Hurricanes Off Season Game Plan
Posted 4:48 PM ET | Comments 2
Okay folks, time to play GM once again and figure out what the team is going to look like next season...
Under Contract Cap Hits
(all numbers in Millions)
Forwards
Eric Staal- $8.25m
Rod Brind'amour- $3.6
Ray Whitney- $3.55
Matt Cullen- $2.875
Sergei Samsonov- $2.533
Scott Walker- $2.5
Patrick Eaves- $1.4
Brandon Sutter- $1.04
Zac Boychuk- $.787
Defensemen
Joni Pitkanen- $4.0
Tim Gleason- $2.75
Joe Corvo- $2.625
Frantisek Kaberle- $2.2
Niclas Wallin- $1.725
Tim Conboy $.487
Goalies
Cam Ward- $2.667
Micheal Leighton- $.600
Buyouts
Jeff Hamilton- $.267
Total Contracted Players- $43.856
Estimated Salary Cap 09/10- $56.7
Cap Space- $12.844
Okay, that's $12.844mil. to play with... let's look at what we have...
Under contract Carolina has 9 forwards, 6 Defensemen, and 2 goalies. This means that AT LEAST 3 forwards have to be signed which would be easy, but leave the canes with no depth whatsoever... There are many key UFA's and RFA's though...
UFA (last seasons salary in brackets)
Chad Larose ($.875)
Erik Cole ($4.0)
Ryan Bayda ($.475)
Micheal Ryan ($.475)
Dwight Helminen ($.475)
Dennis Seidenberg ($1.2)
RFA
Tuomo Ruutu ($2.25)
Jussi Jokinen ($1.875)
Jakub Petruzalek ($.505)
Anton Babchuk ($1.0)
As you can see, there are some pretty important names on those lists, Specifically Cole, Larose, Ruutu, Jokinen, and Seidenberg. Also, with the exception of Cole, they are all due for large raises. Add the fact that every single one of them has made it very publicly known that they wish to remain with the team, and you have yourself in a bit of a pickle...
So here's the plan...
Re-sign Cole and Ruutu at $2.5-3mil. each. I think both would consider that type of money fair, with Cole taking a little bit of a longer term than Ruutu. We'll say that combined, those two cost $6mil. That leaves you with about $6 million left for the rest.
Offer Jussi Jokinen $1.8, one year. He had a great playoffs, but very poor regular season. That sort of deal works best for both parties. Offer the same to Chad Larose, only for two years rather than one. That leaves about $2.5 million...
Trade Patrick Eaves for...well, any pick you can get. His play this season and playoffs was not even close to justifying his $1.4m. and because he's still young, I'm sure there's somebody out there willing to take a shot at him. Make that $3.9 Million in wiggle room.
Rumour has it Frantisek Kaberle is being pursued by a KHL team, which is good news if you're the Hurricanes who would love to get his $2.2m off the books... if this happens, offer his $2.2 to Seidenberg. If not, unfortunately you have to let Seidenberg walk... a big hit to the D, but a necessary one.
Waive one of Kaberle/Wallin and use that money to sign Babchuk. He's needed.
Now, use the remaining money to sign your young prospects Petruzalek, Bowman, and Borer/Mcbain to entry level deals, and you have yourself a hockey team that looks something like this...
Ruutu-Staal-Cole
Whitney-Cullen-Larose
Samsonov-Brind'amour-Jokinen
Boychuk-Sutter-Walker
Pitkanen-Gleason
Corvo-Babchuk
Borer-Conboy/Wallin
Ward
Leighton
Team Cap Hit- $52.856
Thoughts?
Under Contract Cap Hits
(all numbers in Millions)
Forwards
Eric Staal- $8.25m
Rod Brind'amour- $3.6
Ray Whitney- $3.55
Matt Cullen- $2.875
Sergei Samsonov- $2.533
Scott Walker- $2.5
Patrick Eaves- $1.4
Brandon Sutter- $1.04
Zac Boychuk- $.787
Defensemen
Joni Pitkanen- $4.0
Tim Gleason- $2.75
Joe Corvo- $2.625
Frantisek Kaberle- $2.2
Niclas Wallin- $1.725
Tim Conboy $.487
Goalies
Cam Ward- $2.667
Micheal Leighton- $.600
Buyouts
Jeff Hamilton- $.267
Total Contracted Players- $43.856
Estimated Salary Cap 09/10- $56.7
Cap Space- $12.844
Okay, that's $12.844mil. to play with... let's look at what we have...
Under contract Carolina has 9 forwards, 6 Defensemen, and 2 goalies. This means that AT LEAST 3 forwards have to be signed which would be easy, but leave the canes with no depth whatsoever... There are many key UFA's and RFA's though...
UFA (last seasons salary in brackets)
Chad Larose ($.875)
Erik Cole ($4.0)
Ryan Bayda ($.475)
Micheal Ryan ($.475)
Dwight Helminen ($.475)
Dennis Seidenberg ($1.2)
RFA
Tuomo Ruutu ($2.25)
Jussi Jokinen ($1.875)
Jakub Petruzalek ($.505)
Anton Babchuk ($1.0)
As you can see, there are some pretty important names on those lists, Specifically Cole, Larose, Ruutu, Jokinen, and Seidenberg. Also, with the exception of Cole, they are all due for large raises. Add the fact that every single one of them has made it very publicly known that they wish to remain with the team, and you have yourself in a bit of a pickle...
So here's the plan...
Re-sign Cole and Ruutu at $2.5-3mil. each. I think both would consider that type of money fair, with Cole taking a little bit of a longer term than Ruutu. We'll say that combined, those two cost $6mil. That leaves you with about $6 million left for the rest.
Offer Jussi Jokinen $1.8, one year. He had a great playoffs, but very poor regular season. That sort of deal works best for both parties. Offer the same to Chad Larose, only for two years rather than one. That leaves about $2.5 million...
Trade Patrick Eaves for...well, any pick you can get. His play this season and playoffs was not even close to justifying his $1.4m. and because he's still young, I'm sure there's somebody out there willing to take a shot at him. Make that $3.9 Million in wiggle room.
Rumour has it Frantisek Kaberle is being pursued by a KHL team, which is good news if you're the Hurricanes who would love to get his $2.2m off the books... if this happens, offer his $2.2 to Seidenberg. If not, unfortunately you have to let Seidenberg walk... a big hit to the D, but a necessary one.
Waive one of Kaberle/Wallin and use that money to sign Babchuk. He's needed.
Now, use the remaining money to sign your young prospects Petruzalek, Bowman, and Borer/Mcbain to entry level deals, and you have yourself a hockey team that looks something like this...
Ruutu-Staal-Cole
Whitney-Cullen-Larose
Samsonov-Brind'amour-Jokinen
Boychuk-Sutter-Walker
Pitkanen-Gleason
Corvo-Babchuk
Borer-Conboy/Wallin
Ward
Leighton
Team Cap Hit- $52.856
Thoughts?
please, oh please do not resign Cole. I would sign Brad Winchester for the fourth line and put jokinen on the first line.
Cole just seems like a necessary player for this team. Yeah, his playoffs sucked, but this team is just better when he is playing. Period.