The Red Line
Registered User
- Oct 11, 2010
- 8,455
- 4,901
Similar to Colorado, I didn't really like their offseason, but I still think they're strong enough to win their division.
How would you rate Carolina's offseason?
- Thread starter GFS
- Start date
WhiteTrashAmerican
WHY DID IT END
Gurglesons
Registered User
Why is that? They've never been close to winning the Metro.
I don't see any reason to think they win the Metro or are close to it TBH.
GIN ANTONIC
Registered User
One of the options should just be ‘weird’ and I guarantee you it would get 100% of the vote
spockBokk
Registered User
- Sep 8, 2013
- 7,122
- 17,864
As of today, I’d give them a 5. They’re not done…
I don’t think they’ll be as good as they were next year off the bat, but I think their D actually got deeper. Losing Hamilton hurts, badly, however, I think their 3rd pair of Cole-DeAngelo/Bear is vastly improved over Bean/Gardiner-Hakanpaa. The offense DeAngelo should bring and all around play of Bear are decent bets to replace Hamilton by committee at a much cheaper price.
They need more scoring up front, no doubt about it. A Tatar signing or Tarasenko trade would certainly bring up the score from a 5 to a 7 or so.
I don’t like the amount of turnover, but Brind’Amour is getting his wish with a team full of vets.
I don’t think they’ll be as good as they were next year off the bat, but I think their D actually got deeper. Losing Hamilton hurts, badly, however, I think their 3rd pair of Cole-DeAngelo/Bear is vastly improved over Bean/Gardiner-Hakanpaa. The offense DeAngelo should bring and all around play of Bear are decent bets to replace Hamilton by committee at a much cheaper price.
They need more scoring up front, no doubt about it. A Tatar signing or Tarasenko trade would certainly bring up the score from a 5 to a 7 or so.
I don’t like the amount of turnover, but Brind’Amour is getting his wish with a team full of vets.
The Red Line
Registered User
- Oct 11, 2010
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They won their Covid division last season against far deeper teams than the Metro has, and finished higher than every team in the Metro. Not THAT difficult to figure out why someone would consider them a favorite for the division.
Gurglesons
Registered User
Far deeper? lol. K. I'll give you Florida.
Dallas without Seguin.
Tampa without Kucherov.
Nashville. Chicago. Detroit. Columbus.
Considering they got to play Nashville, Detroit, Chicago, and Columbus like 25 times that makes things a little easier.
The Red Line
Registered User
- Oct 11, 2010
- 8,455
- 4,901
So did Tampa, and Florida. The fact that you have to make excuses as to why they were statistically better than all of the other teams in question says everything about your argument.
Again, it's not like I'm saying Detroit or Buffalo is going to win their division, some outrageous prediction. This is a strange hill for you to die on. I'm picking the team that both on paper and based on the most recent year's standings looks stronger than their divisional competition. It's ok to disagree, but you're acting like it is some far fetched assertion, which it is not.
What team do you think wins the division? Start a poll to see who everyone here thinks wins that division, I'd be pretty confident that Carolina gets a good number of votes and that I'm not the only one who thinks so.
tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
If the Metro had existed last year it would have been a three horse race between the Canes, Pens, Caps.
This conversation is going to get dumb if we start making precise projections, but how is that scenario not “close to winning the Metro”?
Gurglesons
Registered User
Because at this point..
The Penguins lost Jared McCann and Brandon Tanev. Two bottom six forwards.
The Caps lost Brenden Dillon and Zdeno Chara.
And the Canes lost their starting goalie, back up goalie # 2 defenseman, multiple forwards and their replacements have been very questionable. Raanta and Andersen is probably the most injury prone tandem in the league.
So the Canes won a weak division and now are coming back to the powerhouse division that they've never gotten near first in with significant losses on their roster.
That can obviously change before the beginning of the season, but I see no reason to say Carolina is strong enough to win the division.
Gurglesons
Registered User
I'd assume that is because people didn't pay attention to their off season and are continuously waiting for the Penguins and Capitals to fall off.
I also wouldn't be surprised to see NYR get a good number of votes too.
The class of the division is what it always is. Washington and PIT. Carolina, Philly, and NYI make up as usual the class below those two. Then you've got NYR and NJ hoping their teams made the right decisions to get into the conversation.
If you want to talk which team is more set up for a deep playoff run, I'll happily dunk on PIT and WAS. But those teams just know how to win in the regular season and there is nothing that happened this off season to say otherwise.
tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
I can totally believe they’ve fallen a step behind the division powerhouses. Or at least, they’ve put their money on multiple risks that have to hit in order for them to keep pace.
I’m just puzzled by the idea that they weren’t good enough last year to win against that Metro group of teams.
Gurglesons
Registered User
If last years Canes team entered this year’s metro I’d be comfortable saying they could challenge for 1st.
bert
Registered User
For a team knocking on the door that's not what I'd want as a fan hoping they take the next step.
Clint Eastwood
Eff the Habs
- Nov 11, 2018
- 4,930
- 9,101
Net negative, but they'll still be a really good team.
Losing Hamilton sucks, but I like the Bear acquisition. If Tony D can replicate his offensive production he had 2 years ago and not be unbearable in the locker room then he could fit very well next to a guy like Slavin in a sheltered role.
The Ned trade was mind-boggling. With that said, Carolina's D is really good so I can see Freddy Andersen return to form a little. Raanta is whatever. Lyon will probably get more games once Raanta stubs his toe.
They still have Aho, Svechnikov, Teravainen, Necas, Staal, Slavin, Pesce, etc. They'll be fine.
Losing Hamilton sucks, but I like the Bear acquisition. If Tony D can replicate his offensive production he had 2 years ago and not be unbearable in the locker room then he could fit very well next to a guy like Slavin in a sheltered role.
The Ned trade was mind-boggling. With that said, Carolina's D is really good so I can see Freddy Andersen return to form a little. Raanta is whatever. Lyon will probably get more games once Raanta stubs his toe.
They still have Aho, Svechnikov, Teravainen, Necas, Staal, Slavin, Pesce, etc. They'll be fine.
Mickey Marner
Registered User
They became more cost effective, but also worse. If they have another move on the table and were saving in order to spend, then I think they had a good off-season. But if they were saving just to save I think they missed the plot.
