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Rick Dudley Leaves The Hurricanes

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While there is no player free agency beginning today, that isn’t the case for team staff members whose contracts have come to an end.  Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer reports that veteran executive Rick Dudley’s contract with the Hurricanes has come to an end and that he will not return to Carolina.

The 71-year-old has been in some sort of NHL role every year since 1998-99 when he was GM in Ottawa.  Since then, he has spent time in a variety of front office roles, including Senior VP of Hockey Operations which is the title he held with Carolina as well as his previous NHL stint with Montreal.

Given the recent overhaul of the front office in Buffalo, that would seem like a logical landing spot for Dudley to serve in some sort of advisory role to first-time GM Kevyn Adams, particularly since he lives in the area and made frequent scouting appearances at their games.  John Vogl of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that while the connection is logical, Dudley’s expiring contract played no role in the Sabres opting to let more than 20 staff members go last month.

Meanwhile, Dudley isn’t the only Carolina staff member whose contract is up.  DeCock adds that assistant coach Dean Chynoweth’s deal has also expired and with training camp set to begin within the next couple of weeks, that file will have to get resolved sooner than later.  GM Don Waddell indicated that negotiations will continue with Chynoweth.

Poll: Who Do You Least Want To See Win The No. 1 Pick?

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If Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly’s face didn’t give it away during Friday night’s NHL Draft Lottery, this result was not what the league was expecting or hoping for. In a season when a decorated Original Six franchise, the Detroit Red Wings, had one of the worst campaigns of all-time and the league’s most downtrodden franchise, the Ottawa Senators, had not one but two high-percentage chances of winning the top pick, the No. 1 overall selection will instead go to a to-be-determined “playoff” team.

With the league expanding the postseason field to 24 teams this season as a result of COVID-19 cutting the regular season short, 16 teams will vie for a chance to move through a “knockout round” onto a more standard version of the NHL playoffs. However, now those same 16 teams, all of whom finished above .500 this season, will also be in the running to win the top overall pick and the right to select a generational talent in forward Alexis Lafreniere. All eight losers of the qualifying round will have even odds in a second running of the lottery and one lucky team will get playoff experience and an elite young player this season. No one is going to be truly happy with the result (apart from the lottery winner and their fans of course) but who would you least like to see win the top overall pick?

The Pittsburgh Penguins might be at the top of many peoples’ lists. The franchise has won three Stanley Cups in the last decade and no one would be surprised to see them win again this year, especially given the fact that they finished  the regular season in seventh league-wide in points percentage. The Penguins are the best team slated to play in the knockout round, but if by some chance they lose to the Montreal Canadiens, Lafreniere could potentially join Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and company in a move that could extend the dynasty for years still to come. The thought of the talented young winger playing beside either of those superstars would be daunting to every other team in the league.

Finishing just behind Pittsburgh with the ninth-best points percentage in the league this year were the Carolina Hurricanes. The club has quietly accumulated a deep, talented roster including a number of elite young players. Carolina is set to contend for titles for many years to come, but Lafreniere would make them truly dangerous. Like the Penguins, the Hurricanes simply do not need the best player in the draft. Keep in mind  that they were also one of just two teams to vote against the expanded postseason model, making it especially twisted if they were to reap the benefits of this one-off lottery structure. As good as the Hurricanes were at times this season, they are a popular upset pick in the qualifying round against the New York Rangers and could wind up in the lottery.

The New York Islanders finished just outside the top-ten in points percentage this season and have a deep, experienced team. They also play a sound defensive system. While it works to win games, it isn’t the most exciting strategy and could limit the upside of an explosive offensive talent like Lafreniere. On top of that, the Isles don’t even know where they will be playing their home games next season and have suffered from poor attendance in recent years. It doesn’t exactly sound like an ideal landing spot for an exciting top prospect. Fortunately, the Islanders drew a plus matchup against the Florida Panthers and should advance past the knockout round if they can stick to their smothering defensive game.

