OT: Look here! Now with prizes!

[Breakdowns]

My list who we keep
Goalies (2)- Darling,Ward
Defense (7) - TVR, Slavin, Peesh, Faulk, Hanifin, Fleury and Dahlbeck as extra D
Forwards (14) - Staal, Williams, Kruger, Ryan, Aho, Lindy, Turbo, Nordy, Rask, Skinner, Jooris, Stempniak (IR now?), Kuokkanen, McGinn and if Stempniak is IR now, we can carry another forward and I would take Wallmark
First day lineup McGinn, Wallmark and Dahlbeck scratched

Necas back to Czech league
PDG to AHL
Bean to junior

 

[Unsustainable]

Jooris has been everything we'd hope for in a 4th liner, at least in the games I've seen.

Wallmark has played center, I don't even recall them giving him a look in the pre-season at wing, so would be surprised to see him stay up. Even though he's been impressive, our center position is pretty set.

Yeah, didn't think about that.

I think opening night:

TT - Rask - Williams
Aho - Staal - Lindy
Skins - Ryan - McGinn
Nord - Kruger - Jooris

Slavin - Faulk
Hanifin - Pesce
Fluery - TVR

Darling
Ward

PDG and Dahlbeck press box, Stempiak IR.

Necas to Brno
Bean to Juniors
Wall and Kuok to Charlotte.

 

[Unsustainable]

Necas has to be riding cloud 9, along with Bean for being this deep into the cuts.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Necas has to be riding cloud 9, along with Bean for being this deep into the cuts.

I'm guessing that's part of what the Canes brass wants to boost their confidence as well.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

I'm guessing that's part of what the Canes brass wants to boost their confidence as well.

are you saying that it is all a ruse?

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

RF is going to surprise us all when he sends Necas, Kuokkanen, Wallmark and PDG back, puts Stempniak on IR and signs Jagr.

 

[My Special Purpose]

It's a testament to how far we've come that we're worried about losing a d-man on waivers.

A few seasons ago, five of our top six would have cleared waivers if we tried to give them away.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

RF is going to surprise us all when he sends Necas, Kuokkanen, Wallmark and PDG back, puts Stempniak on IR and signs Jagr.

If he signs Jagr, he's keeping Necas.

 

[GoldiFox]

If he signs Jagr, he's keeping Necas.

Seriously... You don't just bring in Jagr and then send back the kid that likely has the most to gain from having Jagr around. If anything they might look into signing Jagr in response to Necas earning a full-time spot.

 

[Vagrant]

I think keeping Bean around has just as much to do with pushing Fleury as much as it does anything else. It's a pretty no lose situation. You give Bean the impression that he's close, even though there's clearly no room, and you give Fleury the impression that his spot on the team isn't decided. The competition is part of the benefit of depth and you can give both guys really positive starts to their season. Bean for being a part of the final cuts and Fleury for feeling like he really won the position instead of it being birthrighted to him. I would be entirely shocked if Bean skated a game with the Hurricanes.

To a degree, I think Necas is experiencing the same type of pump up. The tangible production hasn't been there in the preseason and you'd want to see a little bit of that at least if you were going to make a questionable decision in a 50/50 spot. Kuokkanen is the wild card here. I really have no idea what his chances are but his production has been there and he's a year further along than Necas. If the competition is truly between them for the last regular shift, it would stand to reason that Kuokkanen has the inside track. The big knock on Necas in my opinion is that his ultimate offensive upside remains in question because he hasn't really had a platform. The structure of the Czech system combined with the lack of elite skill coming out of it in recent years has meant that Necas has always been playing above his head by age. It would be nice to give him a year of stability and say go back to the Men's league, refine your offensive game, and we'll see you here next year ready to go. I want a year of numerical production before we go to nuts giving him the keys because he's a ridiculously smart player and skates effortlessly. That needs to result in positive outcomes.

Wallmark is a center and a center only. One of the big selling points for him is how effective he is on draws. That's a huge part of his game and you'd negate that by sliding him to wing. I think his presence on the roster at this point is also a limited time kind of situation. The primary spot open on the roster is for a winger in my estimation, especially with Stempniak being of questionable readiness, and Wallmark just isn't the right piece for that. He's going to be called up the first time a center on our roster burps and farts at the same time though. He pretty much won the battle with Roy by TKO on this one.

If I had to make a guess, I would say that PDG and Kuokkanen are the bubble guys that make the squad at least to start the year with the idea that Kuokkanen will go to Charlotte at the first sign of struggle and the revolving door of PDG/Jooris/McGinn/Nordstrom will swing in perpetuity until either one of them really deathlocks the position or someone from Charlotte emerges as pack leader.

 

[MinJaBen]

Wallmark is a center and a center only. One of the big selling points for him is how effective he is on draws. That's a huge part of his game and you'd negate that by sliding him to wing. I think his presence on the roster at this point is also a limited time kind of situation. The primary spot open on the roster is for a winger in my estimation, especially with Stempniak being of questionable readiness, and Wallmark just isn't the right piece for that.

This assumes that one of the centers we have can't slide to wing and be the best option there until Stempniak returns. Walmark may be the best player to bring up if he adequately fills the 3C slot AND Ryan is the best player to fill the wing spot vacated by Stempniak. Ryan played quite a bit on wing last year and looked fine doing it, so Walmark is definitely not out of the running for a roster spot at this point.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Did Ryan really play quite a bit of wing last year? I remember him being mostly at center last year.

I do get what you are saying, but IMO, the addition of Kruger really limits the chances for Wallmark.

