One More Look - You Grade The Draft
by Bob Wage on Jul 5, 2010 12:57 AM EDT
81 comments
The Carolina Hurricanes added 11 players to the organization last weekend in Los Angeles. They made trades, they added scoring, and they built up the present and the future of their blueline. We talked a lot about the new players acquired here at Canes Country, but let's review the draft results one more time and then get your feedback.
7th overall, Jeff Skinner: There is no doubting his scoring ability, but will he be quick enough and strong enough to succeed in the NHL? His rankings were somewhat mixed, but Tony MacDonald said that the Canes had him ranked higher than Cam Fowler and Brandon Gormley, two highly regarded defensemen whose stock dropped that Friday night.
The Hockey News recently had this pick as the number one "Draft Day Steal"
Pre Draft Rankings: CSS 34 ISS 9 RLR 7 McKeen's 12
37th overall, Justin Faulk: The defenseman is known to have the hardest shot in the draft and scored 21 goals last season, including nine in just 21 games while playing in the USHL. Still, Jon Merrill was ranked higher by most scouting services, making the pick a bit of a surprise to those closely watching those services. But, there is no questioning Faulk's scoring ability and his coach gave him very high marks.
"Justin might be the sleeper of the group. His offensive ability really stands out, but he is also good defensively. He is as strong as an ox and shoots the puck extremely well. He's probably our most underrated player, who just now is starting to catch people's eye, but how could he not. He's just a powerful kid."
Pre Draft Rankings: CSS 56 ISS 67 RLR 21 McKeen's 44
The Canes traded their next pick which was acquired from Ottawa, the 46th overall, to the Edmonton Oilers for forward Riley Nash. The Oilers felt a bit put off by Nash, who has spent three years in Cornell, but the former 21st overall selection will be attending the Hurricanes conditioning camp this week.
53rd Overall, Mark Alt: This pick looks like it might be a bit of a wild card as Alt is a huge kid who skates very well and is a physical defender, but he did not show up for the draft and is also going to miss this week's conditioning camp. He recently made a commitment to hockey over football, but will he change his mind?
Pre Draft Rankings: CSS 37 ISS 77 RLR 46 McKeen's 86
67th Overall, Danny Biega: The defenseman is already attending Harvard and is known as a fast skater who beats opponents to the puck. If the Canes wanted a smart player, it's hard to top this one.
Pre Draft Rankings: CSS 46 ISS 50 RLR 94 McKeen's 67
85th Overall, Austin Levi: A big defenseman who is looked upon as somewhat of a project, but with enough raw talent to gamble with here.
Pre Draft Rankings: CSS 156 ISS - RLR 106 McKeen's 118
105th Overall, Justin Shugg: It's puzzling why he dropped this low. The Canes were not expecting to draft him, but could not turn down this opportunity. Second leading scorer on Memorial Cup Champion Windsor team with 30 goals.
Pre Draft Rankings: CSS 53 ISS 52 RLR 72 McKeen's 74
The Canes traded their next pick, the 157th overall along with next year's second rounder acquired from Washington for Bobby Sanguinetti, a defenseman who played in Hartford last season. Sanguinetti will have an immediate opportunity to make the team this coming season.
167th Overall, Tyler Stahl: The big blueliner is known for laying big hits on his opponents, but can he also play solid defense? He's another project with possible upside.
Pre Draft Rankings: CSS 116 ISS 89 RLR - McKeen's -
187th Overall, Frederik Andersen: The scouts were impressed by this Danish goalie but he was totally under the radar and was not listed by any of the major ranking services.
Finally, the Hurricanes traded their last pick, Washington's 7th rounder to Philadelphia for Jonathan Matsumoto, a 30 goal scorer in the AHL while playing for the Adirondack Phantoms. The Canes recently signed the center to a two year, two-way contract.
Jim Rutherford and Tony MacDonald were both extremely pleased with the draft and said that "everything fell into place" for them. What do you think?
Of course, it's unreasonable to truly grade a draft until a few years have passed by and everyone can see how the players have performed, but based upon expectations and perception, how would you grade this draft for the Hurricanes?
