News Article: News and Note XXIX: The Jerks of Summer

[DaveG]

Foegele was headed to the NCAA with a scholarship. He was taken later in the OHL draft due to the unlikeliness that he would actually ever go to Kingston rather than his lack of skill.

Yep. Where Foegele is a rare case is in that he was a late bloomer and not a high end pick, but it is very common for top prospects to use the ncaa commitment route to avoid poor chl franchises. The only weird part is in that he was 18 when Kingston took him.

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[emptyNedder]

I am with many on the Foegele bandwagon. But let's not forget that for 6 weeks in January and February he was mostly invisible except for being the +/- cellar dweller. Many thought he should be sent back to Charlotte.
I mention this because Necas, Bean, and likely one other rookie will be on the team next season. They won't always succeed--but they will develop into serviceable or better players.
The Canes don't really need more forwards if Williams has one good year left and Staal continues to succeed in RBA's system (he was on a 55 point pace once he returned and 60+ in the playoffs). Aho/Svech/TT/NN should combine for 100 goals, so the top two lines will be as productive as this year if not slightly more.
Svechnikov/Aho/Williams
NN/Staal/TT
rookie/Wallmark/Necas
Foegele/Martinook/McGinn

That is a winning lineup that only gets better if Necas can take Williams' spot during the season. I also get Martinook is not ideally a center, but that line will wreak havoc. Realistically that leaves Saarela/Kuokkanen/Geekie competing to make the team.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I am with many on the Foegele bandwagon. But let's not forget that for 6 weeks in January and February he was mostly invisible except for being the +/- cellar dweller. Many thought he should be sent back to Charlotte.
I mention this because Necas, Bean, and likely one other rookie will be on the team next season. They won't always succeed--but they will develop into serviceable or better players.
The Canes don't really need more forwards if Williams has one good year left and Staal continues to succeed in RBA's system (he was on a 55 point pace once he returned and 60+ in the playoffs). Aho/Svech/TT/NN should combine for 100 goals, so the top two lines will be as productive as this year if not slightly more.
Svechnikov/Aho/Williams
NN/Staal/TT
rookie/Wallmark/Necas
Foegele/Martinook/McGinn

That is a winning lineup that only gets better if Necas can take Williams' spot during the season. I also get Martinook is not ideally a center, but that line will wreak havoc. Realistically that leaves Saarela/Kuokkanen/Geekie competing to make the team.

I'm really not sure what we have in Foegele yet. He has the qualities of a very good player and also the qualities of a very mediocre player. On a personal level I'm rooting for him because he's a good guy who plays hard, but I'm wary of penciling a guy like this into a permanent spot on the roster. It's kind of what we're going through with Ferland.

If I had to guess, he'll be a McGinn type presence on the roster long-term. But he needs to put it together a little bit more, find a niche bigger than "guy who chases the puck at full speed and hopes for the best". That guy becomes Brad Malone when the goals dry up.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

I just thought about something.

Think back to a year ago, when our biggest issue was WTF we were going to do about Scott Darling.

Remember how there were all those points made about "if Darling had been even a league average goalie, Canes make the playoffs"?

Well, what if he HAD been a league average goalie?

If Darling had been league average, Canes make the playoffs by like a point.

That means Darling is probably still our goalie.

It means Ron Francis is probably still our GM.

It means Bill Peters is probably still our coach.

It means we pick 16th, instead of 2nd. We get Martin Kaut instead of Andrei Svechnikov.

It means Petr Mrazek never signs here.

It means instead of Mrazek's .914, we get Darling's league average (.905) this season... costing us a playoff spot.

There is no captain Justin Williams.

There is no Storm Surge.

There is no Hamilton the Pig.

There might not even be Dougie Hamilton.

No tailgates.

No Brock McGinn OT goal.

Just a one-round-and-out whimper in 2018.

Scott Darling's dumpster fire season, by itself, put the Carolina Hurricanes on track to make the conference final 12 months later.




Scott Darling saved this franchise.