Given their luck in the draft lottery over the past decade, it’s pretty gross to think about the Edmonton Oilers being in the running for another No. 1 pick. Likely soon to be the home of two MVP’s in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers landing Lafreniere as their fifth first overall pick and ninth top-ten pick since 2010 would really be something. With an improved NHL roster and a strong pipeline of talent, the Oilers are finally starting to be self-sufficient and don’t need Lafreniere like they might have in recent year. However, if the team can’t hold off a poor Chicago Blackhawks club in the knockout round, maybe they do need the pick.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are another team that is chock full of young talent and it would be an embarrassment of riches (and embarrassing for the league) to see them land Lafreniere. While the team would be in prime shape to finally snap their Stanley Cup drought with the addition, the Leafs are already well on their way and will be contenders for years and years to come even without the top pick. Additionally, should Toronto win the lottery, there would certainly be those that would cry foul about the whole situation. The Maple Leafs face the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round in one of the more evenly matched of the upcoming series. Toronto is likely the slight favorite, but could just as easily wind up in the lottery.

The current iteration of the Chicago Blackhawks is not good. However, they are also the most dominant franchise of this decade with three Stanley Cups. It’s not east to find many outside of Chicago who have pity for the current Blackhawks given their sustained success of late. With some of those core players still in place and some exciting young pieces starting to build up, the Blackhawks may already be back on the rebound without the assistance of Lafreniere. If they make it a series with the star-studded Oilers, it will be even more evident that they don’t need a top pick to stay relevant. Like the Maple Leafs, some will also be outraged if the Blackhawks win the lottery due to the perceived favoritism shown by the league on a number of occasions in recent years.

If you really want to hear conspiracy theories though, look no further than the possibility of the Montreal Canadiens winding up with No. 1 overall. Yes, the Canadiens have no business in a playoff series and would have been in the standard draft lottery anyway, but there will be plenty who think that it is far too convenient if the Habs win the top pick when a Francophone and Quebec native is the best player on the board. It used to be that Montreal – who don’t forget have more Stanley Cups than any NHL franchise – was able to claim the best French Canadian players in the draft regardless of draft order. If that opportunity should inadvertently occur once again, plenty of people might get upset at the league despite the fact that Montreal technically is the most deserving (read: worst) of the qualifying round teams. The NHL does not want that drama right now and its most decorated club frankly does not need special treatment, perceived or otherwise.

As for the remaining teams, the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks were all better than their records implied this season and already have elite young players, the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes may not have the fan bases to support a young star like Lafreniere, and I’m sure there are reasons to root against the Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, and Minnesota Wild as well. If you can think of a valid reason why the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have one playoff series win in franchise history, don’t deserve a stroke of good luck, that’s fine too.

What do you think? Which team do you absolutely not want to see Lafreniere go to, either because of existing talent or complaints of foul play or for any other reason? The reality is that one of these 16 will end up with the best player on the board, which in many ways is already a loss for the league, but it can get much worse from here.

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Snapshots: Hurricanes’ Roster Decisions, Avalanche’s Rantanen

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The Carolina Hurricanes are going to be deeper and healthier than they’ve been all season for the Stanley Cup Qualifier matchup with the New York Rangers, assuming the NHL reboot kicks off on time. In particular, the Canes should be well-positioned to defend the goal. Coach Rod Brind’Amour, however, isn’t sure which particular bodies he’ll position in front of the net, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com. Petr Mrazek will most likely be in goal, but Brind’Amour needs eyes-on before he can set the lineups. Per Rosen, Brind’Amour said of starting Mrazek, “He may be in rough shape. I don’t know until I get to see them and see what they’re like.” 