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A-
I thought grabbing Skinner was the right choice at the 7 spot, it’s a smart thing to go for a pure goal scorer, and every team wants one more. For those that will say we could’ve traded down to get him, I’m not so sure (see the fall of Gormley and Fowler). JR did well to restock defense and pick up other, perhaps-NHL ready, players of Sanguinetti and Matsumoto. The rest will probably be in the system for longer and time will be needed to see if the pan out, but there’s a lot of promise there. It would have been interesting to have seen JR use the second-rounders to grab another top-10 selection, but I am happy with the way things went.
Interesing to see...
that of all our draft picks, Levi was the only one who wasn’t rated as high (or in some cases, significantly higher) as we drafted him. Then again, with him in the Karmanos system, I guess we’d know him better than any ol’ scout.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
A ... bordering on A+
Can find little fault with any of the picks! not sure if JR was able to get another 1st (by trading multiple 2nds) whether that would have been as good as using all the picks, as he did? I really think (with what we know now) that all the picks have a lot of promise! I thought the clips of Levi were pretty impressive (especially for a “project”) – I’m curious BOB, what were you referring to PROJECT?? Can you expand on that? One other thing, JR did good picking up Nash, Matsumoto, and Sanguinetti, guys who’ve already developed some and could play here soon (with a little luck), but at the worst won’t be a “Mystery” for nearly as long…!
by “project” I mean that they were not highly rated and will probably need more development, perhaps a year or two more than some of the other prospects. I said the same about Stahl.
Stahl was not listed in the Red Line Report’s or McKeen’s top 150 and I didn’t see Levi listed at all by the ISS. They have potential, but scouts didn’t think much of them initially.
Editing Manager of CanesCountry.com
A-
Didn’t go with best player available a couple of times, but did fill a need in the first round with a first line wing. Still not sure why Shugg went at 105 and Levi at 85. Seems like those should have been flipped, but when taken together it balances out.
I read that article in the Hockey News. I’m still curious how a guy ranked lower than #7 can be considered the steal of the draft going at the seventh pick. Isn’t Gormley ranked #5 in most places going #14 the steal of the draft?
Is it possible to be addicted to hockey?
Rankings..
1st the rankings tend to be “behind the curve”, in the sense that it’s always a moving target! eg.
Johansen was moving up the chart very rapidly. also CSS does their final ranking way b4 the draft, so they ntend to miss a lot IMO! Skinner scored so many goals all year, but backed it up by scoring 20 in the playoffs (with several assists) against the best competition!! impressive, eh?!!
CSS does their final rankings in early April, before the combine. McKenzie and TSN do theirs immediately before the draft. If those are the best and latest and they had him 12, how is he a steal at 7?
Is it possible to be addicted to hockey?
Mckenzie doesn't do his own..
Bob puts out a composite of various scouts! ie. like you and i do!! he has no clue which guys are getting better, or worse!!
How is Skinner a steal? To be a steal he has to have exceptional value compared to those drafted around him. Connolly at 6 who has top three talent could be considered a steal. Skinner was rated at about 7 or later in most if not all rankings and mock drafts. He went about where he should have or maybe a little earlier based on talent. He can’t be a steal if he went where he should.
Is it possible to be addicted to hockey?
I don’t know, I think Skinner could still be considered a steal. Not in the sense, as you say, that the previous 6 teams that picked before us passed him up… But in the sense that he could be one of the best #7 Overall picks in recent years. There is a lot to like about him and he is very underrated. I’m willing to bet teams from picks 8 on all were hoping and praying he would fall to them, just my guess.
Plus it is not always about who is the best player on Draft day, Skinner could turn out to be better than Hall, Seguin, Connolly, ect. in the long run. You could say that about anyone, but Skinner has done a LOT to prove himself. To me he has that aura about him, when a player scores 70 goals in 84 games last season (more than Hall, Seguin, anyone else in the Draft class) you have to think he has a great chance to be a prolific scorer in the NHL. Other deficiencies can be worked on, but you cannot teach a player how to score like that.
by JussiJuice on Jul 5, 2010 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I’m willing to bet teams from picks 8 on all were hoping and praying he would fall to them, just my guess.
