Speculation: is it time to blow it up???

[Blueline Bomber]

I think Faulk has shown the inconsistency that one would expect from a young defensemen, but his peaks are becoming more frequent. His lulls and mental mistakes often lead to goals against, but that's the price for playing against top competition.

 

[Ole Gil]

When you play 27 minutes a night against the other teams best, sometimes you're going to look bad. He's not Chara. He's not paired with Chara. We've got a lower end top pairing that plays like a lower end top pairing.

 

[What the Faulk]

I don't know how to process this.

Will the real totalkev please stand up?

 

[RodTheBawd]

There are maybe 5 d-men in the league that rarely, if ever, make very bad mistakes leading directly to goals. It's the nature of being a top pairing. Faulk and Sekera aren't on that list, nor are they paid anywhere close to it. We are two better-than Hainsey guys away from a legit playoff caliber D corp.

 

[My Special Purpose]

There are maybe 5 d-men in the league that rarely, if ever, make very bad mistakes leading directly to goals. It's the nature of being a top pairing. Faulk and Sekera aren't on that list, nor are they paid anywhere close to it. We are two better-than Hainsey guys away from a legit playoff caliber D corp.

The first part of your post is a strawman argument.

The second proves my point. "Two better-than Hainsey guys away from a legit playoff caliber D corp" is a long way. In other words, we're TWO top four d-men short of a playoff-caliber D. That's a lot, and it explains why we're not playoff caliber.

 

[What the Faulk]

We might be splitting hairs here, but IMO they're one top 4 defenseman away from playoff caliber, and 2 better than Hainsey for Cup contender. The grass is always greener, but Hainsey is a fine middle pairing defenseman on a playoff team.

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

I know the Eric for Gardiner//Kadri//1st thing has been beaten to death, but tbh I really think the '????' should be us trying to get a second 1st. Another lottery pick could really help this team, even if it doesn't turn into something tangible for a couple years.

Gardiner//Kadri//1st would be doubtful, let alone another first.

And no one is giving up their '15 first.

 

[What the Faulk]

Hey look it's HF MeMe guy. Great user name(s). I get those references.

 

[DougieSmash]

In ideal world, Sekera- Faulk is great second pairing duo.

 

[jstaal]

nope.

this..

 

[jstaal]

I wanted to blow it up this offseason, but ultimately was willing to give Peters and Francis a chance when they got in for one last run at the playoffs with this group. My thinking was I wanted it blown up if this group failed again. Not over yet, but they're well on their way. If nothing else, I'd be laying the ground work for a blowup if we continue in the direction we've had for all but 6 games or so this year. How big just depends on if certain pieces that seemingly can't or won't want to be moved can be moved. It's going to be difficult to pull off and may just amount to shipping out free agents for prospects and picks.

They lost 5 out of the last 6 by one goal, except for empty netter in 2-0 loss... Plenty of games to play, next month will say alot..

 

[HisIceness]

Do it, do it now.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Do it, do it now.

Don't do it now. Do it at the trade deadline when there are deals to be had.

 

[Chan790]

Don't do it now. Do it at the trade deadline when there are deals to be had.

In some cases (such as Tlusty), yes.

Sekera, on the other hand I think, gets you more if you trade him now rather than later...more games left and the talent to turn around a lot of teams' defensive units, making contenders out of bubble teams; with that contract, there are very-few teams that wouldn't be in on the bidding war.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Hainsey is a fine middle pairing defenseman on a playoff team.

There is literally zero proof for this statement.

 

[What the Faulk]

I would argue against this using fancy stats and breaking things down by zone starts and relative completion of the QoW (quality of weather) but since it's Thanksgiving I'm just gonna

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I believe the joke is that Hainsey has never been on a playoff team, thus, it's impossible to prove.

 

[What the Faulk]

DISCLAIMER: I have not seen whatever film is being portrayed in this .gif file. I cannot be held responsible for its impact on audience psyches.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

DISCLAIMER: I have not seen whatever film is being portrayed in this .gif file. I cannot be held responsible for its impact on audience psyches.

omg thats the saddest part of the movie stop

 

[normalpsychology]

the answer is the same as it was 5 years ago and has been since then to this very day.

yes.

 

[What the Faulk]

That wasn't even true for most of last year. They played at a 92 point pace until things fell apart after the Olympics.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

So the exact opposite of normal, where they don't show up for the first half, but get the hopes up in the second?

 

[DaveG]

This may surprise a few people, but I'm actually not as down on the Canes' future as I have been the past few seasons. IMO, our forwards are actually fairly solid. We haven't really had any lines click yet, but having your No. 2 center on the shelf for half the season tends to throw the lines into a bit of disarray. But I think Eric Staal has cleared up a lot of concerns with his two-way play and leadership so far this season. Skinner is a stud (when he's not concussed), three young forwards have taken giant steps forward (Lindholm, Nash, Rask), another has legit upside (Nestrasil), and guys like Tlusty, Gerbe, Boychuk, Terry, Dwyer and McClement have been fine in their roles. That's 12 forwards that have been decent or better. Add Jordan and get Semin back on track somehow and we have a very representative forward unit. (Malone is the only forward who is just plain bad at hockey.)