  • The Hurricanes will also get the benefit of a beefed-up defensive unit. Dougie Hamilton was expected to be out for the year, prompting the acquisitions of Brady Skjei and Sami Vatanen. Thanks to the extended layoff, Hamilton will have the chance to play alongside his replacements. Rosen notes that Brett Pesce, who was also out for the season, is also expected to be ready for camp. Carolina has upwards of nine viable blueliners to deploy across three lines, per Rosen. Vatanen has yet to appear with the Hurricanes, and given their depth, it may be late to break him into the rotation. That said, the entire process will be an exercise in on-ice chemistry in fast-forward, so roster decisions could very well come down to who looks game-ready when the time comes. As our own Brian La Rose wrote recently, “When you add them to a back end that also features veterans Jaccob Slavin, Joel Edmundson, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Jake Gardiner, you get a very deep back end. “
  • Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche took to the ice today with teammates for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury on February 17th against the Tampa Bay Lightning, per NHL.com. Rantanen, 23, was well on his way to another 30-goal season when he was placed on IR. The Finish winger ended the year with 19 goals and 22 assists across 42 games. The Avalanche will return to the ice via a round-robin tournament to determine playoff seeding with other Western Conference stalwarts the St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, and Dallas Stars.

Metropolitan Notes: Devils Coaching Search, Hurricanes, Ovechkin

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With several big-name coaches on their wish list, many people didn’t put much thought into a report that Lindy Ruff was a fifth candidate for the New Jersey Devils. After all, the Devils were also considering Peter Laviolette, Gerard Gallant, Mike Babcock, John Stevens, Bruce Boudreau and current interim head coach Alain Nasreddine. However, on his most recent 31 Thoughts column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman writes that Ruff is hardly an afterthought and is a serious candidate for the team’s head coaching position.

What’s interesting about that statement is that New Jersey still doesn’t have a general manager in place and has been interviewing candidates for that position too. Friedman notes that many of those candidates have requested input in the team’s head coaching search, which would likely alter the team’s plans in hiring a head coach. However, the scribe notes that it looks like regardless on what the team decides, Ruff is highly favored within the organization.

Ruff served as head coach of the Buffalo Sabres from 1997 to 2013, while taking the same role in Dallas from 2013 to 2017 and has 736 coaching victories in the NHL.

  • With many teams having shutdown voluntary skating in their facilities recently due to a number of positive tests for COVID-19, the Carolina Hurricanes announced they will open up PNC Arena to players who wish to begin voluntary small-group training, starting on Tuesday, June 30. The team is expecting 16 players to be ready to go on that date, with that group to be split in half during on-ice workouts. So far, no word on what players will hit the ice in Carolina.
  • Speaking of teams that have been on the ice for some time, the Washington Capitals, who have been skating at MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, VA since June 8, got a familiar face on the ice as star forward Alex Ovechkin skated with some teammates Saturday. The 34-year-old, who tallied 48 goals in just 68 games last season, has been training in Florida before now. He was joined by Evgeny Kuznetsov, Lars Eller, Garnet Hathaway, John Carlson and Braden Holtby.

Hurricanes Prospect Oliwer Kaski Signs In The KHL

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Last offseason, defenseman Oliwer Kaski was one of the more sought after players in international free agency.  He was coming off of a stellar performance with Pelicans of the SM-liiga that helped him earn a spot on Finland’s entry into the World Championships which helped lead him to a contract with Detroit, a team that had some vacancies on their back end to fill.

However, things didn’t go quite as planned.  He was sent to the AHL during training camp and never made it up, even after a midseason trade to Carolina.  As a result, Kaski has decided to head back overseas as Avangard Omsk of the KHL announced that they’ve signed the blueliner to a one-year contract.

The 24-year-old played in 19 games with Detroit’s AHL affiliate, collecting just five points before being dealt to the Hurricanes for minor league rearguard Kyle Wood.  The swap seemed to get Kaski going offensively as in 35 games with the Checkers, he had 11 goals and nine assists.  Having said that, Carolina has a very deep defense corps so the opportunity to get a chance to suit up in the NHL wasn’t likely coming.

As a restricted free agent this summer, Carolina can retain Kaski’s NHL rights this offseason by tendering him a qualifying offer.  A strong showing in the KHL could certainly get him back on the NHL radar so with there being no downside to qualifying him, it’s a move that the Hurricanes should make when the offseason arrives.

Metropolitan Storylines: Carolina Hurricanes

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While the stretch run is officially over with the NHL’s declaration that the play-in games won’t be part of the regular season, we still have one division left to get to in our Stretch Run Storylines series.  Our focus has been shifted to the Metropolitan Division with an eye on things to watch for in the postseason.  Next up is a look at Carolina.

