Jim Rutherford mentioned in an interview after the Aaron Ward deal that he will still be keeping an eye out on the free agency market. Even though the Hurricanes have filled in most of their roster, as well as their budget, if the right player becomes available at the right price he may make another move.
We have given the general manager a lot of credit here the past few days, but a few important questions linger. The number one question probably is, who will play point on the powerplay? Anton Babchuk, Dennis Seidenberg, and Frantisek Kaberle all played there last season, and all three are gone. While Joni Pitkanen and Joe Corvo remain options 1 and 1A, who will fill in for them?
Matt Cullen has played point at times as has Ray Whitney, but are they the best options? And is that the most productive position to put them in?
The other defensemen, Tim Gleason, Niclas Wallin, Aaron Ward, and Andrew Alberts are not known as powerplay specialists. The Canes could use a seventh defenseman, say Bryan Rodney as an extra and play him while on the man advantage. Or they could still be looking for someone else.
Cory reported yesterday that Patrick Eaves had cleared waivers and was one step closer to being bought out by the Boston Bruins. If there is not much interest in him around the league, it would not shock me to see him back here in Carolina. That would be another feather in Rutherford's cap, if he could bring back the forward at a much reduced salary and end up with both Ward and Eaves at the end of the day.
If another team offers Eaves much more than the league minimum though, all bets are off.
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