Picks #8 and #9 were both left-shooting centers, just like Skinner, so it would come down to who was their favorite, if nothing else.
#8: Burmistrov to Atlanta
#9: Granlund to Minnesota
Plus, with the Rangers sitting at #10, you got to think they would jump all over their Kitchener Ranger product for the NHL team, if he somehow survived the forward gauntlet above to fall to them.
That’s why I vigorously defend that there was no option of dropping back in the draft order and still getting Skinner.
I realize that… It is my personal opinion that Atlanta and Minnesota would have jumped all over Skinner if he was still available. I know I would rather have Skinner than Burmistrov or Granlund.
I can agree with what Jussi is saying that he may have been one of the best #7 picks in quite some time. I’d have to go back and look to verify. That said, I think it’s more a product of the deep draft then anything else. Since picks are only for one year, I don’t think it’s valid to call someone a steal because the year he was drafted in was a deep talent year. I can see how others could, but I would not.
I can also get behind what Elsker is saying in that the teams behind us would have been interested in him. Again, I think he’s going to be a very good player and that we will be very happy with him when he gets to the NHL.
I just can’t really support the statement that he was the #1 steal of the draft. He went about where he should have went in my opinion. He may have the best fit with the team that drafted him. Do the Islanders really need Nino and do the Lightning really need Connolly? Those are valid questions I think, but I don’t think that effects whether or not Skinner was a steal.
Is it possible to be addicted to hockey?
#7's
Let’s take a look at who has been selected in the #7 spot since the Canes have been the Canes:
1997 – Paul Mara
1998 – Manny Malhotra
1999 – Kris Beech
2000 – Lars Jonsson
2001 – Mike Komiserak
2002 – Joffrey Lupul
2003 – Ryan Suter
2004 – Rostislav Olesz
2005 – Jack Skille
2006 – Kyle Okposo
2007 – Jakub Vorachek
2008 – Colin Wilson
2009 – Nazem Kadri
Good company for Jeff Skinner, but he certainly won’t need to make any apologies for joining the #7 club.
The scoring touch is awesome. He wasn’t a point-per-game player in the playoffs but a goal-per-game player. “Sniper” is definitely one of the roles the ’Canes needed filled. This was a good pickup.
by rubyhawk on Jul 5, 2010 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 7, 2010 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions
This.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 7, 2010 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions
That?
;)
"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?" -- Oddball, from Kelly's Heroes
[My Hockey Photoshops] [My Music] [Beat a Dead Horse]
Skinner a Steal
I totally disagree. Where a player is ranked doesn’t determine if he is a steal. The question is whether the scouts and pundits were correct in their ranking. Skinner will be a steal if his scoring skill translates to the NHL; and if so, the same pundits who ranked him behind a number of players will be singing his praises.
Because he's got excepitionally high upside.
You don’t know who’s a steal or not for years, but if Skinner is a 30-goal scorer on a consistent basis in five years or so, he’d be a huge steal at #7.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 7, 2010 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions
CSS Useless?
CSS final rankings were all over the map and it makes me wonder if they’re of any use at all. Other than for the first round, it was tough to find consensus among scouts going into the draft, and there was a lot of jaw-droppping and head-scratching afterwards. But I think the Canes & Ducks made out the best. Snatching Shugg was a no-brainer. Amazing that he was still available, but since he was, you gotta take him. Overshadowed by Hall and couple other Spitfires, Shugg was the guy that consistently put the puck in the net when the pretty boys were tied up. The skepticism over Levi is because words like “raw” and “project” were stuck on him when he came to the OHL, but anyone who’s seen him play in the last 9 months can tell you he is a hell of a fast learner and his confidence is building with every game. When I think Levi,I think shut-down. He’s the guy I want out there when the Taylor Halls & Brett Connoleys are coming at us, and he’s also got a cannon from the point. I’d put money on both of these kids making the team by the time they’re 20.
