What is the plan with Aho?

[AD Skinner]

I also think Zykov carves out a regular role this year, I'm just not sure where. Wouldn't be surprised if he starts with Aho and TT but also wouldn't be surprised if they try someone else there at some point. Where Zykov would go after that I'm not sure. I think his net front is too valuable to not use though

 

[izzy]

84 points this year on the w

 

[Unsustainable]

Zykov - Aho - TT
Ferland - Necas - Svechnikov
McGinn - Staal - Williams
Martinook - Rask - PDG

 

[Tryamw]

It's obvious now the plan for Aho is to surpass McJesus, Crosby and Ovechkin all by himself!. Good thing I'm not betting on this plan.. Sorry guys but I think that plan is going to lead to Mt Doom on a minecart.

 

[GoldiFox]

It's obvious now the plan for Aho is to surpass McJesus, Crosby and Ovechkin all by himself!. Good thing I'm not betting on this plan.. Sorry guys but I think that plan is going to lead to Mt Doom on a minecart.

Skinner never played with Aho and Svechnikov will pan out to be an even better player. The hope is that Necas is a similar calibre player to Aho. Of all the trades the Canes made Hamilton was by far the best player.

So Aho actually added Svechnikov, Hamilton, and Necas - 3 superior players closer to his level of play - and lost 3 guys (Skinner, Hanifin, Lindholm) whose careers have been characterized by losing, poor defensive effort, and inconsistency. Not saying that Svechnikov, Hamilton, and Necas will bring wins, but they definitely won’t bring the same history of loss.

 

[Canes]

I hope an 8 year contract extension is coming up for Aho now that we've moved out Skinner's salary.

 

[Tryamw]

Skinner never played with Aho and Svechnikov will pan out to be an even better player. The hope is that Necas is a similar calibre player to Aho. Of all the trades the Canes made Hamilton was by far the best player.

So Aho actually added Svechnikov, Hamilton, and Necas - 3 superior players closer to his level of play - and lost 3 guys (Skinner, Hanifin, Lindholm) whose careers have been characterized by losing, poor defensive effort, and inconsistency. Not saying that Svechnikov, Hamilton, and Necas will bring wins, but they definitely won’t bring the same history of loss.

It wasn't really meant in ref to Skinner It was just a joke and sadly I don't think this year we get to the playoffs I hope I am wrong about that.

 

[GoldiFox]

It wasn't really meant in ref to Skinner It was just a joke and sadly I don't think this year we get to the playoffs I hope I am wrong about that.

IMO if (when) the Canes don't make the Playoffs this year it will be because their goalies are terrible. They bet a season of Darling not being a smoldering pile of hazardous medical waste and it predictably fails because Darling is actually terrible. And that decision is made because Dundon is new to the Canes/hockey and he hasn't experienced the pain of 9 seasons of bad goalies thoroughly enough to realize that this is not a gamble worth making.

 

[AD Skinner]

Darling must be one hell of a charismatic dude to get another owner/gm/coach to bet another season on him... what in the world are they saying during interviews/meetings?

 

[Canes]

Darling must be one hell of a charismatic dude to get another owner/gm/coach to bet another season on him... what in the world are they saying during interviews/meetings?

DeCock (just ignore that it's him while reading) wrote a pretty decent article about him this offseason.
After awful year, Scott Darling tries to rise again. Can he save his career – and the Canes?

That's probably the most we'll know about what happened last season when he came into the organization. I'm glad Darling acknowledged his failures and is now trying to overcome them without dwelling on it too hard. That said, I'm not sure he'd have another chance if Francis didn't sign him to a deal that would be so financially painful to buy out so early. We'll see how it goes. We have no choice but to root for him now.

 

[Ole Gil]

Darling must be one hell of a charismatic dude to get another owner/gm/coach to bet another season on him... what in the world are they saying during interviews/meetings?

There was also the millions and millions of dollars it would cost to have dumped Darling that probably weighed in on is behalf. If he was a UFA, I'm pretty sure he would not have been invited back.

 

[Ole Gil]

DeCock (just ignore that it's him while reading) wrote a pretty decent article about him this offseason.
After awful year, Scott Darling tries to rise again. Can he save his career – and the Canes?

That's probably the most we'll know about what happened last season when he came into the organization. I'm glad Darling acknowledged his failures and is now trying to overcome them without dwelling on it too hard. That said, I'm not sure he'd have another chance if Francis didn't sign him to a deal that would be so financially painful to buy out so early. We'll see how it goes. We have no choice but to root for him now.