The Hurricanes were one of the biggest storylines in the league last season as they worked their way to the Eastern Conference Final before being swept by Boston.  There were plenty of doubters that they’d be able to repeat that feat this season but while they find themselves in the play-in round, they were in a playoff spot for most of the season.  Carolina was one of two teams to vote against the 24-team format but they will nevertheless be facing the Rangers when play resumes this summer.  Here is what to watch for from them as they try to make it back to the postseason.

Who’s The Starter?

After a strong showing last season, it looked as if Petr Mrazek was finally getting his chance to be the undisputed starter.  The Hurricanes handed him a two-year deal and traded a player that was eventually bought out (Scott Darling) to add James Reimer who was coming off arguably the worst season of his career to serve as the backup.

Things worked out a little differently though.  Reimer wound up having somewhat of a bounce-back season and ultimately had better numbers (2.66 GAA, .914 SV%) than Mrazek (2.69 GAA, .905 SV%) though the latter did have 14 more starts.  While Mrazek would appear to have the upper hand going into the series against New York, it’s far from a guarantee that he gets the nod.

In a normal year, teams are hesitant to roll two goaltenders in a postseason series.  Usually, the starter gets the lion’s share of the workload with the backup only coming in if it’s a blowout.  But this isn’t a normal year with a mid-summer training camp effectively leading into a must-win series.  Keeping both in a rotation may not be the worst way to go unless one gets on a roll.  Carolina dabbled with that a bit last year and we may see a repeat of it this postseason.

Williams’ Future

One of the storylines in the first half of the regular season was if (or when) winger Justin Williams would come back.  That one came to an end in early January when he signed a one-year deal with a base salary of $700K plus bonuses.

Let’s put those aside for a minute and look at what Williams did in his part season.  He was productive in his limited role, picking up eight goals and three assists in just 20 games.  It’s a small sample size but that tied for his highest goals per game rate in his career (0.40 which he also had in 2006-07).  Clearly, he can still be productive at the NHL level and now with the benefit of having basically a full training camp, that should bode well for his postseason performance; his reputation of stepping it up in the playoffs.

But despite his success in his limited action this season, Williams has been non-committal about whether or not he’ll return for next year and GM Don Waddell echoed those sentiments earlier this month.  Throughout the playoffs last year, his playing future was a discussion point.  One year later, it doesn’t appear as if it will be any different.

Now, let’s go back to the bonuses.  Per CapFriendly, Carolina finished the year with roughly $977K in cap space before performance bonuses.  Andrei Svechnikov maxed his Class ‘A’ bonuses (Goals, Assists, Points, and Points per Game) which eats up $850K of that.  Williams has already hit $250K of his which means the Hurricanes are already over the cap and will face a bonus overage penalty for next season.  It’s worth noting that Williams will get $250K if the Hurricanes make the playoffs (in other words, beat the Rangers), plus $100K for each round victory through the Conference Final, $250K if they win the Stanley Cup, and $250K for a Conn Smythe trophy.  The further Williams and Carolina go this postseason, the less they’ll have to spend next season.

New Look Defense

At the trade deadline, Carolina decided to make a pair of moves to bolster their back end, adding Brady Skjei from the Rangers and Sami Vatanen from the Devils.  Brett Pesce was out for the season after being injured the game before the deadline and Dougie Hamilton was on the shelf as well.  Vatanen was dealing with an injury of his own when acquired and never had an opportunity to suit up before the pandemic hit.

Fast forward to now.  Vatanen is ready to play now as is Hamilton.  Skjei is still effectively a newcomer with only seven games under his belt.  For all intents and purposes, that’s half of a new back end for the Hurricanes to work with relative to what they had for most of the second half of the regular season.

