Apr 23 2011
Hurricanes end of season report— Grading the forwards part 1 #NHL Hurricanes
In this installment of the end of season grading we will hit the forwards. It wasn’t a great year for the scoring but wasn’t terrible either. Only Staal managed to crack the top 15 in scoring with his 76 points. However, while the team wasn’t breaking any records scoring-wise, they did manage to have 5 players with 50+ points. Only the San Jose (7) ended up with more 50+ point players then the Canes. While we already established last installment the problem wasn’t the lack of scoring all year it was the complete lack of team defense. Going forward what is the main concern for the forwards? It’s the fact that as of today, the Canes only have 5 forwards under contract for next season. That number includes 2 regulars, Staal and Ruutu, and 3 youngsters —> Skinner, Bowman and Samson. Of course we have to include one restricted FA who we know will be back in Sutter, but beyond that it looks like there will be a ton of turnover this year up front and some more youth coming in.
But, enough of that… let’s get some grading going on! (Big guys suck as Staal, Skinner and Sutter left for the next installment)
After missing roughly half of last year with injuries, Ruutu bounced back to play all 82 games. He also hit everything that moved finishing 2nd in the league in hits with 309. He put up some decent scoring numbers with 19 goals and 38 assists for 57 points. He was also a respectable +1. I liked his play this year but often felt he could have and should have put up more then just 19 goals for the team. Ruutu remains one of my favorite players on this team b/c of his constant effort, and hard hitting play. I wouldn’t complain as much about his 19 goals but at 3.8 mil per year he should be putting up better scoring numbers. However I put a lot of that behind as he was 2nd in forwards with his career high 38 assists.
Grade– A- Other then his sub 20 goals this year, Ruutu played the exact type of game I hoped and expected. I love the fact he was 2nd in the league in hits and while doing so still managed to play al 82 games. A good team year for sure out of the Finland native.
Outlook–> Again at 3.8 mil he might be a bit overpaid but the good news is he is here for another season, not to mention after that he’s still restricted. So while he’s overpaid now we might get a discount after next year to keep him here. Look for him to play just as hard next year and hopefully continue to stay healthy. He continues to show a rela knack for playing next to Jokinen and Skinner as well. He’s part of the core of solid players now Rutherford just needs to get us some more talent at the forward position to fill out that core.
Tlusty was pretty invisible for most of the year. He had an injury stint and some scratched games but for the most part you hardly knew he was on the team. He only managed 6 goals and 6 assists in his 57 games. He’s exactly what we hoped he wasn’t when he came over from Toronto. A ton of potential and no follow through. He has games he hustles and plays effective 3rd/4th line as a defensive forward but for the most part he doesn’t get much ice time and doesn’t do much when he does.
Grade— C- He’s just not very useful as a player. The only saving grace is he only made 500K against the cap but he didn’t stay healthy much this year.
Outlook–> I don’t think he’s good for much, but he’s the type of guy Rutherford will throw another 500K at and keep him around. He’s a roster filler and not much more. Look for him to be here next year as a 3rd or 4th line center.
The Canes picked up Bodie this year in Nov. off waivers from the Ducks. They don’t typically have more then 1 dedicated “goon” on their team so a decent skating forward like Bodie who can drop the gloves (cheaply) fit their bill. I don’t mind the fact that in his 10 fights for the Canes he was voted on Hockeyfights.com as being 1-5-4, mainly b/c when he is out there on the ice he’s not a liability defensively. He works hard, delivers a few hits (68 for the year) and gets his butt of the ice quick.
Grade– C+ Ten fights in 50 games for the Canes sounds about right. As a team they don’t tend to let their guys drop them too often so I cannot hold that against him. I would like to see him get a bit better and win some more, but hey just dropping the gloves at home in the RBC center is a good thing b/c anything to get the house rocking is a good thing to me.
Outlook–> Unfortunately for Bodie guys like him tend to grow on trees in the minors. Fighters who hustle. There are not a whole lot of youngsters in their own minors who fit that bill, but I see them looking for anyone who will sign to fight for 500-600K or else they might bring him back at that same price. It’s kind of a coin flip for Bodie. I wouldn’t be upset either way take him or leave him.
