First, let's pour out a little liquor for Vulcan91's work on these threads.

Alright, now down to business. Player exit interviews being conducted today with JR (Pothier and Legace said they would like to stay in Raleigh for next year), and the draft lottery is tomorrow @ 8pm. Canes have no chance of the top pick and will likely pick 7th.

Here's the draft picks we hold:
Round 1, Pick 7 (could change tomorrow night)
Round 2, Pick 7
Round 2, Buffalo
Round 2, Ottawa
Round 3, Pick 7
Round 3, Vancouver
Round 4, Boston (conditional, could become 2011 pick)
Round 5, Nashville
Round 6, Pick 7
Round 6, Colorado
Round 7, Pick 7
Round 7, Washington

Players under contract for '10-'11:

Forwards:
Eric Staal $7.5m
Tuomo Ruutu $4m
Rod Brind'Amour $3m
Erik Cole $3m
Sergei THAMTHONOV $2.8m
Jussi "SOOOO SEXY" Jokinen $1.9m
Chad LaRose $1.9m
Brandon Sutter $875k
Tom Kostopolous $950k
Zach Boychuk $875k
Patrick Dwyer $500k
Drayson Bowman $688k

Defense
Joni Pitkanen $4.5m
Tim Gleason $3m
Jamie McBain $685k

Goaltenders
Cam Ward $5m

Total Cap Hit: roughly $40m

Unrestricted Free Agents
Ray Whitney
Bryan Pothier
Jay Harrison
Tim Conboy
Bryan Rodney
Manny Legace

Restricted Free Agents
Jiri Tlusty
Jerome Samson
Brett Carson
Alexandre Picard
Justin Peters


Offseason Needs
-legit top line winger to compliment Staal
-defense, preferably of the stay at home variety

Prospects to Watch
well, we got a great look at Boychuk, McBain, and others this year. Here's the guys we saw very little, or none of in the big club:

Zac Dalpe (lit the lamp a lot in the AHL so far)
Jerome Samson
Mike Murphy (still)
Brian Dumoulin

4/12/2010 1:43:19 PM

I feel like with cheap, entry level contracts for guys like McBain, Sutter, Boychuck, Bowman, Samson, etc. that would be on the team next year then this is the time to go after that top line winger for Staal. I would love to sign a big time stay at home defenseman, but if we go into next year with Pitkanen, Gleason, McBain, Pothier, Carson, Draft Pick/solid FA then I'd be more than comfortable with that. We should have a solid lines 2-4, but I think now is truly the time for JR and PK to step up and make a big offensive FA signing to give the Canes a more than legit 1st line.

Other moves I'd do is resign Whitney to 1 year, resign Legace and let Peters get starts in Charlotte, maybe resign Rodney as a 7th defenseman (Borer could be a candidate there depending on how well he does in camp) and I'd also resign Tlusty, Samson and Carson. I really don't think I even noticed Picard and how well he did or didn't play.

4/12/2010 3:03:28 PM

Our 1st round draft slot odds(roughly):

3rd: 5%
7th: 85%
8th: 10%

4/12/2010 3:04:27 PM

^^ Picard was a +2 in 9 games as a Cane, with no points. The only thing I really recall about his time here is the boneheaded pass he made to a Florida forward who immediately deposited said pass into our goal. I was incredibly shitfaced at the time, so the forward in question's name escapes me.

That being said, I don't see JR letting him walk, especially considering he's an RFA. I'm not entirely sure how comfortable I am with him outside of a 3rd pair role.

4/12/2010 7:28:11 PM

How long do I have to go before I see Erik Cole on the unrestricted side of that list?

Jesus.

4/12/2010 7:38:23 PM

Post

4/12/2010 9:36:07 PM

Looking at going with full season tickets for next year. Glad we're grandfathered in to being able to do it in the upper goal zone though, I don't think I could do it in any other section.

4/13/2010 8:32:59 AM

We lose the lottery.

4/13/2010 8:19:56 PM

Florida didn't win, I'm satisfied they're at 3rd. Let them draft another top rated D-man that will bolt in 7 years.

4/13/2010 8:21:20 PM

Quote :

" ice_chip Rutherford not ruling out bringing back Anton Babchuk. Has talked to his agent recently and is pursuing it. "

WOOOOOOO

HOOORAY


MAKE IT HAPPEN

4/14/2010 11:17:25 AM

please dear fucking jesus

i don't care if he only gets put on the ice during a power play

GIVE ME BABCHUK

4/14/2010 11:27:50 AM

4/14/2010 11:53:32 AM

^^,^^^ this.