Ya
Once the draft gets in to round 2, I throw any rankings i’ve read outta the window.
-Cory- LETS GO CANES.
by truheelzfan44 on Jul 5, 2010 8:58 AM EDT up reply actions
USA Hockey National Junior Hockey Eval Camp
I was looking at the roster for the Eval camp and noticed names like Ramage, Archibald, Clendenning, Johns & Leddy who are all good players, but the more I see Levi, the more want to see him on an international stage. He’s done well in arguably the most competitive development league (OHL/CHL) and seeing him with Faulk for the first time confirms. I’m gonna email and write a letter to USA hockey and tell them they should at least invite him. I can see if they give him a shot and he doesn’t make it, but not inviting him is a terrible oversight especially considering he was drafted ahead of some of those invited (and others who weren’t drafted at all). If you want to join me, the GM is Jim Johannson, jimj@usahockey.org. Mailing address is Jim Johannson, 2010 National Junior Development Camp, USA Hockey, Inc., 1775 Bob Johnson Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80906.
Shugg’s also missing from Canada’s camp. Best I can tell, their team’s Director is Brad Pascall, bpascall@hockeycanada.ca, but their web site is a little less user-friendly.
Faulk (US), Alt (US) & Skinner (CA) are already invited, so let’s get some more Canes on these teams! The more they play together, the better. (Just double check the nationality before sending – I don’t think Johansson cares who we’d like to see on the Canadian squad).
I still think we could have had Levi in the 6th or 7th Rounds, we picked him far far higher than his skill warranted. Clearly nepotism.
???
I don’t suppose there’s any chance that they know more about what they’re doing than you, eh?
They have done this b4, and a couple of other teams scouts might know a little about it too!!
Alt and Conditioning Camp
Any idea why Alt and Matthias Lindstrom are not coming to conditioning camp?
One, since Alt will be in school next year, he would have to pay his own way and finances might be tight in his family. Two, he also played high school football, so he might be interested in trying out for the Minnesota football team, which would mean he might have conflicts during this week.
by Chuck Burns on Jul 5, 2010 11:03 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Not a good sign if Alt tries out for Minnesota football
If Alt tries out for Minnesota football that is not a good sign for the Hurricanes. Alt has a significant way to go to be NHL ready; and if he is trying to divide his time between football and hockey that makes it even harder for him to make the progress he needs to make.
Unlikely...
He said he’d chosen hockey over football, so i really doubt he’s planning on doing both!
He probably isn’t going to make the team but he still might try to be a walk on. And even if he doesn’t try to play football, my first reason still stands.
by Chuck Burns on Jul 5, 2010 11:42 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Except for the fact that they shouldn't be hurting for money in any way.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 7, 2010 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Doubt there are financial problems.
His father had a long NFL career as a solid starter.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 7, 2010 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Voted C+
Although, no one can truly grade this draft until a year or two ( or more ) down the road, I went ahead and gave it a C+. Skinner was a good pick, although I was leaning more towards a defenseman, you can never really go wrong with a goal scorer. Not to keen on the Matsumoto pick up, I don’t think he’ll really do much other than fill in for an injured player on occasion. Sanguinett was a decent pick up and certainly meet a need, but I think we could have done better considering our shallowness at D ( and no, I don’t consider Babs an upgrade at the position ). Everyone else we won’t see for a couple years, if at all, so how can you really grade them? I think the reason for the sub par draft really was the self imposed cap. I don’t have any issue with the cap. If that’s what it takes to make sure the team stays here AND we can rebuild at the same time, great, but it ain’t going to be fun. And certainly don’t expect me to to candy coat my criticism.
Satan is just a coping mechanism for monotheists.
Why do you think that?
It wasn’t a sub par draft in my mind? 11 players added to our depth, many of which will probably
play in Charlotte, or Raleigh in two or three years is great! Wake up and smell the roses!
yeh
but he also called it SUB PAR!! MAKES NO SENSE to me, anyway. why complain about all those good players? we don’t know for sure about any of them, but we’re bound to hit a home run on some!!
