Hurricanes Brand Value Growth is Fourth Best in League

I’ve been pondering this for a good long while. I wrongly assumed our season would end when we met the b’s, but thought we may make it until the finals before we met them. That’s why I was on a kick for Mo to be COY. If Boudreau got it for less last year, by gosh Mo get’s it this year. Bubba and Cory both stomped my idea in the dirt with the simple fact the voting is done at the end of the regular season. As I was pondering I got to the keeping of the players. Some of you may recall I was saying this team won’t reach the full potential until late next year IF they are kept together. I stand by that. If these are retained as a unit and they get a full season together, they are gonna friggin’ wicked. So how much money does JR wring out of PK’s pockets? They have been bitching all year they were over budget. For nickels spent if we lost three more and it was over I still believe this team and coaching staff did a great job. That said, we should be able to advance and our profit sharing will be a nice check, got about a dozen extra home games this year and were at minimum one round away from the big dance. I think you will see some player movement however. Say we increase the budget to the Detroit level. That won’t keep everybody, i’m all but positive on this. So who gets shed? What about buy outs? So here’s my top 4 or 5 things eating at me when I am GM of the ’Canes for a day.

1) Can Rod earn his check? Is he tradeable?
2)Kaberle’s got to go.
3)Wallin has to go
 The next two are more complicated.
4)Sutter has got to come up to the NHL level. I say smoke Cole (caveat on this in a few) and bring him up.
5) I’d also look at Walker and Whitney maybe getting moved for draft picks and salary dump.

Now I’m sure I got some panty’s ruffled. here’s the caveat. Does Cole have any tangible contribution? He would appear to get our big money mman earning his check. He also is a fair player. If he would take a 50% cut and sign for 2-3 yrs he’s gat to be kept. Great for us and great for him. His numbers will increase over that time and he will be able to get back into the big money in a few years and is young enough to weather the storm. Walker and Whitney I picked as they are still very tradeable and at the twilight, like Stillman was. This allows a much younger core to develop and drops some fair salary money. We lose alot of grit in Walker and goals and skill with whit. That said, we got some very nice stuff in the pipeline, that aren’t going to cost squat and need to get at this level and play. Ruutu, is a must have and it may be pricey. Same with Jussi, I don’t know his contract status, so may not be an issue. Rosie has earned a hefty raise. I have always felt he doesn’t get the respect from the front office, if that’s true, he’s gone. I’d like to see him stay and with a hefty raise. seids should be kept if his salary can be managed. I think he will be reasonable considering his past.

That’s just a few of the points and obviously not all the aspects of each, just a small glimpse into the mind of a maniac Caniac. I have always tried to temper the “business” with the game, it’s like chess. Right now, we have hit a wall, I don’t think PK will bump the salary cap very much over what it is now. that means you have to shed salary. I’m worried my thoughts are wrong and we will see some key guys go.

Pipe up, i’m working around the house today before the game. I’d love to hear what everybody else thinks the team will look like next year. I expect Sutter to come up and live on fat back and cheeseburgers. I think that speedy little shit Boychuck does, too. Only so many roster spots. I also notice that it’s the forward core mostly. They almost have to keep Babs and if you dump Nic and Frank that’s only 1 roster spot down and there are several players ready to move up into that. I think our d is in fine shape, just need to shed some stuff and gain more exper.

My fingers hurt…

A

we need a another cup win so we can get the tv exposure!

What’s your take on Cullen’s role? He hasn’t impressed me since the concussion over a year ago. I like the guy, but he’s pretty expensive at $2.8mil. That’s more than Gleason (next year). Unbelievably Cullen makes more than Ward this year. Here’s the Cane Country chart – a little outdated, but helpful:

http://www.canescountry.com/pages/canes-salary-chart

2 things to add.
1) Matt Cullen on a given night can be the best player on the ice. he jsu doesn’t always hit it. When he left, I knew we were screwed.

2)My Ray trade is because he is among the most easy to trade. Great value for a great player. His role on ice is puck handling and goals. Sutter, Boychuck and Bowman all are going to fill that roll. I agree his leadership will be missed, so would his skill. It’s just when I go down the list and need to free up a few million, his name is the one I’d pick.

So don’t get me wrong, I love Ray, just from the business end, he’s a gold coin.

I was wondering if Rod had a NTC or not, hence wondering if he could be traded.

Gonna be some tension this off season unless PK opens the purse and keeps the lot. I will say that if/when we crush the b’s balls and advance, we just made the top 4 teams of this season. That’s a pretty powerful stat for JR to use to sign these guys. Part of the reason I wanted to shed the afore mentioned guys is to get where the Wings are this year. They made the cap because they have alot of entry level contracts. We stack up with our young guys shed a couple, we have this very same team with youth coming up for 3-4 yrs. We keep the guys I thought should go, we lose Rod in 2, Ray in 2, Walker probably less, nic and frank, etc. So I was just thinking dump them early with more value and get a longer run. I feel sorry for JR and Mo this summer, counter parts over on the wings too.

Oh yea, Mo’s back, what if we meet the Wings in the Cup round? How cool woulkd that be? He’s got a far superior team this time around.

A-that was more than the couple istarted with, huh?

the cap for next year has yet to be determined