We got a huge boost as fans of the Carolina Hurricanes a couple of weeks ago, when GM Jim Rutherford (JR) made the huge deal and got Jordan Staal from the Pens. Then last week it was backed up by signing Staal to the same exact contract extension that the Pens had offered him. Ten years for a total of 60 million is a great deal for a young up and coming forward. He’s got a home here and with any luck in due time Marc, the only Staal we don’t have in Carolina, will be here as well.

So for the last few months and of course after the big deal, JR has been promising fans that big things were to come. We were promised another high profile forward and a D-man signing or two, depending on what happens with some of our pending free agent D-Men.

So July 1st came and the flurry of activity followed. We waited a bit for some good Canes news, and then we got a tease. The Canes resigned a couple of RFA’s in G Justin Peters and F Brett Sutter. Then the head scratch-er of the day for the Canes came. They bring back D Joe Corvo to Carolina. Huh? Really? This makes the 3rd time #77 will grace us with his presence. The 1st time I loved him. The second time was meh and it was just time for him to go. The only problem is the 2nd time when he left JR got diddly poo for him coming off of a 82 game 11 goal, 40 point season. He was a solid D-man that year and all they could muster for him was a 4th round pick. Disgusting trade by JR. Boston was of course stacked last year still and he didn’t see a whole lot of quality time and his numbers suffered a bit from it. Don’t let the plus 10 fool you, he wasn’t good in his limited role last year either. The only saving grace is he came cheap at 2 million for one year, and he’s still quite the upgrade over Derek Joslin whom the Canes bought out the same day.So I still say this was one step forward (Staal) and two steps back (Corvo) but that is likely more the fan who wants to see some action done NOW, overreacting then anything else. (Yup, I am trying to stay positive).

However, to add to the 2 steps back, Bryan Allen signed a very affordable deal (3 years 3.5mil per) with the Anaheim Ducks this week. Thus completing ANOTHER bonehead no trade bungle for JR. This is possibly even worse then the Ray Whitney affair. This past trade deadline, Allen was the belle of the ball. Everyone wanted him. He’s among the best PURE defensive D-men in the league and he was going to be a rental. The Canes were a huge (IMO) long shot to make the playoffs and JR should have dealt him. Instead the GM made his usual speech about how he was going to re-sign him and we were going to make a big push for the playoffs. Well, NO AND NO JR. So instead of dealing a large chip we had for a 1st round pick or a nice young player or two, we get diddly poo for him. And why couldn’t you just offer him 4 million a year to stay to one up the Ducks? Sure we would have 3, 4 million dollar men on the blue line, but we all know you could have given Joni Pitkanen away for a bag of pucks and been happy with it. So now we are stuck with a gaping defensive D specialist hole on the blue line. One, which Joe Corvo certainly isn’t going to fill.

So the latest from JR is that there is still time left in FA and he is seeing how the prices come down and things shake out (we hear this crap from him every year, and continue to watch all the FA go elsewhere). He also promised us a big deal is still to come to get us a top 6 forward, likely in a trade. Well, I don’t buy it. Tune back in a month and a half when JR gives his yearly “we tried” speech. Bottom line is the Canes still need a top 6 (scoring type) forward for this team. We made strides in being considered legit by players with the Staal trade. Now just follow through and land us someone.

The whole “us in the mix” for Suter and Parise, was smoke and mirrors. We were NEVER in the run for those two. The quicker you get that out of your head the better you will feel. I doubt JR made any REAL offer to either of them anyway. He prolly called their agents offered them 4-5 mil each and knew he would get blown off, just to be able to tell us “Hey, I tried”. But despite what the frenzy in the media says, these two CERTAINLY don’t assure the Wild of anything at all. A couple of more wins this year I bet, and a playoff workhorse in Parise but that’s it. No one seems to remember that Parise wasn’t all that great this regular season. He was decent to above avg and that’s about it. (He was tied for 23rd or so , in goal scoring) The ONLY reason he got such hype in the FA market was b/c he was AMAZING in the post season. Ask guys like Joel Pavelski and Claude Lemieux how good it is to be a PO player and not have to do much in the reg season. Playoff dramatics won’t do squat when the wild are still sitting 9-10th in the standings come next April. Suter, I will admit is a monster on the blue line. He’s easily a 1-2 on most teams but STILL is not a 7.5 mil a year monster. So be happy that we aren’t spending 15 million a year on two players for the next 13 years.

So who’s left? I won’t go deep into D men b/c the Canes more or less, have their top 6 already signed. I would love for them to have 1 more starting one on the roster so we can deal Pitkanen or also just to have one for when Pitkanen misses 40-50 games this year. And reminder all of the decent D-men left are defensive types. Sure a few of em have put up good offensive numbers at some point in the past but right now look at them only as d-first options.

1. Brett Clark — Older avg sized D-man who “generally” is good in his own end.

2. Carlo Colaiacovo– Not much of a physical presence and injury prone as hell

3. Matt Gilroy– Still young enough and good enough skater that could excel for Canes as a 5-6 type. Likely very cheap.

4. J. Spacek– Only if hes REAL cheap. Good locker room guy, but old and not a whole lot in the tank.

5.  Scott Hannan– Older good locker room guy and excellent shot blocker.

As I said not a whole lot left on D. Canes likely would invite one to camp see how he does, and worst case we might see Ryan Murphy (last years 1st round pick) get some PT on the blue line.

As for forwards. There are a bunch left but I won’t mention guys like Selanne who either will sign with the Ducks or likely retire.

A few guys and my thoughts.

1. Alex Semin– I only mention him b/c he’s been getting a lot of talk here in Carolina of late. If he comes cheap (3 mil or less) I say sure the risk is worth it. He could hide here without having to be “the man” and could shine. However, rumor has it a Russian, KHL, club has offered him 3 years 30 million to play there. He said he wants to stay here for “similar money”. Yeah good luck with that Alex.

2. Shane Doan– He’s kind of in the Selanne avenue, but he’s a guy I could actually see going somewhere else. Gritty hard-nosed and can still put up 50-60 points. Would love to see him on our third line.

3. A. Kostitsyn– Another guy in need of escaping the headlines. He was chastised in Nash for not caring about anyone. Carolina could be a good place for him to keep his nose clean and show he’s a good player and teammate (Samsonov anyone?)

4. Kyle Wellwood– A guy I never liked much b/c he ALWAYS was an underachiever. Yet, he had a good year with the Jets and I could see him and Tim Brent being a fast skating force on that 3rd line.

5. W. Wolski– He’s my sleeper on this list. By no means is a top 6 but he’s due for a pay cut b/c of lack of production. Give him a 1 year deal and see if he can earn himself a longer term spot.

I do agree with people that it’s not a banner year for FAs. But there are some guys to be had. But remember JR promised us a deal, and we all know a Nash deal isn’t happening. So work those phones JR see if you can get us some talent in here! Who knows maybe someone in the league still thinks Pitkanen is good and we can package him with something for a real forward.

My bottom line?—-> I doubt we will see anything else tho out of the Canes this summer, which would ultimately make GeekJock a very annoyed fan.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS