Its time for JR to fix this D... If he knows how...

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I think we like our left hand side, so unless Pitts goes in the deal I really think the guy we add might be a righty. I honestly see mcbain not working here long term since he has trouble staying in the lineup. I see Murphy in here next year,so my guess is if we add someone who isn't a rental it's a righty who takes the mcbain/corvo spot. In that scenario maybe Komi makes some sense, but like mentioned there's a money issue there. Maybe TO buys him out in off season, does he have much time left?

His salary is $3.5M for this season and next....his Cap hit is $4.5 though (which doens't matter to Carolina). Not a great salary, but maybe Toronto will keep some of the salary just to get rid of him and his cap hit? (assuming they can do that in the CBA)?

 

[DougieSmash]

Streit and Matt Martin in package would be huge. Streit is not just a offense, he's pretty underrated.

or Antropov/ Mark Stuart package.

Something around R. Whitney/ Petrell (or Paajarvi)?

 

[w e l o s t b o y s]

Streit and Matt Martin in package would be huge. Streit is not just a offense, he's pretty underrated.

or Antropov/ Mark Stuart package.

Something around R. Whitney/ Petrell (or Paajarvi)?

do not want

 

[bleedgreen]

His salary is $3.5M for this season and next....his Cap hit is $4.5 though (which doens't matter to Carolina). Not a great salary, but maybe Toronto will keep some of the salary just to get rid of him and his cap hit? (assuming they can do that in the CBA)?

I think we paid Allen's salary which was 3.5ish? I think we'd do it again if we thought he could get his act together.

I really like the streit/Martin thought. Martin is underrated as a role playing banger who can hit an occasional half empty net. Streit is awesome, though made of glass.

 

[Foppa2118]

This is actually pretty interesting. I looked into O'Byrne's advanced stats, and in 2010-2011 he was actually about as good a shutdown defenseman as Tim Gleason or Bryan Allen. Last season and this season so far his Corsi numbers have been really bad though (he sort of ended up going out for every defensive zone draw for the Avs, which is terrible for your possession numbers)

Pitkanen-Faulk
Gleason-O'Byrne
Harrison-Corvo/Sangs

I dunno how much better that looks, but there's a chance it replaces Bryan Allen. We should have signed that guy, btw.

Overall I think I'd rather we just add confirmed top 4 talent, but maybe that's wishful thinking.

He's a actually really underrated as a defensive D. He's fairly mobile too for a big guy, though it's obviously not a strength for him. He'll fight if he has to but he doesn't do it very much. He jumped right in and took himself out of the game to stick up for Landeskog when Stuart hit him.

I really think the Avs would be smart to keep him, and he's better than any of the other guys we have defensively except maybe EJ. He's just a pending UFA, and with the Avs track record on pending UFA's like him, and the fact they just signed or re-signed other guys who are similar, means he'll likely be let go.

He hasn't had the best start to the year so far, but the team itself has looked like crap, and I think it's been harder for D like him to get back to midseason form with the layoff.

Shane O'Brien? imo very competent 3rd pairing guy and he seems like the "JR Type" to me at least anyway. That said, I'd love if we could snag Murray. Not the fleetest of foot, but he hits like a tank and is defensivley responsible.

Obyrne for mcbain is a loss for us. Obrien might actualiy be a positive, and wouldn't cost mcbain. Issue is with Pitts, Harry and Gleason all locked up lefties I'm afraid the toughness might actually have to be added to the right. In that way obyrne makes sense but not nearly at the cost of mcbain.

O'Brien's ok, but he may have come into camp a bit more out of shape than the rest of the guys, and has subsequently been scratched a few games, and not looked great in the ones he's been in. He's great for the chemistry of a team, and will stick up for guys, and play a rough phsycial game, but he tries to do a bit too much when skating the puck out of his zone. He's developed the nickname Orr'Brien because of it.

He basically needs to be kept in a 3rd pairing role, or he gets himself in a little trouble, and looks worse the higher and higher up the depth chart they try to force him. He can play on the right too, but he's more effective on the left.

I'd rather trade O'Brien than O'Byrne personally. I didn't think it made sense for the Avs to trade O'Brien since they just re-signed him as a pending UFA, but there has been some rumors out there about him being available. Who knows if they're true.

 

[Beardy*]

2nd time in a ******* week that a team goes 3 for 3 against us on the Power Play.