 

[Unsustainable]

We have a bunch of 3rd/4th line centers, some with upside of 2c, but no game breaker 1C (which looks like it will be Necas)

 

[Vagrant]

This assumes that one of the centers we have can't slide to wing and be the best option there until Stempniak returns. Walmark may be the best player to bring up if he adequately fills the 3C slot AND Ryan is the best player to fill the wing spot vacated by Stempniak. Ryan played quite a bit on wing last year and looked fine doing it, so Walmark is definitely not out of the running for a roster spot at this point.

The primary benefit for Ryan being on the roster aside from being Top 9 adequate from a hands and offensive skill department is that he's also incredible in the dots. The concept of having him with Skinner is designed around starting them in the offensive zone and Ryan being able to win those draws at a 55-60% rate, almost assuring some form of contribution from that unit when they're on the ice. I think that's why we're going to see Ryan and Skinner attached at the hip and getting loads of offensive starts. I think that particular wrinkle of the game is locked in just as Kruger doing the same on the 4th line in defensive zone starts. Those two lines are very specialized and I don't think they tinker too much with that to start the season.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Did Ryan really play quite a bit of wing last year? I remember him being mostly at center last year.

I do get what you are saying, but IMO, the addition of Kruger really limits the chances for Wallmark.

http://frozenpool.dobbersports.com/...17:R:99&Submit=Show+Line+Combinations&sent=go

By rough calculation, it looks like Ryan spent 70% or so of his EV shifts in the middle and 30% on the wing.

 

[geehaad]

The primary benefit for Ryan being on the roster aside from being Top 9 adequate from a hands and offensive skill department is that he's also incredible in the dots. The concept of having him with Skinner is designed around starting them in the offensive zone and Ryan being able to win those draws at a 55-60% rate, almost assuring some form of contribution from that unit when they're on the ice. I think that's why we're going to see Ryan and Skinner attached at the hip and getting loads of offensive starts.

Right, but imagine Wallmark and Ryan together, one left-handed the other right-handed, taking O-zone starts and winning faceoffs like they do. Small sample size, but Wallmark was 65% in the O-zone last year in the NHL (look out world...I found my own data!).

 

[Vagrant]

Right, but imagine Wallmark and Ryan together, one left-handed the other right-handed, taking O-zone starts and winning faceoffs like they do. Small sample size, but Wallmark was 65% in the O-zone last year in the NHL (look out world...I found my own data!).

I just don't know if that gives us enough offense to work with Skinner. Having one player on that line that's right at replacement level offensively is enough. I'm not saying Wallmark can't be that guy, but having Stempniak and Skinner to elevate Ryan is part of what helps that line go. I'm not sure anchoring Skinner to two of them will do him any benefit. It's why despite being less proven I would like to see Kuokkanen or Necas get that option ahead of Wallmark. I do think Wallmark is in the mix as an eventual displacement to Ryan's role on that line, but he'll need to really stand out in the AHL this season.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I think keeping Bean around has just as much to do with pushing Fleury as much as it does anything else. It's a pretty no lose situation. You give Bean the impression that he's close, even though there's clearly no room, and you give Fleury the impression that his spot on the team isn't decided. The competition is part of the benefit of depth and you can give both guys really positive starts to their season. Bean for being a part of the final cuts and Fleury for feeling like he really won the position instead of it being birthrighted to him. I would be entirely shocked if Bean skated a game with the Hurricanes.

That could be the case. Another more "it's still off season so let's wildly speculate" thought is maybe they are trying to make a defenseman for forward trade and they are showcasing Bean to other teams to improve trade value. Even though I don't think he's NHL ready, I have to admit that Bean has been much more impressed with Bean this pre-season and he is closer to NHL ready than I expected. Either way, barring injuries, I do expect him to be part of the final cuts and back in the WHL though.

 

[Negan4Coach]

Is there any chance they send Bean to the Checkers instead of back to Junior? I know it burns a year on the ELC, but I think it'd be worth it to have him around when the inevitable injuries happen.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Bean's not eligible to go to the AHL. The only two options are NHL or WHL.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I just had a sad thought.

It's legitimately possible that Carrick could be claimed by Washington. He played great against them, so they are one of the few teams that his decent preseason wasn't lost on. He'd probably be their 5th best defenseman.

Boy I hope @Hayley from paramore is right and he clears.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

1) @Hayley from paramore is always right and you are wrong you know nothing about hockey

2) at least if washington claims him, our players have practiced against carrick enough to know how to EXPOSE HIM

3) eat crow sunshine

 

[GoldiFox]

What % of claimed waivers are re-waived? Seems high. At that point, the Canes are the only one that could claim Carrick and immediately place him in the AHL.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

What % of claimed waivers are re-waived? Seems high. At that point, the Canes are the only one that could claim Carrick and immediately place him in the AHL.

I'm fairly sure that's only if there are no other claims when the Canes also put a claim in. Meaning, if some teams claims Carrick, then waives him at a later date and the Canes win that claim, but a team lower in the waiver priority also put in an unsuccessful claim, the Canes would still have to waive Carrick to send him to the AHL.

 

[GoldiFox]

I'm fairly sure that's only if there are no other claims when the Canes also put a claim in. Meaning, if some teams claims Carrick, then waives him at a later date and the Canes win that claim, but a team lower in the waiver priority also put in an unsuccessful claim, the Canes would still have to waive Carrick to send him to the AHL.

You are right. Trying to say a whole thought with half a sentence. It seems that in a lot of cases the players ends up back in the AHL.

Although I guess the Canes claimed Dahlbeck in pretty much the same circumstances that Carrick is in and kept him.