To be fair it was a very, very deep Draft. It would have been pretty hard to screw it up. Personally I like all our picks, I’m skeptical about Levi but I’m willing to wait and see what he does next year. I gave them a B-. I see Shugg being a great steal in the 4th, we shall see if he can lead the Spitfires to a 3rd consecutive Memorial Cup after losing Hall, Fowler, and their head coach. Personally I will be rooting for the Kitchener Rangers and our future sniper Jeff Skinner.
Passing up Fowler and Gormley for Skinner may have been a reach in my opinion, but I was always a big fan of Skinner and I can’t be upset we ended up with him. Big risks, big rewards. Hopefully for us Skinner becomes the sniping winger Staal has needed for years, I believe this is why the Canes picked him and I like their thinking.
Sanguinetti was also a steal (although that has more to do with next Draft as we traded a 2011 2nd Round pick), he will play for the Canes next year and he is an offensive wizard. With Pitkanen, McBain, Babchuk, and Sanguinetti on our points for the PP, I foresee tons of goals coming from the D this year. I really wouldn’t be surprised if people compared this steal to the Jokinen trade in a year or two.
I have my concerns for next year. Our defense is currently laughable at best depth-wise. We seriously lack grit, experience, and another shutdown type guy. I feel like Pitkanen is as good as gone if we finish in the bottom-10 again… But that is looking very likely at this point.
Once again.....
…..It’s called an opinion. Everyone has one. My opinion is that this was a sub par draft. You don’t seems to deal well with the fact that others may disagree with you do you? Settle down skippy.
Satan is just a coping mechanism for monotheists.
All of those were just my opinions too… I apologize did I say anything negative? I don’t believe so.
Noooooooo.........
Not you. Sorry. I wish there was a better way to specify which post was the one you were responding to! It was Randy that I take offense to. I love you Juice…….you wanna make out?!?!?!?
Satan is just a coping mechanism for monotheists.
There is.
You can click the reply button on the post you want to respond to.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 7, 2010 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions
right
but it doesn’t always put your post directly underneath the post you’re referencing. There could be a number of posts inbetween the two. Hence the confusion.
Satan is just a coping mechanism for monotheists.
No need to be confused.
That’s what the up button is for.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 7, 2010 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Huh?
How many 7th-round picks (what we gave up for Matsumoto) turn out to even fill in for injured players in the bigs? And how does having a budget have anything to do with the draft at all?
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 7, 2010 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions
???
how many good picks would it take for you to be happy?
Filing for Arbitration + Kovalchuk to NJ
Kovalchuk reportedly signing with New Jersey for $60 million over 7 years. That puts them about $5 million over the Cap which means they need to trade away significant salary.
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=326656
A few players filing for arbitration, Andrew Ladd and Jeff Schultz included. Schultz filing for arbitration is great, he made just $700k last year but led the NHL in plus/minus with an amazing +50. I’m guessing the arbitration committee awards him at least $3 million, probably more like $4 million which has to be infuriating for the Caps. Schultz is good, but his plus/minus last year was largely a result of the Crapitals par-none offense than his defensive play.
Jim Rutherford keeping his powder dry
Look at all the teams rubbing up against the salary cap who are facing arbitration. Blake Wheeler has filed for arbitration, for example. Some of the GMs who did all the trades may be hating life soon after the arbitration rulings start hitting.
I highly doubt the reason we are a Cap floor team is to avoid being up against the Cap with Restricted Free Agents to sign… Hell we let one of our best RFA’s walk (Carson) just because we didn’t want to have to pay him a measly $1 million.
Short Term View
No doubt that is the short term view. On the other hand, what about 2010-2011? The Hurricanes need to have enough funds available to keep their core team intact. The ASG is going to cost the franchise a ton of money from what I hear. The minority shareholder’s estate needs the shares sold.
The players with contracts running out (Cole, Larose, Samsonov) will cover the raises. I love Pitkanen but I think there is a 10-20% chance he re-signs with the Canes as a UFA. If we are a bottom-10 team again I’m thinking more like a 5% chance. So there is a big chunk leaving also.
