Confirmed with Link: Canes sign Calvin de Haan 4 years 18.2M

[Vagrant]

fantastic signing. de haan is constantly among the league leaders in blocked shots, isn't afraid of the physical game, and moves the puck incredibly well. he's going to fit right in here. the concern about losing offense when we trade faulk should be mitigated by the fact that being able to advance the puck is a form of offense creation as well and each of our options can do that with various degrees of competency. offensive creation is more than counting stats and we can't really call slavin, pesce, van riemsdyk, and de haan traditional "defensive defensemen" in the same way you'd classify brooks orpik. these new type of hybrid defenders that can make breakout passes and score the odd goal are just as important to advancing your offense as the guys who can freewheel and go coast to coast. plus, if we go 3 D and 1 F on the points of the pp we certainly have the horses to get that done. we could even potentially use hamilton on both pp units and allow him to play less on the kill to balance minutes. it seems unlikely we'd miss faulk considerably after this signing. now we just have to talk TVR into playing a lesser role for a couple of years when he justifiably could seek twenty minutes a night elsewhere if he was so inclined.

one thing is for certain. the goaltenders on this team will have no excuse that the guys in front of them let them down. this is the best defensive unit we've ever assembled and it's not even particularly close.

 

[A Star is Burns]

Yeah, I don't think there's much of a chance of getting Nylander for Faulk this offseason, if ever. But there should be a whole lot of possibilities at this point if we choose to go that route.

 

[My Special Purpose]

I can't count the number of times I started to post "I think de Haan could be a guy we're keeping an eye on" post but deleted it thinking there was no way. This is so cool. Now the "we'll just play Pesce on the left side" story makes sense. Drawing a line in the sand with de Haan's agent.

Looking forward to the Faulk trade.

 

[What the Faulk]

Isn’t it almost all but certain we would be moving a D out with this pick up?

I'd think so. They said the other day how they're trying to re-sign TVR and that negotiations were going well. So that means you're either paying him 2-3M to sit in the box, or Fleury takes a step backward. Short of a Skinner + Fleury package and Faulk or TVR playing on their opposite side on the bottom pairing, I think Faulk is the most likely trade candidate.

 

[Novacane]

I doubt Nylander moves. Toronto has a year before Matthews and Marner’s contract kick in; they’ll try to overwhelm teams with waves of offensive players this year, then move someone out next year to help fix the D.

Shh, let me dream on this high I’m on right now

 

[DaveG]

I can’t believe I’m actually somewhat happy with what Waddell is doing. The Hamilton trade would have never ever in a million years happened under Francis. I think Ronnie did a decent job of picking up the pieces JR left, but the man was so risky averse it was absurd. GMDW is makin some moves, baby.

Ronnie was the right guy to build the framework to get us out of the absolute clusterf*** the JR era left us in, much as JR was the right guy to get that Pens core over the top. Who knows, maybe Waddell's one of those GM types that can transition a team that was stuck in "almost good enough" that had excellent depth in to "ready for prime time", much like Burke was in Anaheim.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Impress me Donnie.

Faulk, TVR, anyone in Charlotte, 1st round pick for Erik Karlsson.

 

[Canes]

This came out of nowhere. First immediate thought was it might be a bit high but then again I'm not super knowledgeable on De Haan's game but I love that we've just bolstered the left side of our defense.

I'm guessing they really don't think Bean is going to be ready for another a year or two at least and that they like Fleury in a bottom pairing role for now too.

Not sure what this says about Faulk or TVR just yet.

 

[A Star is Burns]

one thing is for certain. the goaltenders on this team will have no excuse that the guys in front of them let them down. this is the best defensive unit we've ever assembled and it's not even particularly close.

The Cup winning D played much better than the sum of its parts, especially considering the new direction of the league at the time. But this is far and away the most talented d corps we've had even if we move out Faulk. Hopefully that translates on the ice.

 

[WreckingCrew]

De Haan is probably the biggest UFA acquisition we've had in a while. Our Top 4 could legit be one of the best in the league...and as someone else mentioned, having Fleury/Bean/TVR/Faulk/Fox/McKeown as options to figure out the bottom pairing over the next few years is kind of insane. Perhaps Fleury goes if Bean is NHL ready to give us more offensive firepower? Maybe we just keep Faulk for now and jettison TVR? Or resign TVR as #7? Trade Faulk later or next offseason and give Fox a chance there?

It's still possible one of our "extra" d-men could be used to get that 3rd goalie GMDW was talking about a while back for battle (the loser going to Charlotte to "mentor" Ned)...and we still have Skinner (though I'm thinking it's more likely we keep him, unless we flip Faulk for a forward and then maybe Skins in a Goalie trade).

Our goalie situation still sucks, and we don't have that 1C, but otherwise this roster is slowly looking more competitive and has more depth than we're used to. Actually, looking at our roster there really are quite a few changes to it, but without losing any of the "core" guys.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Serious question.

Do we have literally the very best defense depth in the league?

EDIT: Nashville, probably Anaheim since they just draft and develop oodles of dmen. But we are now in the conversation at the top, IMO.

