Looking Ahead...

[Anybodyhome]

... At the schedule thru the end of the month. When is the last time we saw the Canes lose an entire home stand? It may very well happen over the next 2 weeks when the Canes play the Rangers in NY and come home for 4 games against the same Rangers, Leafs, Bruins and Tampa Bay. 

Sadly, I think this also mark the beginning of the end of the Canes season. After a win today in Philadelphia, I don't see the Canes winning either game against NY simply because they haven't been able to beat NY for the better part of 3 seasons. Add Toronto to the list of teams Carolina hasn't figured out and you suddenly have 3 losses in a row and 4 losses in 5 games.

Not only do I think the Canes will lose the Metro division lead by the end of the month, I also believe they'll drop to 3rd behind NY when the regular season ends. Given this scenario, the Canes will limp into the playoffs as #4 seed overall and the #3 seed in the Metro, which would put them against either NY or NJ in the 1st round.

The future does not look bright, folks. I, for one, do not think I'll be buying any playoff tickets this post season. Another disappointing end to what started as a promising season.

If there is a ray of hope somewhere, it may be in the belief the Canes can win out after their loss to Tampa Bay on the 28th. On paper, they should be favored against every opponent they face until the end of the season.

Edited March 18, 2023 by Anybodyhome

[KillerKat]

Waddell shat all over any hope we had left. To not even think about or care about injuries happening before the trade deadline is just moronic. We needed help before injuries, we need it even more so now.

[TLGPanthersFan]

At this point I expect us to make the playoffs but never the Cup. The team needs something new. Some consequence for failing to make the cup for 4 years in a row. 
Patience is running out. 

[USDepartmentOfSavagery]

It took Tampa years to win a cup with their current core. You can argue that their core was/is better than ours (it is) but they have set a pretty good blueprint.
 

We are just now approaching the middle of our cup contending window imo. The injuries and assumed TDL failures have created a volatile friction within the fanbase. I’ve tried to take a step back in recent days and look at the situation from an objective standpoint with no emotion. Nobody wants to hear it, but next year is the year. Even without the injures to Max or Svech, it’s still really hard to win a Cup. It takes a lot of luck and elite goalie play just to make it to the final much less win. Don and company have some tough decisions to make soon, but we are set up nicely for sustained success and the contenders this year are not in position to make some of TDL moves we saw this year moving forward. We are. 
 

Don’t give up on ‘‘em just yet. TBL made the SCF without Point just last season. 

[MillionDollarCam]

If we can get through these next five games with five points or more than I’ll be happy with where we are.

[Anybodyhome]

To be clear, I'm not in favor of the rental market; landing the big fish that may cost you draft picks, a chunk of salary cap, etc.

I am a believer in developing talent, maintaining a pipeline of players and becoming a model of consistency that will lure players who may become free agents. There's a reason Brent Burns came to Raleigh, Max Paccioretty, and some others. Your odds are better building a team that contends year in and year out for the cup than grabbing up a bunch of rentals and hoping the chemistry works within a 2-month window to win a cup. 

The Canes were a legit contender when they added Max. They were still a contender when Max went down. But outsiders who looked at this team and believed this team was a serious contender also saw the weaknesses we've all discussed at length here- goal tending and another goal scorer. 

I, for one, don't want to sell the farm for the chance to land a very good milk cow.  

[KatsAzz]

16 hours ago, MillionDollarCam said:

If we can get through these next five games with five points or more than I’ll be happy with where we are.

I will gladly second that.

[Panthers Fan 69]

11 minutes ago, KatsAzz said:

I will gladly second that.

I bet we get 7-10. That’s been our trend. 

[KatsAzz]

18 hours ago, Panthers Fan 69 said:

I bet we get 7-10. That’s been our trend. 

Most likely......

 

[backINblack28]

give it time. the devils have been struggling too. adjusting to the injury itself takes time, both from figuring out line combinations to getting over it mentally in the locker room. we're going to see this team's guts sooner rather than later, and I feel like what we saw in Philly leaves plenty of room for optimism.

[KatsAzz]

4 hours ago, backINblack28 said:

give it time. the devils have been struggling too. adjusting to the injury itself takes time, both from figuring out line combinations to getting over it mentally in the locker room. we're going to see this team's guts sooner rather than later, and I feel like what we saw in Philly leaves plenty of room for optimism.

I am all for showing them optimism.

Edited March 20, 2023 by KatsAzz