At what ****ing time is it enough for JR to make a move? Our defense is KILLING this team nightly. There's no excuse for this kind of play. We're atrocious on defense, and its unacceptable

 

[Wolfpuck]

2nd time in a ******* week that a team goes 3 for 3 against us on the Power Play.

At what ****ing time is it enough for JR to make a move? Our defense is KILLING this team nightly. There's no excuse for this kind of play. We're atrocious on defense, and its unacceptable

I hear you. On a marginal team like the Hurricanes, not icing a competent NHL-caliber defense will break you more often than not. Sadly, defense always seems to be dead last on the priority list for Rutherford.

 

[La Huracanista]

I've done some looking through the advanced stats on most of the UFA defensemen who are somewhat likely to be moved (based mostly on 2011-2012).

Visnovsky: Fine rental for a team looking for a PP spark (probably not for us).

Streit: Based on last year's numbers, he's a really good offensive defenseman.

Regehr: A good shutdown guy, good add. (if anyone saw original post before edit, I was looking at 2012-13 when I criticized him)

Ryan Whitney: Pretty bad 5v5 player.

Hamrlik: Good third pairing guy.

Jordan Leopold: has been great this season (small sample size), but was very bad last season.

Ryan O'Byrne: I wouldn't mind getting him at all. He might be like a lesser Gleason/Allen type, but not too far off the real thing.

Andy Sutton: pretty good third pairing guy

John Erskine: Played tougher minutes last year and got terrible Corsi numbers, but could serve in a shutdown role.

Scott Hannan: could be an average shutdown pairing player, not a bad add at all at the right price.

And finally, Keith Yandle: gets good Corsi numbers in very easy minutes. Very unsure about getting him on such an expensive contract. Doesn't seem to fit that shutdown guy that everyone knows we need.

Source: http://www.behindthenet.ca/nhl_stat...6+7+8+13+14+29+30+32+33+34+45+46+63+67#snip=f

The best UFA D we could get would probably be Ladislav Smid, who's basically a very good shutdown guy. Not sure Edmonton would let him go though.

 

[Roboturner913]

I like Hannan a lot, would be ideal paired with Pitkanen.

 

[Unsustainable]

I like Hannan a lot, would be ideal paired with Pitkanen.

Hannan would be a good fit I think.

 

[My Special Purpose]

Hannan would be a good fit I think.

Well, Nashville knows a thing or two about building a defense, and they signed the guy. So that's all I need to know. Having said that, I'd have liked to have him five years ago or so.

 

[Moosetache]

Basically, all anyone needs to know about the defense on this team is in this link:

http://espn.go.com/nhl/team/stats/_/name/car/cat/plusMinus/carolina-hurricanes

I feel bad for Jay Harrison. They stick him with Sangs and he suffers. He has made some great heady plays for us, but gets put in impossible situations when hes out there with Sangs. Jay has 5 points in 11 games from a Defensive dman....I will take that all day. Not to mention he is a great team guy, who will stick up for his guys. I think they guy is totally underrated. Dont get me wrong, hes a 5/6 dman. But he is a good 5/6, thats for sure.

 

[Mr America]

Basically, all anyone needs to know about the defense on this team is in this link:

http://espn.go.com/nhl/team/stats/_/name/car/cat/plusMinus/carolina-hurricanes

I feel bad for Jay Harrison. They stick him with Sangs and he suffers. He has made some great heady plays for us, but gets put in impossible situations when hes out there with Sangs. Jay has 5 points in 11 games from a Defensive dman....I will take that all day. Not to mention he is a great team guy, who will stick up for his guys. I think they guy is totally underrated. Dont get me wrong, hes a 5/6 dman. But he is a good 5/6, thats for sure.

Harrison seems really really smart, rarely makes a boneheaded move from what I can tell, and knows when to interject himself into the game with offensive awareness or physicality.

I watched a video clip with Grapes commenting on his OT goal the other day. Don said, "remember, this is a guy we were told couldn't play in Toronto"

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I wonder if it may be a good idea to swap Ryan Murphy in a JJ/Gleason type of deal. Yes, Murphy may become a good defenseman, but if we need help now, it might not be prudent to wait for his development. How about a swap like this?

To Flames:

D Ryan Murphy

To Canes:

D Mark Giordano (3 years/$4.02M remaining)

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I wonder if it may be a good idea to swap Ryan Murphy in a JJ/Gleason type of deal. Yes, Murphy's may become a good defenseman, but if we need help now, it might not be prudent to wait for his development. How about a swap like this?