4/14/2010 12:51:21 PM

Bringing back Babchuck gives us a solid 3rd pairing and improves our PP. He and JR don't like each other too much, but please bring back the Chucker.

4/14/2010 1:24:49 PM

HOW BOUT THAT SPEED?!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p09GOw6h1t4

4/14/2010 1:42:52 PM

Lots of little gems in JRs post season presser: http://hurricanes.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=684&id=65985

4/14/2010 1:43:37 PM

everything about that video just screams LOCKER ROOM CANCER

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 3:39 PM. Reason : the babchuk video not the JR]

4/14/2010 3:38:57 PM

Game 1: Albany 4, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3

1. ALB Micflikier, (1) (Osala, Bowman), 10:01
1. WBS Johnson, (1) (Conner), 12:26 (SH)
2. ALB Dodge, (1) (Terry, Goertzen), 9:55
2. ALB McBain, (1) (Micflikier), 10:31
3. WBS Letestu, (1) (Johnson, Conner), 2:52 (PP)
3. WBS Johnson, (2) (Letestu, Lovejoy), 18:38
3. ALB Dodge, (2) (Rodney, Terry), 19:09

4/14/2010 9:55:51 PM

looks like it was a nice ending

4/14/2010 10:37:25 PM

Remember this guy from the Canes facebook page? So I saw him at the Iceplex last night after my game and he was rocking his canes/staal gear..... he's such a canes fan that he cant bring himself to wear the uncrested montreal jerseys that the rest of his team wears.

[Edited on April 15, 2010 at 1:59 PM. Reason : o]

4/15/2010 1:56:08 PM

Hahaha that was the guy who had his school head shots or something done in a Canes jersey.

4/15/2010 2:45:52 PM

lol, he was going to be the answer to the personnel issues we might have had at the deadline

4/15/2010 3:07:03 PM

Look at how firmly he grasps that Cup.........

4/15/2010 3:18:18 PM

is that haley joel osment?

4/15/2010 4:30:58 PM

yeah i almost died laughing when I came off the ice and saw him. All i could think about was his school pic in his Staal jersey and shoulder pads

On a different note, does anyone have any idea why the US hasn't hosted an IIHF World Championship since 62?

4/15/2010 5:17:20 PM

http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=525747

CANES SIGN MICHAL JORDAN

4/16/2010 11:58:18 AM

wow, he put up some pretty good numbers last year for a defenseman

11 PP goals? respectable.

4/16/2010 12:00:05 PM

Michael Jordan - Charlotte Bobcats owner
Michal Jordan - future Charlotte Checker

somebody needs to schedule a picture the day hockey Jordan arrives in Charlotte.

4/16/2010 12:09:36 PM

omfg his number is 23 too, that owns.

4/16/2010 2:40:18 PM

Another late winner for Albany as they go up 2-0 in the series.

1. WBS Tangradi, (1) (Vitale, Engelland), 15:12
2. ALB Terry, (1) (Dodge, Rodney), 7:17
3. ALB Dodge, (3) (Harrison, Borer), 10:00
3. WBS Pushkarev, (1) (Vitale), 14:50
3. ALB McBain, (2) (Bowman, Angelidis), 15:58

4/16/2010 9:31:37 PM

I want a bronze bust of McBain.

4/17/2010 3:31:47 AM

Checker Rats cannot be stopped:

3. ALB Angelidis, (1) (Boychuk), 2:16
3. ALB Samson, (1) (Angelidis, Boychuk), 5:45
3. WBS Conner, (1) (Strait, Pushkarev), 14:27

Up 3-0 in the series and will look for the sweep tomorrow night.

4/18/2010 5:45:18 PM

Meant to post this yesterday, as we might as well relive the moments from last year since there will be none this year.

One year ago:

4/18/2010 8:37:26 PM

For the first time since 1998, the Albany River Rats have won a playoff series.

