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Jim Rutherford speaks with the boys at XM NHL Home Ice and Boomer picks the Canes to make the playoffs. (Although they might pick everyone but the Rangers to make the playoffs) Check out all the details at the following link. XM NHL Home Ice Hurricanes Preview

Rutherford gives an update on the search for a defenseman. He still maintains that he would be willing to go into Opening Night with the current defense on our roster and McBain in a top four pairing with Gleason, but also says that acquiring a defenseman will be a big priority to add depth to the position. He says Picard and Rodney are "still in the mix." Joe Corvo, on the other hand, seems to have priced himself out of the Hurricanes budget, even though they'd like to have him back. He also specifically mentioned Sanguinetti as a possibility to go with Harrison in the third pairing, after previously mentioned that spot to go to a player to be determined. More about McBain and the possibility of playing as a top four vs. third pair defenseman: "He’s clearly a top-4 guy. But we want to do what’s right for his development. That being said, we feel completely comfortable with him paired with Gleason."

Lots of good stuff from the man himself. Talks about the salary budget, the partnership sale, Whitney and the draft. Ten minutes long.

Hurricanes G.M. Jim Rutherford says he's "very comfortable" that deal will get done with Anton Babchuk sometime after July 1.

GM Jim Rutherford is having a press conference at 1 p.m. to address "major player-related" news. The best we can do is speculate. Perhaps Cam Ward has signed an extension? Keep checking in for any new information. Here's the release: HURRICANES TO HOLD 1 P.M. NEWS CONFERENCE GM Jim Rutherford will make major player-related announcement RALEIGH, NC—Carolina Hurricanes President and General Manager Jim Rutherford will hold a major player-related news conference today, Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m. in the Interview Lounge at the RBC Center. The news conference follows the team’s 11 a.m. practice, which, as usual, is open to the media. .

Someone near and (sometimes) dear to Caniac hearts.

Hadn't seen this mentioned here, but this article quotes Rutherford as saying that we will definitively trade Babchuk and will not sign Seidenberg. In other roster construction news, Brendan Shanahan (who some had considered for a fourth-line spot here) has signed with NJ.

850 The Buzz interviews the Hurricanes GM on Tuesday morning.

Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford gives credit to the fans for the franchise's recent ranking by ESPN magazine.

Paul Branecky of ch.com spoke with Jim Rutherford today and apparently there is little progress in the signing of any of the Hurricanes unrestricted free agents. The closer to July 1st it gets, the more complicated things get, for both sides of the negotiation. While Rutherford certainly has a budget to adhere to, there has been no mention of what the Canes budget will be this year. Is it the same as last year? Higher? Lower? One would assume that because of the deep playoff run and the fact that the franchise was in the black this past season, the budget might be a bit higher than last year's 49 million. But you know what they say about assumptions. edit- Rutherford states in this interview with 590 The Fan that he would like to be at 50 million this coming year. He repeats that he would like to bring the same team back for next year, "but agents are throwing goofy numbers around." 590 the fan interview