To Flames:

D Ryan Murphy

To Canes:

D Mark Giordano (3 years/$4.02M remaining)

I love Giordano, and I think he could REALLY help this team, but I'd be cautious about giving up Murphy for him. Not saying I wouldn't do it, but I'd definitely have to think about it a little more.

 

[La Huracanista]

I wonder if it may be a good idea to swap Ryan Murphy in a JJ/Gleason type of deal. Yes, Murphy may become a good defenseman, but if we need help now, it might not be prudent to wait for his development. How about a swap like this?

To Flames:

D Ryan Murphy

To Canes:

D Mark Giordano (3 years/$4.02M remaining)

That would pretty much leave us bereft of prospects with any significant upside, possible exception being Rask. I'd rather give up picks.

Murphy has been decent (by his standards) for Kitchener lately. He had a frustrating WJC, but what Canadian player didn't?

 

[bleedgreen]

Andrew ference is about to be a ufa. Little bit if grit, mobile, experienced and wants a couple of more years. Righty. Could solidify that side for two years or so.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Andrew ference is about to be a ufa. Little bit if grit, mobile, experienced and wants a couple of more years. Righty. Could solidify that side for two years or so.

I'd be ecstatic, but I bet Boston locks him up.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Andrew ference is about to be a ufa. Little bit if grit, mobile, experienced and wants a couple of more years. Righty. Could solidify that side for two years or so.

Lefty

 

[DaveG]

Lefty

Left-Left is pretty workable in the defensive zone, which is what I'd expect any pairing with Ference to be. It's mostly in the offensive zone where Right-Left comes into play.

 

[La Huracanista]

Ference doesn't actually meet our need of "more talented defense." He's 33, 5'11" and 190 lbs. His offensive game is meh, and he plays less minutes for Boston than 4 other defensemen.

I don't think this team is looking for "veteran who fills a spot in the lineup." We have that, his name is Corvo.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Ference doesn't actually meet our need of "more talented defense." He's 33, 5'11" and 190 lbs. His offensive game is meh, and he plays less minutes for Boston than 4 other defensemen.

I don't think this team is looking for "veteran who fills a spot in the lineup." We have that, his name is Corvo.

Is that our need? I figured with Pitkanen, McBain, Corvo, Faulk, and Sangs we sort of had that covered...

 

[bleedgreen]

My bad on the righty, still think he's a possible deadline deal though Boston is likely to hold onto their depth.

 

[La Huracanista]

Is that our need? I figured with Pitkanen, McBain, Corvo, Faulk, and Sangs we sort of had that covered...

Having a many-paged thread about our defensive inadequacies sort of indicates that you're wrong. If you want to make a playoff run, sure a guy like Ference can...sort of exist for 17 minutes a night. Or we could get someone better (say Giordano) and suddenly we don't have to play Corvo or Sangs any more, and move McBain down to the third pairing where he would not have to develop his game so quickly.

Faulk is rapidly becoming a top pairing guy. Pitkanen's a solid offensive defenseman but imho he's a middle pairing guy. Besides them we have Gleason, who is very good. McBain is a reach as a #4 guy, and Corvo and Sangs are not worth mentioning. Jay Harrison has been a good #5 for us, too.

We clearly don't have the worst defense in the league. But would you rather have one more good defenseman or Andrew Ference? Doesn't require much thought. Especially after Pitkanen's injury tonight.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Having a many-paged thread about our defensive inadequacies sort of indicates that you're wrong. If you want to make a playoff run, sure a guy like Ference can...sort of exist for 17 minutes a night. Or we could get someone better (say Giordano) and suddenly we don't have to play Corvo or Sangs any more, and move McBain down to the third pairing where he would not have to develop his game so quickly.

Faulk is rapidly becoming a top pairing guy. Pitkanen's a solid offensive defenseman but imho he's a middle pairing guy. Besides them we have Gleason, who is very good. McBain is a reach as a #4 guy, and Corvo and Sangs are not worth mentioning. Jay Harrison has been a good #5 for us, too.

We clearly don't have the worst defense in the league. But would you rather have one more good defenseman or Andrew Ference? Doesn't require much thought. Especially after Pitkanen's injury tonight.

I didn't mean that we didn't need another defenseman, from your original post it seemed like you were implying we needed a talented PMD type. As far as getting a "good" defenseman is concerned, Ference fits, I love the guy's game. But as far as being picky because you want another PMD, I think that's a little silly.