Questions 67 and 68

We're getting quite a few questions in the comments section and in email this morning, so I thought that I would just create a new article and attempt to answer them here, as well as try to elaborate a bit.

Fred- I agree, 3 million for Commodore does seem too high. I wonder how THN came up with that number? There is no way Carolina would pay him that much.

Canesrdbest- I think that the Canes will do their best to stay under 50 million, BUT, if the right player comes up under the right circumstances, they could go over that a touch. I can't see them starting out by spending much more than 50M though. That would be pretty surprising.

I believe the Canes need to add four players, two on defense and two forwards. They might come from the RFA pool, (IE:-Chad LaRose), they may trade for a couple, or they may choose one or two free agents. I doubt that they would sign more than two free agents.

(a 4rth liner, maybe Jarko Ruutu? and a defenseman). Ruutu made 1.15M last year. Is he worth 1.25 or 1.5M? That's probably too much for the Canes.

Wylde4canes- This is the first time that I have heard about Wade Redden and drug abuse. I only hope that it isn't true.

Marc- I agree with you about a bigger and nastier defense. I believe the Canes should target one more puck-mover, and one more stay at home tougher guy. While Orpik fits the bill as the stay at home guy, he is too one-dimensional for the amount of money that he will get, in my opinion. If I have to make a choice between Orpik at 3-4 million or Commodore at 2, I'll take "Commie" at 2.

I believe that the Canes will do the opposite of what you suggest. Trade for the expensive guy and get the cheaper one in free agency. But it all depends upon the prices once free agency hits.

AD- Hedican is officially gone, for now. He has thrown his hat into the free agency pool and wants to be signed by a West coast team. BUT, what if he doesn't get any offers on the West coast? Ron Francis was quoted as saying on "99 The Fan" earlier this week that he could still be in the Hurricanes plans.

Maybe that was just posturing by Francis. I think that it would be a real long shot for him to make it back here, but it seems possible I guess.

John- I suppose that there are some ways that the Canes could spend big money for a free agent, even with their current roster. But it would take some creativity and adjustments after the fact.

They could trade someone with a large salary afterwards, for draft picks and/or prospects.

Chris- Too bad about the Bobcats Bloggers. For some reason, I think that hockey bloggers are the best!

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Yesterday I received an email from a reader sending me a link to a funny story which came out of Florida. It seems one of the account executives, (a ticket rep), sent season ticketholders a letter pretty much trashing Olli Jokinen.

Olli is a great player, but he has shown no leadership or improvement, and he never came through for us when we needed him the most. As a stat, Jokinen scored 5 goals in the last 24 games, this is not acceptable for a Captain of an NHL organization. He played with little heart or passion and never had the determination to reach the playoffs. This move was done for one reason only, to make the postseason and return the passion and energy into this arena.

Apparently, said ticket rep went to the "John Tortorella school of throwing players under the bus." Of course the Panthers severely admonished the author of the horrible letter, (but they didn't fire him.) Perhaps there was too much truth in what the letter said?

Regardless, it was typically, classless for an organization which doesn't know the meaning of the word. "PuckDaddy" found the article as well and jumped all over it.

Thank you Sunny for the heads up!

Chicago