I have been on quite the roller coaster of liking and hating Cole over the past 5-6 years. Before the dreaded Orpik hit on Cole in ’06 I often said overall I consider Cole to be the best player on the team. He was the best defensive forward and was exciting every time he touched the puck offensively. Then, after the hit he was a different player. He was slow at times and lackadaisical on defense. Then after he came back from the Oilers, he was good again. He was a force in those playoffs as well. And naturally last year he was invisible, hurt,and down right useless to the team. I thought for sure he was done. Then the roller coaster continued to this season. Not only was Cole good, he was a force again. He played in 82 games (for the first time in his career), put up the 3rd best point tally of his career and was 3rd on the team in goals. Cole was MR. Clutch all year, netting a team high 9 game winning goals. It seemed that if there was a game that needed untieing he was the man to do it. This season really reinvigorated my view of Cole. He is a player I love to watch play and one I think could very well have resurrected his dieing career.
Grade- A Outside of Skinner there is not a player on the roster I think gave his heart and soul all season long. I never said “Cole took tonight off”. Not even one time this season. He was tied for 3rd in the league in Game winning goals, and in the top 10 in hits. Great season by Cole, just a shame they didn’t make the playoffs to see what he could have done.
Outlook–> Normally I would say the Canes couldn’t re-sign a player when he had the comeback year like Cole has had. The only difference is I think the league has already branded him as a player who cannot play well outside of Carolina. He made just shy of 3 mil this year. Look for Rutherford to give Cole a deal between 3 and 4 million to stay here. Myself I would be fine with 3 but 4 might be pushing it. And I would also not make it a long term offer, as much as I loved Cole this year you just never know if he will disappear again next year. I just really hope Jimmy can coax a hometown discount out of Cole to keep him here, I want to see him with Skinner and Staal on the PP for another year!
Jussi’s 30 goal season last year and his flare for the dramatics in shoot outs have made him a huge fan favorite in Carolina. While it came as no surprise to me that he didn’t get back to 30 goals, he did play a huge role in the teams big January and Febuary until he got hurt. Once he got hurt he didn’t bounce back well and only netted 3 goals in the final 2 months of the season. Jokinen still plays hard and is one of the better defensive forwards on the team. His +3 ties for second on the team among forwards. It’s a shame he missed those 12 games this year with an injury b/c if he had stayed hot he would have likely ended up with 25 goals or more and could have made a huge difference in getting the team to the playoffs.
Grade– B+ Injury or not I still would have liked to see more then 19 goals from Jussi. He did play hard and gives it his all every night on the ice. A decent season only drawbacks are again the goal total and 12 games missed by injury.
Outlook–>The only good thing about Jokinen only scoring 19 goals this year? It likely means the inevitable raise he will get will be lower then it could have been. He has been vastly underpaid the last two years at 1.7 million, and is likely to get more. The only silver lining is that he is still a restricted free agent so it prob. won’t take much more then a qualifying offer to keep him here. It’s a lock the Canes make one, but they might have to hope no one makes a huge offer to him. Look for them to get him signed before July 1st to keep that from happening.
Dwyer finally worked into a full time role this year with the big league club for the whole year. He found a regular spot on that 4th line with some time on the 3rd line here and there. His main problem has been scoring. Granted when you play with Tlusty ,Bodie, and Samson most of the time you might not score much but with the speed of Dwyer I still expect a bit more then just 8 goals out of him. At some point to be successful, those 4th liners have to play well enough to surprise us and earn their way onto the 3rd line. Right now Dwyer is not that guy. You can’t get by on speed the whole time at some point better defense and scoring has to kick in. However, for a guy who only made 500K last year he’s still a bit of a bargain for a fluff roster filler.
Grade– C+ He managed to play 80 games and did have a pretty impressive 166 hits for a 4th liner. If he managed to get 12-15 goals with a plus rating I would have given him a B+ but for now he still had a below avg. season.
Outlook–> Dwyer is now an unrestricted free agent. I don’t quite think many teams will have interest in him, so it would only take another offer of 500K to keep him. Yet, it also would prolly only take another team offering him 700K to get him to jump ship. Knowing Rutherford and his love of cheap fluff I can see him re-signing Dwyer before he hits the market. Myself, I would rather see the Canes pay a mil each for these 3rd/4th line fluff to get some guys in here that can put up 20+ points a year.
Next week I will finish up the Canes end of season forward grading and then finish up with the goalies and some outlook for the off season and for next year for the team.
Enjoy your Easter weekend!
