Speculation: Hurricanes wanting to get "tough" this offseason?

bernmeister

Registered User
Jun 11, 2010
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...I know you’re super high on Kreider, but he’s about to turn 27, under contract for just 2 more seasons before he looks to get paid on a long-term deal and has produced like a complimentary player for most of his career. The idea of him being the re-tooling Rangers’ least-available asset is goofy.....

disagree as to goofy.
barring severe overpay, this is our next captain, and a keeper by all measures.
He's still young enough to be considered core, and I give him 6 yrs no prob.
 

tapi

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Oct 25, 2009
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I don't think you know what the word "fact" means. Just stop, they aren't trading Aho. In fact, it was reported that he's their only "untouchable".

Hanifin? Sure, maybe in a "forward for D" type deal (Jones/Subban for example), but there are 30 other assets they'd move before even thinking about moving Aho.

I meant if they are looking to get something of actual use by trading, they need to move him. Or they can do nothing, it is very viable too. But since the news reports are talking about "a major shakeup", we must assume Aho or top picks are involved.
 

Cardiac Jerks

Asinine & immoral
Jan 13, 2006
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I meant if they are looking to get something of actual use by trading, they need to move him. Or they can do nothing, it is very viable too. But since the news reports are talking about "a major shakeup", we must assume Aho or top picks are involved.

No, we mustn’t.

They have plenty of other pieces of value they would move before their most valuable player.

Give it up.
 

emptyNedder

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I don’t think anyone who actually watches the team play would believe that they are even average at getting shots in the high danger area in front of the net. They are the poster children for taking shots from absolutely any angle, for the sake of generating a SOG.

My inclination is that the shots in front of the net are likely due to their tendency to generate shots in transition — breakaways, odd man rushes, etc. — which often lead to a shot in tight.

I think this is a Moneyball moment--like in the movie where the Brad Pitt character asks "Can he hit?" All the scouts (professionals at seeing the game) love his "beautiful swing" and that the "ball explodes off his bat." The numbers show he can't hit. Well despite "anyone who actually watches the team play," the Canes are actually better than average at "getting to the dirty spaces." But they just don't get off strong shots or (this is what I see) don't get there because of controlled puck movement. They actually get there like most purists want--parked in front. I really like Hockeyviz. I also like hockey-graphs and some of their analysis indicates that movement of the puck from the blueline to behind the net and then quickly in front increases the danger of shots. It is those top-low-front shots that Carolina seems to be missing. It is not what you think you see which is no shot in front.
 

Joel Ward

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Sep 24, 2012
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Toronto
ROR isn't tough
Depends on what kind of toughness they are looking for. As others have pointed out, it seems odd that they would prioritize adding an enforcer type when they clearly have more important roles to fill. ROR is no Matt Martin, but he is capable of playing an abrasive game while bringing high-end two way play to the table.

Edit: How do Canes fans feel about moving Hanifin in a deal for ROR? Something around Rask and Hanifin for ROR and a defender makes some sense from an outsider perspective.
 
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Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
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I meant if they are looking to get something of actual use by trading, they need to move him. Or they can do nothing, it is very viable too. But since the news reports are talking about "a major shakeup", we must assume Aho or top picks are involved.

And I am saying you are 100% wrong. You are assuming that to get anything "good" back or to do a "major shake-up", your only choice is to move Aho or a top pick. That's very flawed reasoning.

Changing 7 guys out of 22 is a "major shake-up. Moving Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk would be a major shake-up, and contrary to HF belief, you could get a very good return moving those guys. Moving any combination of Jordan Staal, Elias Lindholm, picks, prospects, Teravainen, etc.. would be a major shake-up and allow a good return. Throwing big money UFAs. etc..

There are countless ways to do a shake-up and/or add talent, none of them included moving Aho. I'll say it again, the reports that came out pretty much said he's the only untouchable. Your assumptions are flawed.

I'll gladly eat crow if Aho is moved, but I'd bet just about anything that he won't be moved this offseason. He's becoming an elite player, is the exact type of tough player the team wants, he's young and still on an ELC.
 

bleedgreen

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Dec 8, 2003
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When we are talking about mentally tough, it means - can the guy get the puck out of the zone when late in the game we’re struggling to hold a lead and just need the fundamentals done right? There’s an above post was about RoR not being tough. If he’s tough on the puck when momentum starts working against us in tight games, then yes he’s tough. In the way the canes need.
 

Bleedred

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They don't need a major shake-up, they need a goalie. Seriously that's a good team, just get a goalie.
I think they really need better scoring/finishing as they've had a low shooting percentage by quite a bit for years now, but I think it's fair to say that goaltending really was the absolute main culprit in missing the playoffs, especially Darling. In past years their goaltending has been bad, but they also didn't score nearly enough. They absolutely need a few more goals, but you should be able to find better goaltending than what they had this year. I don't think Ward is capable of being good anymore, but you almost have to try to be as bad as Darling was this year. Neither goalie passes the eye test for me, but I think about half the goals Darling allowed this season were at the very least stoppable. That's way too much. If he stopped just half of the stoppable goals he'd probably be league average.
 

Shockmaster

Registered User
Sep 11, 2012
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You know a team is going to have another bad season when they think their biggest issue is they aren't tough enough......
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
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You know a team is going to have another bad season when they think their biggest issue is they aren't tough enough......

Mentally, they weren't. They had one of the worst winning % in the NHL when leading after 2 periods. Part of that was goaltending, but part of that was likely the lack of mental toughness to finish those. They choked away quite a few in unbelievable fashion.
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
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Lucic is likely more tradeable than Darling at this point.

ILucic has a NMC, Lucic has a $6M Cap hit until he's 35 (5 more seasons), Lucic is owed $26M in real dollars over the remainder of his contract
vs.
Darling does not have a NMC, Darling has a cap of $4.1M until he's 32/33 (3 more seasons), Darling is owed $11.8M over the remainder of his contract.

I do agree that Lucic is more likely to be a useful player than Darling, but not sure I'd say he's more tradeable at this point.
 

McDonald19

Registered User
Sep 9, 2003
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You know a team is going to have another bad season when they think their biggest issue is they aren't tough enough......

It's a team cultural thing though, being tough in the corners, tough in front of the net, not being pushed around. They aren't necessarily saying they need a 4th line winger to punch faces.
 
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tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
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I think this is a Moneyball moment--like in the movie where the Brad Pitt character asks "Can he hit?" All the scouts (professionals at seeing the game) love his "beautiful swing" and that the "ball explodes off his bat." The numbers show he can't hit. Well despite "anyone who actually watches the team play," the Canes are actually better than average at "getting to the dirty spaces." But they just don't get off strong shots or (this is what I see) don't get there because of controlled puck movement. They actually get there like most purists want--parked in front. I really like Hockeyviz. I also like hockey-graphs and some of their analysis indicates that movement of the puck from the blueline to behind the net and then quickly in front increases the danger of shots. It is those top-low-front shots that Carolina seems to be missing. It is not what you think you see which is no shot in front.

It’s not a Moneyball thing, it’s a matter of the Hurricanes being a team that SUPER obviously plays a perimeter game and is SUPER soft as a group. If you’re looking at those charts and deciding the Canes get a lot of chances from the dirty areas, then you’re just using the charts wrong.
 

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