What about the idea that JR wants to field a sub-par team this year so none of the young guns have an amazing year and require big raises. We have a lot of RFA’s at the end of this season, keeping their value lower would be good for the long-term budget. I agree on the ASG, I also think it was a little disrespectful of them to accept the ASG knowing that the cost would just be cut from the player budget. The ASG will be fun, but I’d much rather have a Playoff run. If the $5-10 million spent on the ASG could have been spent on a top-4 D or a top line winger, would you still chose the ASG? They can get away with fielding a mediocre team while hosting the ASG, the scalpers buying hundreds to thousands season tickets will assure that… Only the fans will suffer.
Fielding a competitive team
I feel confident if you spoke with Jim Rutherford you would have no doubt that his goal is to build a team to win the Cup in the future and to field a young, competitive team this season. I see no argument being made that the 2010-2011 team has worst talent than 2009-2010. With the young players there is the known risk the grind of 82 games could wear on them; but this team is young, fast, talented, and is full of over-achievers. I like their chances under the circumstances.
And in 2009-2010 we were a bottom-10 team… Losing Whitney will be a big blow (although I think it was the right decision) and losing (Corvo/Pothier) as a top-4 D was a big blow.
JR doesn’t decide the budget, it is his job to build a Cup winning team every year with the circumstances he was given. I like the moves he has made (especially acquiring Sanguinetti) and I agree our team will be fast, talented, and as always full of over-achievers. But it will also seriously lack experience, battle tested talent, and depth at D. I think as it stands, I think the Canes may be a borderline Playoff team that will get crushed by a serious Cup contender.
But, that is the point of the rebuilding year. I think the main thing to take away from next season will be the experience our young players get. I’m not against treating it that way, as long as management gets serious and spends some money next year (when they can’t hide behind the ASG) to field a serious Cup contender because we already have most of the pieces we need.
Odds say you are right
I don’t know that I’d say the Hurricanes would be crushed in the playoff; but odds are that the more experienced playoff team would beat the more inexperienced Hurricanes. So odds are you are right about the end result$.
I think we can agree that the Canes have most of the right pieces for a really great team. I think the Canes are on a path to success, we are just taking a year to get everything in place. Hopefully:
1) Next season the young guns get some experience and one or two of Boychuk, Dalpe, Bowman, Osala, etc. break out.
2) We pick up another great Draft pick (A top-5 guy would be great)
3) We spend a little money next off-season picking up a 1st line Winger and top-4 D
4) Skinner has another great season in the OHL and is ready to join the Canes
5) We go into 2011-2012 season with a powerhouse team
Yep, that’s pretty much where I’m at, too.
I think the offense is interesting, although clearly could be better.
But, oh, my, our defense. Apologies in advance to the goalies for damages to their stats.
I don’t want to hear complaints about Cam not stopping every goal if some of them are being launched at him from the slot. 24 square feet of goal face is hard for one guy to cover all by himself.
One hopeful thought is that there is certainly room to do something at the trade deadline, if the team deserves it and ownership is inclined.
FWIW, I don’t think the team now needs another top line winger. I think Skinner will fill that role. Personally, I’d like anything spent next season to be on defense or in acquiring a top 4 shut down guy. Elskers comments above are pretty dead on in my opinion about the D. I think that’s going to be the big problem and I don’t think that there will be anyone in the system who will be able to fill that role in 2011-12. Maybe the following season, but not 11-12.
Is it possible to be addicted to hockey?
ASG and increasing the visibility of the Hurricanes
The ASG is an important marketing tool to help revenues long term by increasing the visibility of the Hurricanes locally, in addition to national and international exposure. I don’t follow the argument that the Hurricanes will be worse in 2010-2011 because Staal, Ruutu, Ward, LaRose, Pitkanen, Gleason, Cole and LaRose are healthy.
Whitney is the only impact player who left. Cullen and Corvo are fine players, but Sutter replaced Cullen and McBain replaced Corvo. Both Sutter and McBain are upgrades.