Game 1: Albany 4, Baby Pens 3
Game 2: Albany 3-2
Game 3: Albany 2-1
Game 4: Albany 5-3

Game 4:
1. WBS Smith, (1) (Lee, Tangradi), 15:33
2. ALB Osala, (1) (Tlusty, Harrison), 12:32
2. WBS Conner, (2) (Jeffrey, Letestu), 18:50 (PP)
2. ALB McBain, (3) (Terry), 19:36
3. WBS Johnson, (4) (Conner, Wagner), 0:28
3. ALB Samson, (2) (Angelidis, Bellemore), 1:49
3. ALB Boychuk, (1) , 13:12
3. ALB McBain, (4) , 19:55 (EN)

Barring a miracle comeback by Bridgeport (down 3-1 in the series), Albany will be facing the Hershey Bears in the 2nd round, one of the greatest minor league teams ever assembled. From November 29 to March 19 they won 24 straight home games, an AHL record.

4/19/2010 9:42:46 PM

Hope they can pull it off, but I'm betting on them getting destroyed. They might steal a game though.

4/19/2010 9:48:45 PM

I think they've got a good shot. They went 2-6 against Hershey in the regular season, but a good chunk of their team was up with Carolina for a lot of the year (Boychuk, Tlusty, Harrison, McBain, Peters). Also they have added Osala, Dalpe, Jordan, and Lawson. The Bears meanwhile I don't think really added much, and in fact they lost their best defenseman in John Carlson who is playing for Washington in the playoffs now.

This is a pretty nasty minor league lineup:

Zach Boychuk
Drayson Bowman
Jerome Samson
Jiri Tlusty
Oskar Osala
Zac Dalpe
Jacob Micflikier
Chris Terry
Nicolas Blanchard
Steven Goertzen
Nick Dodge
Mike Angelidis

Jamie McBain
Casey Borer
Bryan Rodney
Jay Harrison
Brett Bellemore
Tim Conboy

Justin Peters
Justin Pogge

6 of 12 forwards, 5 of 6 defensemen, and both goaltenders have NHL experience.

4/19/2010 9:56:31 PM

I just remembered how hard we railed this dude on deadline day. Well him and everyone else, hell of a team effort by TWW.

4/20/2010 8:23:59 AM

deadline day was far too much fun

and I think we all know why Hershey is so damn good this year:


[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 1:05 PM. Reason : tater]

4/20/2010 1:03:57 PM

McBain is a goddamn monster

and i know its a longshot, but JR please please please move up and get cam fowler

4/20/2010 3:00:56 PM

not that much of a longshot if you just go by central scouting rankings.

4/20/2010 3:01:46 PM

yeah, Fowler's down to 5 on the latest Central rankings. Florida's bound to do something stupid at 3. I don't think Fowler makes it down to 7, but we are going to (or we at least have the ability to) pick up an absolute stud at 7.

4/20/2010 3:05:03 PM

I want to see what JR does with the wealth of 2nd round picks. I would like to either draft a top winger or sign on in FA. The first 10 or so picks are pretty deep this year and would rather see JR take a forward who may be able to play top 6 minutes in a year if they don't want to spend the money this year in FA.

Either way I'm just ready for some offseason news when the playoffs end.

[Edited on April 20, 2010 at 5:02 PM. Reason : catsup]

4/20/2010 5:02:19 PM

Must be a slow news day in Charlotte, or they are already preparing for the Checkers. The front page of the sports section has a Luke DeCock column about Jeff Daniels.

4/21/2010 12:47:45 PM

One year today:


Never ever forgetting being there.

4/21/2010 12:53:54 PM

that was the first game that i actually purchased any downstairs seats

goddamn it was awesome to see

there were 3 kids sitting next to us, their parents basically left them there by themselves as they sat somewhere else. a 4-5 year old kid, then maybe 7 and 9, but the youngest kid was sitting right next to me.

When that goal went in I have never seen an expression of pure joy like the one on the youngest kids face. Truly great to see.

4/21/2010 1:21:30 PM

i remember being in the 300s directly behind the goal. Everyone around us was going batshit crazy. This old man practically fell over a row jumping down and hugging us. What a great night.

4/21/2010 1:49:16 PM

i bet an old man was trying to hug you in celebration

creepster

4/21/2010 1:57:35 PM

Totally awesome.

Not as awesome as this:

4/21/2010 3:17:27 PM

I was at Game 3 of the '02 finals, Game 2, 5, 7 of the '06 finals and went to a boat load of them last year and I still don't think I'll ever forgive myself for missing the Jussi goal with less than a second to beat the Devils in Game 4. That was ridiculous.

4/21/2010 3:20:43 PM

i hope the canes improve, or every offseason thread will become the official HAY REMEMBER THE 2006 PLAYOFFS thread

4/21/2010 3:33:27 PM