2012 NHL Offseason/Free Agency

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Either we signed Wellwood or Trip Tracy has a man crush on him.

He has three tweets about Wellwood in the last hour.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Also for those that don't know Joslin signed with Vancouver.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Trip Tracy tweeted that the Canes may wait until the new CBA is shelled out because it will require some teams to cut players to get under the salary cap.

[Stumpy]

The Hurricanes just pulled out of the Nash sweepstakes, CBJ were asking for Skinner; Carolina walked.

I love CBSSports.com's commentary on the Nash story...

Set your sights on the stars, right Howson? There is a reason why people have never made it to the stars -- well, besides the fact that they are really freakin' hot. But the proverbial ones, they're too often unattainable. I mean, asking for Skinner and presumably more in return for Nash with a straight face? Assuming Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford remained on the phone long enough, I'm sure he heard Howson snickering a little, right?

Let's compare the two players, shall we? Nash is 28 years old, Skinner is 20. In the last two seasons Nash has 62 goals and 125 points in 157 games. Skinner had 51 goals and 107 points in 146 games. Keep in mind those were the first two seasons of Skinner's career. Oh, and Rickh Nash has a cap hit of $7.8 million for each of the next six seasons while Skinner has a cap hit of $1.4 million for one more season before becoming a restricted free agent.

And as I said I can only assume, but based on previous reported trade demands, that was just part of what Howson wanted in return for Nash. Even as a straight up offer the Hurricanes aren't going to take it.

JR: Howson, buddy, what'll it take to get your captain... (spits out his Molsons)... What the fug you smokin? You can have Skinner when you pry him from my cold, dead hands!

Nash=top line forward

Skinner=Future superstar/Art Ross Trophy winner.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Nash is on the decline and Skinner is the NHL's next big superstar, I have no idea what Howson was thinking.

We only have a few untouchables (Cam Ward, Justin Faulk, Jeff Skinner, Jordan Staal, and Eric Staal), we made that clear from the beginning and Howson tries do bullsh*t us. It's just not going to happen lol.

Anyway, Chip Alexander tweeted

Chip Alexander ‏@ice_chip

Rutherford said Canes will continue to look at trades. Said team has financial wherewithal to be involved with bigger names, if available.

[Panther_mountain]

Don't understand why we would wait to sign other fa's. We "went after" parise and suter. Let's go after semin. We need some help at wing. Who else would be better than semin? Keep in mind he is like 27/28 I believe...am I immature if I laugh when typing semin?

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Seeeemin

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Also keep in mind, Rutherford hates Russian players. He thinks they're bastards.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Tripp Tracy mentioned that the Canes and Blue Jackets may resume talks again about a Nash to Carolina trade. The Canes and mainly Rutherford just had to draw the line and let Howson know who was availabe and who was not (i.e Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner, Justin Faulk, and Cam Ward).

[KillerKat]

are we even going to try to fix the D?

[cbarrier90]

are we even going to try to fix the D?

My guess is they're just going to let the young D grow via reps. Either that, or they're comfortable with what they have.

[knuckleballah22]

Can't wait to the the Staals playing together - they will be better than the Sedin Twins IMO.

[knuckleballah22]

Anyone think Ryan Murphy will make the jump this yr?

[KillerKat]

From the Canes FB page, JR said we're pretty much set at D. So look forward to poor defense for a 3rd straight year and missing the playoffs yet again.