 

[AeroFishOne]

Dang just realized without a move we have Fluery, TVR, Faulk, Bean, Fox, and Mckeown possibly in the next few years as our 5-6, and depth. That’s a lot of options to fill holes.

 

[CanesFanBudMan]

Impress me Donnie.

Faulk, TVR, anyone in Charlotte, 1st round pick for Erik Karlsson.

If EK comes in either Hamilton or Pesce is on their way out. Not having any of those 3 guys on the 3rd pair.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

If EK comes in either Hamilton or Pesce is on their way out. Not having any of those 3 guys on the 3rd pair.

Pesce would be a great 3rd pairing defenseman...

 

[Unsustainable]

Faulk for Saad
Skinner for RNH

Sound fair?

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Faulk for Saad
Skinner for RNH

Sound fair?

Skinner for RNH is lateral at best.

Faulk for Saad sure why not.

 

[SlavinAway]

Serious question.

Do we have literally the very best defense depth in the league?

EDIT: Nashville, probably Anaheim since they just draft and develop oodles of dmen. But we are now in the conversation at the top, IMO.

I’d say top 3 at worst.

 

[Unsustainable]

Skinner for RNH is lateral at best.

Faulk for Saad sure why not.

RNH can play center

 

[DaveG]

I can't count the number of times I started to post "I think de Haan could be a guy we're keeping an eye on" post but deleted it thinking there was no way. This is so cool. Now the "we'll just play Pesce on the left side" story makes sense. Drawing a line in the sand with de Haan's agent.

Looking forward to the Faulk trade.

Could also still have been drawing a line in the sand in regards to trade possibilities.

Now here's a crazy question... would it actually make more sense to hold on to Faulk and trade out TVR? 5 defensive dmen on one defense seems a bit... iffy, even if I do think that Slavin has a lot more upside offensively then most would. But the possibility of running out, at least for a year or two:

Slavin-Pesce
De Haan-Hamilton
Fleury-Faulk

while Bean marinades in Charlotte and we have long-term plans to roll out him and Fox, possibly leaving Fleury open for the Seattle (please god do NOT name them the damn Kraken) expansion team to take in the draft when that happens.

I mean, our 2nd pairing from last year just literally becomes a 3rd pairing. THAT'S INSANE.

 

[Unsustainable]

Could also still have been drawing a line in the sand in regards to trade possibilities.

Now here's a crazy question... would it actually make more sense to hold on to Faulk and trade out TVR? 5 defensive dmen on one defense seems a bit... iffy, even if I do think that Slavin has a lot more upside offensively then most would. But the possibility of running out, at least for a year or two:

Slavin-Pesce
De Haan-Hamilton
Fleury-Faulk

while Bean marinades in Charlotte and we have long-term plans to roll out him and Fox, possibly leaving Fleury open for the Seattle (please god do NOT name them the damn Kraken) expansion team to take in the draft when that happens.

Sorry, I love the Kraken for a name.

 

[cptjeff]

I also thought no one wanted to come here?

Don't forget, that somewhere else might be Ottawa.

Anyway, I've had a quiet night with a book, and well, NOICE! This came out of nowhere, but yeah, that's a hell of a D corps.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

Skinner for RNH is lateral at best.

Faulk for Saad sure why not.

RNH is signed two years longer and is a C. Skinner will quite possibly get paid more, too.

 

[bleedgreen]

I wouldn’t mind an extra first in next years draft, Skinner could go for that and Faulk maybe for one of Zucker or Nino?

 

[AeroFishOne]

De Haan is probably the biggest UFA acquisition we've had in a while. Our Top 4 could legit be one of the best in the league...and as someone else mentioned, having Fleury/Bean/TVR/Faulk/Fox/McKeown as options to figure out the bottom pairing over the next few years is kind of insane. Perhaps Fleury goes if Bean is NHL ready to give us more offensive firepower? Maybe we just keep Faulk for now and jettison TVR? Or resign TVR as #7? Trade Faulk later or next offseason and give Fox a chance there?

It's still possible one of our "extra" d-men could be used to get that 3rd goalie GMDW was talking about a while back for battle (the loser going to Charlotte to "mentor" Ned)...and we still have Skinner (though I'm thinking it's more likely we keep him, unless we flip Faulk for a forward and then maybe Skins in a Goalie trade).

Our goalie situation still sucks, and we don't have that 1C, but otherwise this roster is slowly looking more competitive and has more depth than we're used to. Actually, looking at our roster there really are quite a few changes to it, but without losing any of the "core" guys.

If the team plans on keeping Skins at this point long term, I think we kinda need to offer an extension to help mend any possible ill will. I’ve felt like thevye done pretty good about putting the blame on themselves for not holding him to a higher standard and didn’t seem to blame it all on him. If they are confidant he can turn it around and depending on what he brings morale wise for the team, might be worth it. I’m not entirely sold on the idea but just a thought.

 

[CanesFanBudMan]

RNH is signed two years longer and is a C. Skinner will quite possibly get paid more, too.

You will play with Dougie Hamilton is a selling point