AD, I also think that Sutter will be better than Cullen & McBain will be better than Corvo, but let’s not put the cart before the horse. Sutter has only about 100 games and McBain less than 20. We can hope these two turn out as we project, but let’s not put All-Star status on them yet.
Triple Gold Juice - It's Potent and Guaranteed to Help You Score!
by PackPride17 on Jul 5, 2010 10:42 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Said another way, if the Hurricanes falter in 2010-2011, it absolutely won’t be because Sutter and McBain didn’t carry their weight. My point is the players who were replaced were replaced by players at least as good, if not better. Whitney is a superb player, but the forwards who will replace him will be at least a wash, I think – if only by being faster and stronger and more willing to crash the net.
whoooo hoooooooo
i feel soooo good about the draft picks with our returning healthy?? team. if this team can get its butt in gear and these prospects turn out as good as we think they can, we gonna be the caniac canes again. oh yeah. love it.
A "B" vote from me
i thought many of the picks were ok…but i rreally doubt that half of those drafts will ever dress or play @ the RBCC…but that is how i see things…
And if it Aint Hockey,It Aint Nothin !!
That Checkers 3rd Sweater ROCKS !!!
i'd settle for 5 of 11
In one years draft 2 or 3 successful picks is a good result. (with seven choices)- With eleven picks 4-6 is not unreasonable. I disagree about the “less than half” because it’s not a reach for 3th or 4th round players to make it to the ahl, or nhl, and with the number of draftees and tradees that were in the top 4 rounds it’s more than possible for 5 or 6 players to reach the NHL. it’s not in my nature to assume the worst (as some of you seem to relish), so which of these picks have no chance to make it, in your viewpoint?
50% of your draft making the NHL is a GREAT ratio.
And they only worked to make that ratio higher by trading for NHL-ready guys in Sanguinetti and Matsumoto (if not Nash, too.)
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 7, 2010 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Los Angeles
After chasing and losing out on both the top-named D Free Agents and Kovalchuk, the Kings are still looking to tweak their roster. I wonder how much Canes management really wanted Colten Teubert, if they were super high on him I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility they will still try to acquire him.
LA seems pretty deep with defensive prospects, so much so Tuebert is somewhat far down their list. I wonder if we could exchange TK for Tuebert? The Canes could replace TK with Samson, who is $450K cheaper and add a gritty defensive guy. We have plenty of offensive defensemen, so its time to add a defensive defenseman. Tuebert might be a nice compliment to Sangueitti and produce a good, young 3rd pairing.
Triple Gold Juice - It's Potent and Guaranteed to Help You Score!
by PackPride17 on Jul 5, 2010 11:57 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
From Crash the Crease; short review of Canes Draft
From Crash the Crease; short review of Canes Draft
I'm a bit confused
I’ve only started following hockey the past two years, so I’m a bit puzzled with the draft.
In the NHL, when a team drafts a player, where exactly do they go? I know if baseball they go through the levels of the minor leagues, but do the Canes have a minor league team other than the Checkers? If a player goes to college would the NHL team still have their rights after, or do they re-draft?
When a team drafts a player they retain their rights for four years. A player can either be returned to his canadian junior team or go on/continue with college during that time or be signed by his hockey club. I’m not sure about the ECHL (the single A to the AHL’s triple A), but in the AHL a North American player is ineligible to play until they are 20. European players can play at age 18. The minimum age requirement for North American players is to prevent competition between Canadian junior teams and the AHL. This minimum age requirement is often why newly drafted players are returned to their junior teams or go to college. They aren’t yet physically mature enough to make the NHL team but aren’t eligible to play in the AHL.
Is it possible to be addicted to hockey?
No worries, always glad to help. There are a few more minor nuances (i.e. it’s not all junior leagues only those in the CHL) but those cases don’t come up too much. Most of the kids in NA are drafted out of juniors, prep schools, high schools, or the US National Team Development Program (UN NTDP if you’ve ever seen that acronym). They usually return to their teams or go on to a college program.
Is it possible to be addicted to hockey?
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