2009-10 Canes Country Exit Analysis: Jay Harrison
by Bob Wage on Jul 30, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
in 2009-10 Exit Analysis
24 comments
Jay Harrison only played 38 games last season for the Carolina Hurricanes but that was a career high for him as he had only previously played a total of 20 games over a three year period for the Maple Leafs.
In our first interview with the defenseman last fall, he made no bones about the strengths of his game:
I'm a big, stay at home defenseman, who can contribute (on offense) when I have to. But I like to take care of my own zone, make good plays, and play solid defense. I like to use my size to my advantage and keep the house clean, so to speak. And stick up for my boys when I can.
Harrison has never been shy about dropping his gloves and he picked up six fighting majors in his relatively short stay with the team. That total was good enough to tie Tim Gleason for the second most on the team. (Tom Kostopoulos had a team high 10). While some have criticized his fighting success, according to HockeyFights.com his record was a respectable two wins, two loses, and two draws.
The Good: Harrison brings a toughness and physical edge the Canes need. He's a defense first, stay at home defenseman who knows his limitations and usually tries to play within his skill level. His pugilism helps keep players like Tim Gleason from having to drop the gloves more often. He works hard and does not take any shifts off.
The Bad: While the defenseman is tough and physical, he sometimes appears to be slow of foot and can be taken advantage of in his own end by quicker forwards. He's not really known as a puck-mover either and should not be counted on to play heavy duty minutes.
The Money: After getting a two-way contract last season, he was given a one-year, one-way contract for $500,000 this season.
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Thanks Bob
but this proves 2 things :
A: the canes Got what it wanted and while many here may disagree having a scrapper like him does add to the balance of a team from the grit & protect department of any team
B: If given a full time shot who know?? after getting sat down and got his “mind right” even Avery turned things around…and i do feel harrison can…but will he i did give the guy a “C” but he has the abilty to do more…but seeing i don’t play 7 skate in his…what would i know ?? TGIF peeps !!! Be Safe !!!
And if it Aint Hockey,It Aint Nothin !!
That Checkers 3rd Sweater ROCKS !!!
The man does his job, good price, sounds like a B to me. Physical ,takes fighting pressure off of Gleason, what do you people want? Giving him an F is ridiculous. Nobody is perfect, If you show up, give your all every game and every shift no way do you deserve an F especially when you do your job “as advertised”. ( Quoting Elsker )
"B"
Having a guy you can depend on to have your back, is priceless in the NHL today. With all the cheap shots and head hunting going on, we need a guy that is willing to drop the gloves when needed. He is a great value for the money, and will bring much needed toughness to Charlotte if needed. He’s one that can be counted on when the chips are down. I agree he could be a more all around player, but his job is not to score goals or move the puck.
Peace
i dont think its priceless, thats why all the “enforcers” are being dropped and waived and cant find jobs now. laraque for example, or brashear
"a bit of love"
so true, maybe we can let Staal start standing up for himself, start throwing punches….Harrison is nowhere the “enforcer” Laraque or Brashear are…
Hey max
you have to remembver there is a difference between a enforcer/thug and a player who does what he can to help protect a team mate…and Brashear is a case of what the Canes don’t need…but that’s take & opinion…TTYL !!
And if it Aint Hockey,It Aint Nothin !!
That Checkers 3rd Sweater ROCKS !!!
by CaniacSteve on Jul 30, 2010 11:13 AM EDT up reply actions
C
But on further contemplation i think an “incomplete” would be more appropriate! Why?, well i had the feeling (b4 and after) hearing he played injured much of the year that he has the potential to perform a lot better, so i’m gonna wait and see! if he gets to play some this year, i feel he’ll do a good job.
So to sum it up, he can’t score, he can’t pass, he’s slow, an OK fighter/grappler, was injured (?) all year, and 2/3 of the Caniacs on here think that’s average (or better) ? Wow. I understand he was minimum wage, but I have somewhat higher expectations.
I gave him an incomplete – but in retrospect I would have given him a C. I didn’t realize that he had been averaging as much ice time as he did. That said, I would have thought I would have noticed him more. Sometimes that can be a good thing (not noticing a d-man), but to earn a one-way deal I would expect to see a little more.
On the topic of standing up for your teammates, Milan Lucic is a great example of how you can be skilled yet tough-as-nails. Scott Walker had some relatively soft hands not so long ago too.
Too soon to grade him, but he has some qualities the Canes need
He didn’t play that many games, we don’t know when he got hurt, and we don’t know how badly he was hurt. He was hurt in a way that JR thought worth mentioning after the season.
On heart, we can give Harrison an A. On filling a team need for grit and toughness, an A.
The part we can’t grade is Harrison as a defenseman and that’s his primary job.
It’s safe to say Harrison will play defense this coming year, if he’s healthy, to the very best of his ability. For all we know, that could be anywhere from the ability of an average AHLer in over his head in the NHL to solid NHL stay-at-home defenseman with good size and toughness.
Let’s hope he’s healthy and plays at the high end of the scale. He does have qualities that the Canes will miss if he can’t stay on the ice as a defenseman. His defensive play at times last year was very worrisome—for example, in the AHL playoffs. But maybe that was due to injury.
by curiouscanesfan on Jul 30, 2010 1:06 PM EDT reply actions
Considering the cost, and the performance of the season, I give a C. C is average to me, and the equivalent of a 3 on a 1-5 rating scale…performs as expected.
"...they will not force us...they will stop degrading us...they will not control us...we will be victorious..."
Mah blog.
No stats?
No stats in the article?
I think he was 1/5-6pts, -8, 50 pims. On balance, you probably can’t ask for much more from a #6-7 defender. He surely gets a B.
Harrison
Someone please explain how it is he is ahead of Carson or Rodney on the depth chart (per the team’s website)? They are all three getting around the same salary, but Harrison is the only one-way. I realize that has more to do with his age and waiver-status as much as anything else, but surely the other two are better choices, especially Carson, who has size and the best +/- on the team last year (McBain’s short stint not counted).
I would totally agree with you that Carson should (and probably is) ranked higher than Harrison in the org’s mind.
Even with his two-way contract, I suspect we’ll see him all season, since he’s exposed to waivers. I also expect to see him on the ice over Harrison, perhaps even briefly in a top-4 role as they break in McBain or because of injuries.
Harrison would reasonably be ahead of Borer on experience alone, with too few NHL data points to gauge Borer’s ranking just yet.
I take a large salt shaker with me to depth charts like this, anyway. Maybe Brenecky, or whoever compiled this, knows Mo’s proclivity for skating his favorites, so “promoted” Harrison to top-6…or is acknowledging Carson’s two-way, without thinking through the waiver exposure variable.
Here we are now...entertain us.
Could also be that because Harrison signed his deal earlier the organization now feels the job is Harrison’s to lose. The org may be using this as a way to send a subtle message to players. If the player gets his contract signed early then the team is more likely to find a way to put him in NHL games.
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