That article is encouraging. The best news in there as a fan, is that the problem has a possible fix. It's also good that there is a precedent for him bouncing back from being down. This team has so much potential to be good this year, if Darling is average, that'd be amazing. But reading the article, it doesn't seem like good is out of the question because physically, it sounds like he won't resemble who he was last year at all.

 

[emptyNedder]

Getting back to the original question.

One of the things I have found encouraging this offseason is that all the changes and all the talk indicate a commitment to Aho at center. Whether he has Teravainen and Zykov or TT and Svechnikov, I see Aho ending the season with 75+ points.

In all honesty I think the team may be no better than last season, but Aho will be outstanding.

 

[Ippenator]

I truly believe that the the Canes will be clearly better than last season. And if they can avoid major injuries to key players and they get even average goaltending, I think they will get to the playoffs. How much better they will after all be remains to be seen. But I truly have a strong feeling that they will anyway make it to the playoffs. And Aho will most probably have a clearly better season than he had last season.

As someone already pointed out, they got rid of some clear defensive liabilities and on the other hand they have very talented young players that will bring skill and energy. The defence is better also, so if the goaltending will be at least average, they should have a pretty good season as a team. Goaltending and special teams are definitely the key - as they are for any team of course.

 

[bleedgreen]

I think we're going to signing him to a yuge contract with some painful numbers associated. I'm a little wary of it to be honest. Skinner's money won't be enough.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I think we're going to signing him to a yuge contract with some painful numbers associated. I'm a little wary of it to be honest. Skinner's money won't be enough.

Gotta spend it somewhere. May as well be on an actual good player, as opposed to our Kaberle-Semin-Darling trend of throwing it in a dumpster full of gasoline and setting it on fire.

 

[Lempo]

Not gonna go over Skinner money much. He's a modest Finnboy. We don't ask for much.

... which is why I don't want Canes and Aho be the ones who set the ball rolling.

 

[Joe McGrath]

If they want to get him for all 8 years it’s going to be 7+.

If they go 5 like Larkin just got it’ll be around 6.25-6.5. IMO. Buying UFA years isn’t cheap.

 

[MinJaBen]

Somebody on Twitter (Corey?) was comparing the first two years of McDavid, Eichel, Larkin and Aho and came to the conclusion that Aho's agent could legitimately ask for $8-9M over eight years based on the stats and contracts handed out so far. If Aho got in the 70 point range this season, he'd be about on par with Eichel's numbers. If I were the Canes, I'd work really hard to sign him this summer before he establishes himself as a center (more value) and hits 70 points for a season.

He gonna get paid.

 

[RodTheBawd]

Am I the only one thinking Aho isn't going to have some massive jump this season? The cats out of the bag. Not that other teams weren't at least aware of him last year, but players tend to adjust the year after a real breakout. Hopefully some of the other lines draw attention, but I'll be really happy if he gets to 70.

 

[MinJaBen]

Am I the only one thinking Aho isn't going to have some massive jump this season? The cats out of the bag. Not that other teams weren't at least aware of him last year, but players tend to adjust the year after a real breakout. Hopefully some of the other lines draw attention, but I'll be really happy if he gets to 70.

I expect he will get a bump/jump just from the fact that over the last two years he hasn't started scoring goals until the second week of November. If he starts on time, and I can't see why anyone would expect him to continue with extremely slow starts, I believe he will add at least 6 more goals to his totals.

 

[geehaad]

Am I the only one thinking Aho isn't going to have some massive jump this season?

With you on this. My prediction was 25 goals, I believe.

 

[emptyNedder]

Aho's numbers (I am not saying his style or impact on a game) are eerily close to Tavares during his first two seasons. Aho was actually less than 2 months older (July 26 v. Sept 20) even though he didn't play in the NHL his first year after the draft.

JT 1st NHL season = 82 games 24g/30a 2nd NHL season = 79 games 29g/38a
Aho 1st NHL season = 82 games 24g/25a 2nd NHL season = 78 games 29g/36a

You can look up if Tavares took a step back once the league knew about him.

 

[NotOpie]

I think we're going to signing him to a yuge contract with some painful numbers associated. I'm a little wary of it to be honest. Skinner's money won't be enough.

I think he'll want no more than 5 or 6 years and something in the $6.75 million range. Puts him in line for the real big contract as a 26 year old.

With you on this. My prediction was 25 goals, I believe.

Ditto on the goals, but I think his overall numbers stay about the same with a comparable increase in assists.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

If he gets ~30 goals, ~65 points, I’ll be happy. What I don’t know is if he’s going to play C and what impact that will have on his offense.