Should I Stay or Should I Go?

The Hurricanes acquired several depth players this past week. A few of them will be called upon to help out during the injury bug which all teams fall prey to and could be somewhat significant signings. Shane Willis and Derrick Walser will be borderline type players who will probably make the shuffle from Albany to Raleigh and back a few times. They undoubtedly will be asking Coach Laviolette at some point in the season, should I stay or should I go now? Both were signed 2-way contracts which mean they make the big bucks while they stay in the NHL, (NHL minimum) but will make AHL salary while they aren't in Raleigh. The good news for them is that their designated AHL salary is significant for that standard, over 100K per year. Both will get 150K guaranteed, also somewhat high and unusual for that type of player.

Tim Conboy, Mike Angelidis, and Scott Kelman were also signed. These three also signed 2 way deals, but much lower on the back end. Finally, JD Forrest from Finland was signed. He's another high scoring defenseman, as is Walser.

The most interesting signing here is that of Willis. Shane is making a home coming and was one of the Canes most popular players back when he was a rookie here in 2000-01. After suffering a couple of nasty concussions, his game dropped off and he was traded to Tampa Bay in 2002 and last year was released by them. He's back again for a 2nd try and it would be great to see him regain his old scoring form.

Albany fans should be thrilled, the Canes seem to be building the farm team from the ground up and these guys looks good on paper. Go River Rats!!

Clash