It's been pretty quiet on the Hurricanes front lately, but there are a couple of interesting articles out worth discussing. TSN's Scott Cullen published an in-depth feature this morning about Carolina's Off-Season Game Plan. Most of this is old stuff to those following the blog, but he does offer up a couple of tidbits as far as possible free agent acquisitions that beg to be examined.
He mentions Alexei Ponikarovsky, Lee Stempniak, and Tomas Holmstrom as possible targets, and each would be nice additions for the right price, but I don't see management realistically targeting any of them. (Stempniak sure would look good in Carolina though.)
Cullen also says the team might look at Jeff Halpern, Scott Nichol, or Glen Metropolit as a replacement for Rod Brind`Amour if the former captain retires. My take? Signing one of them seems like another Stephane Yelle signing to me, and that didn't exactly work out very well, did it?
If Brind'Amour does retire, the Canes should give one of the younger kids his spot. A fourth line of Kostopoulos, Dwyer, and Samson doesn't sound bad, at least to start out with.
Cullen goes on to examine the defense. He correctly points out the possible return of Anton Babchuk, but alludes that the signing of a veteran like Brett Clark, Francis Bouillon, or Nick Boynton would be a help.
If the Canes were going to do sign any of them, why not just keep Brian Pothier?
He goes on to state that the franchise will probably go with Justin Peters as Cam Ward's backup, but leaves out Jiri Tlusty and Oskar Osala on the organization's top prospect list. Both players will have a realistic chance to make the team next training camp.
_____
Here are some compilations of in-depth previews of some of the top picks in the upcoming NHL draft. (Resurfacing The Ice)
_____
This morning on Twitter, Mike Sundheim linked to a story about Canes' prospect, Justin Krueger. The defenseman is playing for Team Germany in the ongoing World Championships. (Germany beat Team USA 2-1 on Friday.) Krueger was drafted back in 2006 and has played four years for Cornell. He will become a free agent on August 15th if the Hurricanes do not sign him beforehand.