Many other threads after losses seem to be split pretty much 50/50 as to what ails the 'Canes on nights when...well...they resemble the Toronto Marlies more than the Carolina Hurricanes, four seasons removed from a Stanley Cup and recently in the ECF. (Can you believe it was only four years ago we won the Cup? Seems like so long ago...) Anyways, I was curious: if we were given the option of improving the team under current financial constraints to take a step beyond the sub-.500 status we currently enjoy, would it make a bigger splash now AND long-term to (a) switch the coaching or (b) switch the players?

I know a lot of people will say "both" which, in a perfect world, would be ideal. That said, I am curious as to what everyone thinks is MORE of an issue right now. For me, I guess I still go back to the coaching. Last season -- the first post-Lavi era we've spent under Mo's system since, well, old Mo -- the guys looked confused breaking out of our own end, in the offensive end, on powerplays, and the penalty kill. So veterans were jettisoned, and new blood called up. STILL, this year we have had more than a few momentary lapses of reason where we encounter the same problems.

Could we use a proven scorer for Staal's line? Sure. Do we have talent in Charlotte that could play on our 3rd and 4th lines or higher? Probably. Still, they will be injected into a system which does not define us as a defensive-oriented team or a high-octane offensive juggernaut. We kinda play around with the puck, shoot it from the wings and then swoop in and hope for a rebound. It just seems to me like the system (whatever it may be) is broken, and that goes to coaching.

My vote is to make a coaching change rather than firesale of players.