I'm convinced. Time to hang up Scott Darling's #...let me check my notes...#33 to the rafters of PNC Arena.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I'm convinced. Time to hang up Scott Darling's #...let me check my notes...#33 to the rafters of PNC Arena.

Let's find this guy a front office job in the role of Director of TBD

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Let's find this guy a front office job in the role of Director of TBD

Could employ him as a Matt Foley-esque motivational speaker. Director of Cautionary Tales. "THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T EAT AT MCDONALDS EVERY DAY. BECAUSE IF YOU DO, YOU'LL END UP LIVING IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER...IN CHARLOTTE!"

 

[tarheelhockey]

Could employ him as a Matt Foley-esque motivational speaker. Director of Cautionary Tales. "THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T EAT AT MCDONALDS EVERY DAY. BECAUSE IF YOU DO, YOU'LL END UP LIVING IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER...IN CHARLOTTE!"

There probably is someone living in a van down by Briar Creek.

 

[bleedgreen]

Foegele has been all over the map. He’s a spaz on the ice, he has a lot to refine if he’s going to be a consistent scorer. He flat out sucked offensively for a notable portion of this season. He’s the kind of guy who gets goals in the playoffs, so I’d love to see him figure it out enough to stay in the lineup.

 

[emptyNedder]

Foegele has been all over the map.

I think his upside is Blake Coleman--a player who plays hard every shift and is dangerous on the penalty kill. In any case, I think he, McGinn, Martinook, Maenalanen, and McKegg if he remains, are the best pieces in the league to build a fourth line.

Realistically that leaves Saarela/Kuokkanen/Geekie competing to make the team.

Forgot to mention Luostarinen. One of the posters on the World Championship thread wrote that he was impressed with Eetu.

 

[Lempo]

Forgot to mention Luostarinen. One of the posters on the World Championship thread wrote that he was impressed with Eetu.

He and head coach Jalonen and plenty of other people.

Alas, Kakko describes him as the king in Fortnite.

 

[To Be Determined]

Let's find this guy a front office job in the role of Director of TBD

he's not the boss of me

 

[tarheelhockey]

he's not the boss of me

This was perfect

 

[HisIceness]

he's not the boss of me

 

[Lempo]

he's not the boss of me

We need a more mellow singular online poster to put him in charge of. This guy is too willful.

 

[My Special Purpose]

I think his upside is Blake Coleman--a player who plays hard every shift and is dangerous on the penalty kill. In any case, I think he, McGinn, Martinook, Maenalanen, and McKegg if he remains, are the best pieces in the league to build a fourth line.

You think that's his upside? Or is that his likely landing spot. I think his upside is Josh Anderson, but he probably won't be that good. Anderson took some time to get there, too. Foegele has the speed, size and mean streak. I'd like to see him stop trying to dance through entire teams on 3-on-2s, but he's got some time to sort it out.

 

[DaveG]

Anderson's probably a good comparison for where I think he can end up. Not sure I see too many prolonged slumps like he had earlier this year in his career, far more likely to end up as a 20/20+ type guy but not too likely to break out in to a true star level player. Basically a guy that most any team would kill to have in their middle 6, just not sure he's ever going to figure out how to slow the game down mentally enough to break out in to that level above that.

 

[emptyNedder]

You think that's his upside? Or is that his likely landing spot. I think his upside is Josh Anderson, but he probably won't be that good.

I don't see Foegele as being the bull that Anderson can be. I think his game is more about speed and tenacity, thus the comparison to Coleman. If Foegele has Coleman's upside--22 goals this past season, then that is excellent for the team.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

There are a couple of guys who Boston has rendered completely invisible in this series. I will chalk it up to growing pains, rookies playing in their first playoffs. In particular I didn’t see Foegele or Wallmark last night do anything good. Maybe I missed something but I can’t remember anything notable.

 

[NotOpie]

There are a couple of guys who Boston has rendered completely invisible in this series. I will chalk it up to growing pains, rookies playing in their first playoffs. In particular I didn’t see Foegele or Wallmark last night do anything good. Maybe I missed something but I can’t remember anything notable.

Wallmark was moved to the 4th line because of his less effective series. Foegele was on the edge most of the night last night. He was scrambling and chasing, but he was also just a shade away from being a difference maker.

