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We are linking to Corey Pronman again of the Hockey Prospectus who recently released his listing of Carolina's top 10 prospects. Newly drafted forward, Elias Lindholm is at the top of the list, followed by Ryan Murphy and Victor Rask.
In his overview, Pronman says the following:
Carolina's system is top heavy. They boast an elite prospect in Elias Lindholm, a very good one in Ryan Murphy, and Victor Rask is above average, but there is separation after that. The rest of their system is comprised of safe prospects with average upside, such as Dalpe, Pesce, and McGinn, and players with tools but also question marks, such as Di Guiseppe, Welsh, and Biega.
The addition of Lindholm did not lift the Hurricanes overall ranking much if any, as they are still sitting in the 25th spot. Hockey's Future has the club at 26th.
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Other than the Jagr signing, the free agent market has been very quiet this week. Yesterday, Spector reported in his Hockey News rumors report that Mikhail Grabovski had narrowed his choices to about three to four teams, which included the Jets, Panthers, Capitals, and Flames.
Aaron Ward tweeted today that the forward had indeed narrowed his choice of teams, but the Jets were not on the list. Winnipeg has issues with signing RFA's Blake Wheeler and Zach Bogosian and with arbitration cases looming, it would make sense that they would concentrate on that first.
In the meantime, Carolina's mystery free agent target, (Brenden Morrow, Ron Hainsey, or whomever?), appears to continue to wait patiently.
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The Hockey News also has the top 10 Olympic tryout snubs and Cam Ward is listed at number two. Rory Boylen gives his take:
Sure Ward had a slight off-year exacerbated by injury, but with all the uncertainty around Canada’s goal crease, the 29-year-old, two-time World Championship medalist was considered among a handful of proven, long-time netminders to have the inside track on a job that ultimately would be decided during the upcoming season. You can’t argue against the inclusions of Corey Crawford or Braden Holtby, but Canada usually sticks with those it has used in recent international events.
Ward could still make the team, but he will have to be on his game to start the season and most likely will have to lead the league in wins and save percentage.