Yes you read that right. As predicted the Canes sucked ass big time in the first two days of free agency. I will admit it wasn’t a very deep FA pool and I wasn’t expecting Brad Richards or anything but what I WAS expecting was for Jim Rutherford to take this time of year seriously. He obviously isn’t.

So yes, we can all be depressed that Erik Cole is gone. He’s a Canadian now. I am a tad upset. And I was a bit wrong that no one would give him a chance, since everyone knows he can’t play anywhere other then Carolina. BUT what I didn’t factor in was that his season last year was SO damn good. And that the FA pool is a bit too weak. So this signing shouldn’t surprise me. Yet, he managed to cash in BIG TIME. MTL coughed up 4 years and 18 million for Cole. That’s 4.5 million a season (avg.) and also WAY too much for him. That being said you wait a year and a half and the Habs will be unloading him back to the Canes at the deadline or before the next season after that. So don’t worry Canes fans Cole will be back.

And now the real depressing part. July 1st marked the start of the annual free agency frenzy. I wasn’t expecting much from the Canes but they have a ton of holes up front to fill and were planning to sign a veteran backup goalie so there had to be something to come.

What we ended up with over the 2 days is 3 underwhelming forwards and a capable back up.

Alexei Ponikarovsky 6’4″ 31 YO. –> An underwhelming, underachieving power forward who cannot find any consistency to put the puck in the net. He will likely have a few stretches of hot play and then disappear for 2 months. A typical “he sucked everywhere else but maybe HERE he can be good” signing by Rutherford. VERDICT–> No gooda. If he can stay in front of the net on the PP and somehow manages a plus rating and 25-30 goals I will say it’s a success… but I am not too optimistic.

Anthony Stewart 6’2″ 26 YO –> Rutherford claims he’s a 20 goal scorer. But, he’s not. We have enough guys who can’t put the puck in the net and cannot play defense up front. I think this is more for his grit, and hoping he hustles enough to contribute on the 4th line.  I see him possibly shuffling between Charlotte and Raleigh if he doesn’t get off to a strong start. Initially I wasn’t too upset about this but the Canes have enough of these guys. Only saving grace is he’s making less then 1 million a year so we will let it slide a bit for organizational depth. Verdict–> I will stay neutral on this one. Wouldn’t seem so bad if they had signed SOMEONE who excited me. Right now it’s just another guy who might be too good for the minors and not good enough for the pros. Look for him to play 60-80 games and 10-12 goals.

Tim Brent 6’0″ 26 YO –> A speedy defensive forward who is real good on the PK. I wouldn’t care about this signing if the Canes didn’t just re-sign LaRose, Dwyer and Jokinen. With all those guys plus a Sutter, they don’t need any PK players. But again he was real cheap so for depth not so bad. Just not a splash signing either. Another one like above who if they signed one player who was a blue chipper then this one would be stomach able. Right now it’s just another blegh signing. Verdict–>He’s the type of player I generally like on a team. A real hard worker who plays great defensively and on the PK. However, as I said above, the Canes have (or should have) those type guys. Whether or not they play like they should is another story. Good player bad fit right now. Look for him do do about the same as last year. 10 goals maybe 1-2 SHG and if he hustles and hits hard enough might be come something of a fan favorite. Of course those fans won’t realize by signing this many “role-players” the team will continue to lose 4-2 every night.

Brian Boucher G –> This year there was a ton of goalies on the free agent market. I wasn’t too worried that the Canes would nab a decent one b/c there was a ton of guys I would considder adequate backups. Boucher is no different. He’s a very usable back up and hopefully, will cause them to use him more then they used Peters. Ward needs to only be in net roughly 60-65 games a season to be fresh enough for the playoffs. Boucher in the last few years has averages roughly in the upper 20s which works well. He also has had a Goals Against Average twice in the .917 range which is perfect for a backup. His only real fault as a goalie is he is SUPER streaky. He’s the type of guy who gives up 1 goal for 5 straight games and then goes in the crapper for 10. Verdict–> I am fine with this signing for the canes. He’s a capable goalie and as long as he keeps his mouth shut and keeps happy to be a backup he will be great. This was the only signing of the 4 total that I felt was a good signing.

I am well aware that it’s only day 2 of free agency, but the writing is on the wall. The Canes aren’t interested in signing anyone who can actually help them. There might be one or two more signings from them to come, but they are likely to be the minor league journeyman types. The writing is on the wall. No good signings means a reliance on the minor league types, and young guys. Some reliance is ok but they seem to have this overlying reliance each year. I am not sure what JR and Karmanos expect to do with this same old same old cheapo strategy. It’s not working and it won’t. You should build a team you feel can win the Cup. Not to try and finish in 8th place and squeak into the playoffs. I am starting to get real frustrated with this team. I am not sure when will be the ultimate breaking point that I will break down and stop the season tickets but it’s not quite yet. But I am not the only one. The blind season ticket holder base is getting smaller and smaller. People don’t want to come and see a loser. You keep putting a crap product on the ice, and people are going to sit home and watch UNC play East Tennessee state on a wed night instead of coming out to catch a home Hurricanes Game.  Tread lightly Karmanos, fans are watching. We don’t care about millionaire owners who cry poverty. We want a product on the ice to be proud of. You need a team to get fans not the other way around. Spend some money and we will come out in thousands. Don’t, and we will stay home. It’s your choice.

Canes/JR, you have a decent amount of decent FA’s left. Do yourselves and the fans a favor. Sign someone in the next few days/weeks we can be proud of. Get some more talent on the team so we can have some excitement when we are leaving to come to the rink. I want to have my kids be happy about the team. I want to be happy about the team. Right now we are not there. It’s the same old same old right now. Step it up…. Please….

–GJ

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