This was a very honest article on the state of Carolina Hurricanes and what they face for their AHL season
I am sure there is probably someone in this forum that makes it a true science (studying depth of all NHL teams
and their depth or lack thereof.
Having read this article yesterday I can say that the author makes some good points...1 thing he doesn't touch on is WHY the relationship between Chicago and carolina deteriorated...BUT he also unknowingly provides the answer. He talked about signing AHL veterans...This is the crux of the issue. After the 21-22 season when Chicago won the Calder Cup they were told by canes mgt (ownership) that if they wanted to sign any of the veterans back from that team that would be fine but carolina wasn't going to pay for them it would come out of the wolves pockets. The wolves agreements with their parent clubs have always been that they will develop the prospects, but at the same time they want to win and the parent clubs were to provide them veterans to help do that...NO different then most clubs in the AHL...if they tell you they just want to develop players they are lying, because winning puts butts in the seats. Since 2019 the canes have burned through 2 AHL affiliates and both times it's been about the same thing...$$$$$$
With that out of the way I can say that carolina is in win now mode...their prospect pool is thin at best. There are no major difference makers that I've seen in Chicago...outside of a goaltnder that is a headcase with anger issues (Kochetkov) and maybe a couple skaters making minimal contributions...Jack Drury is good at the AHL level but hasn't been able to stick full time up top
V Ponomarev is a young forward with upside having played 1 full yr at the AHL and part of a year his first yr. The improvement he showed last yr from beginning to end was remarkable.
Tuukka Tieksola has skill but will need to get stronger to be able to play at the next level
Ryan Suzuki...who knows...when he's healthy he's good but he can't stay healthy
Jamieson Rees...still hasn't been able to be consistant...trys to play 1 on 5 way too much
On D...I don't know that there is any real help there in the near future. Ronan Seeley maybe
Never saw Heimosalmi so...
That's my take
