Pre-Game Talk: Is It October Yet? Why Yes It Is! Hurricanes, please don't suck this season.

Will we suck this season?


  • Total voters
    57
  • Poll closed .

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
48,341
97,825
Even though I'm optimistic (as we all are), my concerns.

1) We lost a lot of leadership and Williams was credited with keeping them on track during early season struggles.

2) The team had chemistry and played with a chip on their shoulder, outworking pretty much every other team. With all the changes that occurred, will they have the same chemistry and "work ethic".

3) As FW mentioned, can Reimer/Ned/Forsberg be as efficient as McElhinney as a backup.

The good news is that I don't think this management team will let things fester so if there are struggles, they'll take action .
 

TheReelChuckFletcher

Former TheRillestPaulFenton; Harverd Alum
Jun 30, 2011
10,147
22,634
Raleigh and Chapel Hill, NC
Even though I'm optimistic (as we all are), my concerns.

1) We lost a lot of leadership and Williams was credited with keeping them on track during early season struggles.

2) The team had chemistry and played with a chip on their shoulder, outworking pretty much every other team. With all the changes that occurred, will they have the same chemistry and "work ethic".

3) As FW mentioned, can Reimer/Ned/Forsberg be as efficient as McElhinney as a backup.

The good news is that I don't think this management team will let things fester so if there are struggles, they'll take action .

I agree. The biggest concerns that I have are goaltending and the heavy roster turnover. Yes, that turnover improved the team rather than gutted it, but it does take some time for talent to mesh, so I wouldn't be surprised if our team starts off slowly.
 

Ole Gil

Registered User
May 9, 2009
5,702
8,891
My biggest concern with the on-paper improvement of the roster is that the team hasn’t looked better yet. Granted, there hasn’t been a ton of ice time with the newly-minted lines and pairings, and it was only preseason, but still.

Fingers crossed, though.

I'm hoping with vets instead of an army of rookies like last year, the approach to preseason was a lot different.
 

3CanesInTheBox

Bunch of (Actual) Jerks
Sponsor
Feb 22, 2019
8,019
27,882
Chatmandu
I am optimistic because...well, I am generally that obnoxiously overoptimistic one in your friend group about sports lol.

I do expect the PP to still suck for the foreseeable future (and perhaps to the very ends of time itself).

I do expect to enjoy watching the young guys grow and excel regardless.

I do expect to be in the playoff hunt.

We'll see!
 

TheReelChuckFletcher

Former TheRillestPaulFenton; Harverd Alum
Jun 30, 2011
10,147
22,634
Raleigh and Chapel Hill, NC
Understated note: Canes again have the youngest roster in the entire league, even younger than the lowly Senators, mainly because our core players (on average) haven't even hit their prime yet. Also, very single player movement this off-season moved the age needle backwards outside of Faulk for Gardiner.
 
Last edited:

Canes

Registered User
Oct 31, 2017
25,026
69,555
An Oblate Spheroid
I'm personally not that worried about goaltending. I think as long as our goalies don't go through Darling like stretches of awfulness, they will be adequate enough to make the playoffs. Reimer has been a good goalie is this league before and can still be a very good backup. His resume actually blows McElhinney's out of the water other than last year, especially if you consider age. We can also always give Ned or Forsberg a shot if needed.

Not having Williams is probably my biggest worry. Not only was he the heart and soul of this team, he was still one of our best forwards. We absolutely need 1-2 guys to step up in his place production wise.
 

bleedgreen

Registered User
Dec 8, 2003
23,904
38,883
colorado
Visit site
I’m cautiously optimistic. I generally agree with the additions, but have struggled with the subtractions of CDH, Ferland and Mcbackup. I think goaltending was the difference last year so I could see us being close but coming up short.

Faulk and Williams changes the locker room for sure and adds to the grit loss to some extent. The loss goaltending and grit in key positions could turn the tide enough to miss the playoffs.

Haula, Dzingle and Necas add skill and speed but none are guys you’d expect to battle and grit their way through a tough game. Gauthier wouldn’t have been enough from the fourth line. Edmunson will help if he can play d.
 

Nikishin Go Boom

Russian Bulldozer Consultent
Jul 31, 2017
21,883
51,085
Goaltending:

Which Petr will we get
Can Reimer be close to McE good?
Can Ned be better than Darling was in 8 starts last season (2-4-2)?
Forsberg?

Unless Petr returns to Philly Petr, I think the goaltending will be a wash. Those 4 should get us 45 wins. Anything more is awesome. I think that group is worth 47-49 wins.

To me the three biggest concerns are:
We lost a lot in the edge department with Williams, de Haan, and Faulk. We added Edmundson but I don’t that is enough.

Chemistry. We have 5 brand new players and 2 more who didn’t play much with the big squad. Eric T and team do their research but we’ll see how it goes on the ice.

Special teams:
PK: we have a few forwards who are PK capable. The defense is the concern. We have Ed, Fleury/TVR, Slavin, & Pesce. Edmundson takes more penalties than Faulk.

The piece de resistance: PP. we’ve added some pieces and subtracted others.
 

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