When you add them to a back end that also features veterans Jaccob Slavin, Joel Edmundson, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Jake Gardiner, you get a very deep back end.  You also get a group that isn’t going to have a lot of familiarity in terms of pairings.  The mid-July training camp is going to be very important for them in terms of quickly establishing chemistry as if this group plays up to its potential, it can be one of the better blueline units out there.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Williams, Drysdale, Nesterov

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The Carolina Hurricanes are scheduled to play the New York Rangers in a qualifying round if the NHL resumes this summer, meaning they could potentially only have a handful of games remaining in the 2019-20 season. Does that mean that Justin Williams is closing in on retirement? Not so fast says Hurricanes GM Don Waddell, who told Sportsnet radio to not write off his team leader just yet.

Williams, 38, took the first part of this season off to spend with his family but returned to the Hurricanes lineup on January 19th. While he was held pointless in 12 of his first 15 games, Williams was actually on a five-game goal streak when the season was paused in mid-March. The 19-year veteran has 101 points in 155 career playoff games, winning the Stanley Cup three times.

  • If you want to know a little more about the top-rated defenseman in this year’s draft, Craig Button of TSN breaks down Jamie Drysdale’s potential. The smooth-skating Drysdale gets a 5/5 rating in both hockey sense and competitiveness from Button, with a comparison to Hall of Fame defender Sergei Zubov. Drysdale was ranked third among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting and is expected to be off the board in the first few picks.
  • Rick Dhaliwal of TSN is hearing that Nikita Nesterov may actually leave CSKA Moscow after all, despite reports earlier in the year that he was planning on signing a long-term deal with the KHL organization. Back in March, Nesterov reportedly turned down a hefty offer from the Los Angeles Kings, the same team Dhaliwal has heard linked to the free agent defender now. In the three seasons since he left the NHL, Nesterov has recorded 60 points in 136 games for CSKA.

Jake Bean Wins AHL Defenseman Of The Year

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After handing out the top goaltending honors yesterday, the AHL continued today by announcing the top defenseman. The Eddie Shore Award has been given to Jake Bean of the Charlotte Checkers after a vote from coaches, players and media members around the league.

Bean, 21, isn’t just another AHL defenseman. Drafted 13th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2016 he is still one of the top defensive prospects in the game, even if it has taken him a few years to reach the NHL. 2019-20 served as his second full season in the AHL and after making the All-Rookie Team and winning a Calder Cup championship in his first, it was hard to believe he could take another step forward.

A step forward he did take however, scoring 48 points in 59 games with the Checkers and landing a spot on the league’s First All-Star Team. The defenseman of the year award is just a cherry on top of an outstanding season, one that should probably be Bean’s last in the AHL.

Still under his entry-level contract in 2020-21, Bean represents an inexpensive option for the Hurricanes if they decide to shed some salary from the back end. After acquiring Brady Skjei midseason it may be difficult to keep around others like Joel Edmundson and Trevor van Riemsdyk—who are both scheduled for unrestricted free agency—meaning there could be an additional opportunity in the NHL.

That’s not guaranteed however, as Carolina still has Skjei, Jaccob Slavin, Jake Gardiner, Brett Pesce and Dougie Hamilton penciled into full-time roles for the time being. Haydn Fleury is also still around, though he needs a new contract as an RFA. The Hurricanes may be the most difficult blueline in the league to crack for a young player, but at this point it’s hard to argue Bean could have done anything more to prove he is ready for the next level.

Jordan Martinook Explains Why Carolina Voted Against Return Format

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It was revealed over the weekend that Tampa Bay and Carolina were the two teams that voted against the NHL’s 24-team Return to Play format.  Hurricanes winger Jordan Martinook spoke on a call with reporters to provide the rationale as to why they weren’t in favor of it.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relayed (Twitter link) the comment from Martinook that Carolina’s decision was made based on their team’s specific situation:

If the 24-team format isn’t tweaked from the current proposal, the Hurricanes would take on the Rangers in the play-in round.  New York boasts one of the top offenses in the league but on the flip side, Carolina was one of the stingier defensive teams this season which would certainly make for an intriguing matchup.

Hurricanes Nearing A Five-Year Arena Lease Extension

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  • The Hurricanes are nearing an agreement on a five-year extension on their current arena lease, reports Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer. The deal would overwrite their current one that is slated to expire in 2024 and would run through 2029.  The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is expected to delay the official announcement while any potential arena renovations are now on hold.

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