And I think the goalies have been OK. Ward's resurgence is certainly a surprise, but I honestly feel that we're fine in goal even if his play falls off a bit, because I feel Khudobin is better than he's showed so far in a backup role.

However, then there's the defense. I wholeheartedly support blowing up this unit. I think our failings on the back end are affecting our breakouts, our speed through the neutral zone and our ability to use the points in the offensive zone. In other words, a lot of our offensive struggles are really issues with our d-men.

If we're being honest, we've only got two legit NHL defensemen, and I think we're overrating both of them. If Sekera hadn't had the season he had last year, we'd be losing it over his d-zone turnovers. And if Faulk didn't give us visions of Drew Doughty his first two seasons, we'd be losing it over his amazing ability to look completely lost on most nights. Hainsey, Gleason and Bellemore are fringe guys, at best, and Harrison and Liles don't belong in the league (although I think Liles has skill and could play if he wanted to, but as far as I can tell, he only cares in games against teams that have let him go).

The bottom line is that we really need to overhaul the defense. I'm actually to the point where I wouldn't mind trading Sekera or Faulk if we can get payment based on what the perception of them seems to be around the league, and not actual production. There's just not a lot here and nothing should be off the table.

I think Fleury's going to be a good one for us, the question is though can we keep Sekera around long enough to have him ready and add that needed top 4 guy to go with him? The sooner we can clear out that nearly 5.5 million in cap space from Liles and Harrison the better we're going to be in that regard.

Hainsey as a #5/6 isn't a bad thing, or at least shouldn't be. He's taken a bit of a step back this year though, and as a result we have 1 top pairing (albeit both look like #2 dmen this year IMO, rather then having either as a #1), 3 3rd pairing dmen (Hainsey, Gleason, Bellemore), and 2 guys that are just... good lord 90% of the time in Harrison and Liles.

We need to hope Murphy keeps developing in Charlotte (HA) since he has the puck moving skills we need, but he's probably going to be best in a sheltered specialist role unless something clicks in a big way here eventually.

 

[The Stranger]

This may surprise a few people, but I'm actually not as down on the Canes' future as I have been the past few seasons. IMO, our forwards are actually fairly solid. We haven't really had any lines click yet, but having your No. 2 center on the shelf for half the season tends to throw the lines into a bit of disarray. But I think Eric Staal has cleared up a lot of concerns with his two-way play and leadership so far this season. Skinner is a stud (when he's not concussed), three young forwards have taken giant steps forward (Lindholm, Nash, Rask), another has legit upside (Nestrasil), and guys like Tlusty, Gerbe, Boychuk, Terry, Dwyer and McClement have been fine in their roles. That's 12 forwards that have been decent or better. Add Jordan and get Semin back on track somehow and we have a very representative forward unit. (Malone is the only forward who is just plain bad at hockey.)

And I think the goalies have been OK. Ward's resurgence is certainly a surprise, but I honestly feel that we're fine in goal even if his play falls off a bit, because I feel Khudobin is better than he's showed so far in a backup role.

However, then there's the defense. I wholeheartedly support blowing up this unit. I think our failings on the back end are affecting our breakouts, our speed through the neutral zone and our ability to use the points in the offensive zone. In other words, a lot of our offensive struggles are really issues with our d-men.

If we're being honest, we've only got two legit NHL defensemen, and I think we're overrating both of them. If Sekera hadn't had the season he had last year, we'd be losing it over his d-zone turnovers. And if Faulk didn't give us visions of Drew Doughty his first two seasons, we'd be losing it over his amazing ability to look completely lost on most nights. Hainsey, Gleason and Bellemore are fringe guys, at best, and Harrison and Liles don't belong in the league (although I think Liles has skill and could play if he wanted to, but as far as I can tell, he only cares in games against teams that have let him go).

The bottom line is that we really need to overhaul the defense. I'm actually to the point where I wouldn't mind trading Sekera or Faulk if we can get payment based on what the perception of them seems to be around the league, and not actual production. There's just not a lot here and nothing should be off the table.

Could you provide a plausible example or two of trades where shipping out Faulk would result in an improved defense?

 

[What the Faulk]

I think, if the determination is made to move Sekera because he won't sign here, they have to look at getting a young defenseman in return, maybe someone on the cusp of becoming an NHLer. Picks would be nice, sure, but short of completely blowing things up, moving Sekera for a first just allows this team to tread water for the next however long. But if they move him for a usable player that can step in soon, they really might not be all that worse on the back end with everyone (Murphy, Fleury) a step closer to stepping in. It'd also free up space to either re-sign Tlusty or sign another second pairing guy. Assuming, of course, they don't just pocket the money.