 

[GindyDraws]

Considering we got rid of our deadweight on goaltending in whozits (I can't be arsed to remember his name), and although Mrazek is fun when he can defend, there will be times when Petr has issues. I'd like to know what we can do to add depth on this, if we could.

 

[DaveG]

Considering we got rid of our deadweight on goaltending in whozits (I can't be arsed to remember his name), and although Mrazek is fun when he can defend, there will be times when Petr has issues. I'd like to know what we can do to add depth on this, if we could.

Goaltending is the one dicey thing to me heading in to next season.

I mean I bring Mrazek back personally as long as he's not asking for something crazy, he's earned it. And we're not going to get Bob or Lehner in UFA so there's no upgrade hitting the market that is realistic.

And then you have Ned. I mean literally what else can the guy do to prove it's his turn? As much as I'd like to bring Curtis back on a one year to back Petr up again he'll get a 2 year offer elsewhere and can't say he hasn't earned every bit of it over his career.

 

[bleedgreen]

Not having Mac changes the look of the goalie situation pretty drastically. Not having him to calm everything down will hurt. Ned isn’t the calming influence type as of yet.

I get why these things may happen or have to happen. I just think that’ll be a thing that takes a step back next year.

If Ned pushes Mrazek for number one then maybe they thrive off that. Tall order tho.

 

[WreckingCrew]

Not having Mac changes the look of the goalie situation pretty drastically. Not having him to calm everything down will hurt. Ned isn’t the calming influence type as of yet.

I get why these things may happen or have to happen. I just think that’ll be a thing that takes a step back next year.

If Ned pushes Mrazek for number one then maybe they thrive off that. Tall order tho.

I think our other problem there is Mrazek plays very aggressively, and because of his size, so does Ned. The nice thing about Mrazek vs. McBackup is they have 2 polar opposite styles, and you can use that to your advantage depending on the team you play. BOS obviously owned Mrazek, but he was otherwise fairly solid in the playoffs. Mac is solid, but unspectacular, and won't make as many of those saves that require immense athleticism.

If you have Ned behind Mrazek, you have 2 guys who play very similarly, very aggressive, come out of the net, but very quick and athletic as well...does that begin to make us too predictable? One guy, when confident and playing with fire, can hang with the best goalies in the league, but when losing confidence, can struggle mightily. The other is a rookie, who will inevitably have up and down confidence issues and likely suffer a similar fate.

 

[bleedgreen]

I think our other problem there is Mrazek plays very aggressively, and because of his size, so does Ned. The nice thing about Mrazek vs. McBackup is they have 2 polar opposite styles, and you can use that to your advantage depending on the team you play. BOS obviously owned Mrazek, but he was otherwise fairly solid in the playoffs. Mac is solid, but unspectacular, and won't make as many of those saves that require immense athleticism.

If you have Ned behind Mrazek, you have 2 guys who play very similarly, very aggressive, come out of the net, but very quick and athletic as well...does that begin to make us too predictable? One guy, when confident and playing with fire, can hang with the best goalies in the league, but when losing confidence, can struggle mightily. The other is a rookie, who will inevitably have up and down confidence issues and likely suffer a similar fate.

Agree completely. I think Ned can be Mrazek 2.0. Having that yin and yang this year is no small part of what worked.

 

[A Star is Burns]

I'm sure there is a good chance we'll go with Ned as the backup. And sure, I can't argue with the fact he's earned a shot. But I'd still do whatever I reasonably could to bring back McElhinney as our backup. I don't care if it's not fair to Ned, and I don't believe in the nothing left to prove angle. I believe in the we need to put ourselves in a position to win. If Ned steals the job next season, it should be easy to move on from McElhinney. If McElhinney plays badly, it should be easy to promote Ned. But I personally don't want a crucial season of building on so much of what we accomplished this year to hinge on Ned being a big part of the plan. It's not super fair, but life isn't always fair.

Now, if Curtis doesn't want to come back or gets a better deal, we may be forced to roll the dice on Ned. So be it at that point.