury's career.

For a statistical perspective: 

Pre Bales

MAF - Playoffs (9/-10 to 12-13)

31 GP, .880 sv. %, 3.18 gaa

Post Bales

MAF - Playoffs (13-14 to 16-17)

35 GP, .920 sv. %, 2.45 gaa 

 

 

 

Was on my way to post this. Great pick up. We need all the help we can get when it comes to goal-tending. Too many hot streaks that come at random times before tapering back into mediocrity.

[MillionDollarCam]

25 minutes ago, lightsout said:

Was on my way to post this. Great pick up. We need all the help we can get when it comes to goal-tending. Too many hot streaks that come at random times before tapering back into mediocrity.

Absolutely.

If we would have had consistentl goaltending I feel like we could have slid into that final playoff spot this past year.

I'm excited to see how Darling does. I hope his career mirrors Cam Talbot's and not Eddie Lacks's regarding the whole backup to starter process. 

[MillionDollarCam]

The Canes have released their protection list for the NHL's expansion draft.

There are no real surprises on the list as the Canes were one of the least effected teams by the expansion list. The only choice Carolina had to make was Stempniak or PDG, the Canes chose to stick with PDG.

Protected: Jeff Skinner, Jordan Staal, Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask, Teuvo Teravainen, Brock McGinn, Phil Di 

[MillionDollarCam]

5 minutes ago, MillionDollarCam said:

The Canes have released their protection list for the NHL's expansion draft.

There are no real surprises on the list as the Canes were one of the least effected teams by the expansion list. The only choice Carolina had to make was Stempniak or PDG, the Canes chose to stick with PDG.

Protected: Jeff Skinner, Jordan Staal, Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask, Teuvo Teravainen, Brock McGinn, Phil Di 

I accidentally submitted the post with out completing my thought so I figured I'd try it again.

The Canes have released their protection list for the NHL's expansion draft.

There are no real surprises on the list as the Canes were one of the least effected teams by the expansion list. The only choice Carolina had to make was Stempniak or PDG, the Canes chose to stick with PDG. A large portion of players such as Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin, and Brett Pesce are exempt.

Protected: /Forward/ Jeff Skinner, Jordan Staal, Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask, Teuvo Teravainen, Brock McGinn, Phil Di Giuseppe, /Defense/ Justin Faulk, Ryan Murphy, Trevor Carrick (AHL), and /Goalie/ Scott Darling

Unprotected: /Forward/ Lee Stempniak, Joakim Nordstrom, Jay McClement, Bryan Bickell, Andrew Miller (AHL), Andrej Nestrasil (AHL), Patrick Brown (AHL), Connor Brickley (AHL), Danny Kristo (AHL), Brendan Woods (AHL), Erik Karlsson (AHL), /Defense/ Klas Dahlbeck, Matt Tennyson, Dennis Robertson (AHL), Philip Samuelsson (AHL), /Goalie/ Cam Ward, Eddie Lack, Michael Leighton (AHL), and Daniel Altshuller (AHL).

With the Canes set to lose one player you have to think it will be Stempniak, Nordstrom, or Ward.

[lightsout]

My money is on Stemp or Nordy. Ward isn't going because Fleury is unprotected. No way they take what amounts to the same goalie twice.

[MillionDollarCam]

In former Canes news, Eric Staal was left unprotected by the Minnesota Wild.

[lightsout]

2 hours ago, MillionDollarCam said:

In former Canes news, Eric Staal was left unprotected by the Minnesota Wild.

Not surprising. Aging vet, tons of young talent in that organization. Staal to Vegas wouldn't be bad for Staal or Vegas.

[RealBitsOfPanther]

Stemp is most likely gone. However, the Pens have a bunch of talented forwards and defensemen available as well (Rust, Kunitz, Ian Cole, Daley). They will prob still take MAF though. 

[MillionDollarCam]

The new Adidas jersey's drop tomorrow.

No major changes are expected.

[MillionDollarCam]

Just a rumor and probably nothing but that.

Nonetheless, I read on HFBoarfs (one of the main sites I use for Canes info) that GMRF may have a deal with Vegas to select Eddie Lack.

Take it worth a grain of salt cause Vegas has been linked to every goalie under the sun, but it is possible with the amount of picks the Canes have in the upcoming draft. Lack and a 2nd could be on the way to Vegas.