Yesterday, I took a shot at forward lines. With Joe Corvo out and Tomas Kaberle in and Bryan Allen and Derek Joslin not thrown into the 2010-11 mix until late in the season, the blue also presents a bunch of puzzle pieces with different options for how they fit together.

And this is an important one. As much as Canes fans (including myself) sometimes wish we could add another top-tier scorer to build more of a pure first line, scoring was not at all the problem last year. I just tallied it real quick myself looking at standings, so don't kick me if I am off by 1-2, but I count the Canes as a respectable 12th in goals scored but a less impressive 20th in goals allowed. When you consider that #1 goalie Cam Ward was healthy and had a good year, the #20 ranking looks even worse.

Though maybe lacking pure top pairing shutdown defenders, there is a reasonable mix and quantity of decent experienced players. There is also a new defenseman coach. The team needs to improve here. So given the current personnel, how do they do it?

I think the key situation to be sorted out in camp is who fits with and plays with Tomas Kaberle. Though I do not particularly like Joni Pitkanen/Jamie McBain pairing (sort of same skill set as puck moving/skating types who maybe would pair better with a physical stay-home guy), I think it reasonably likely that they will start the season together. There is some chemistry and familiarity there, and it is not like they were a complete train wreck last year. And Jay Harrison had a very good season in 2010-11 as a 3rd pairing defenseman. But his ceiling is about what he hit last year as a very good #5/#6 guy but not so much a guy who will battle for top 4 ice time. And as much as I liked Derek Joslin's ability to jump into the mix last year, I think he looked in a bit over his head when he got stuck on the ice against high end speed and skill. Where this leaves the sorting process for me is like this:

1) Joni Pitkanen / Jamie McBain. You can call them first or second pairing. There really is not much difference for the Canes who will not have a clear difference between the 2. You get familiarity here at least to start the season while you try to sort out what works with Tomas Kaberle who obviously garners a top 4 spot.

2) Tomas Kaberle / Tim Gleason or Bryan Allen. I think this is the key thing to be sorted out. Gleason and Allen are similar in skill set as big, physical, stay-home type defensemen who provide a decent complementary skill set to Kaberle's puck moving and playmaking ability. Both are also left shots which means someone will be playing on their opposite side. Tim Gleason has done this at times with the Canes in the past - not sure about Allen in Florida.

3) Jay Harrison (or possibly Derek Joslin) / Tim Gleason or Bryan Allen. Whoever loses the battle above probably falls all the way to the 3rd pairing. And if depth looks good (Joslin and Harrison playing well combined with hope that someone from the AHL could step in for a stretch if needed), you could see the loser of the Gleason/Allen battle become trade bait. Both are a little expensive (roughly $3M/year each) for a 3rd pairing slot on the Canes, and both are unrestricted free agents next summer which makes the 1 who falls to third pairing likely to be too expensive to be re-signed for this role.

The caveat, however, is this: 1) GM Jim Rutherford really wants to push for the playoffs this year after another 2-year drought and a couple disappointing misses; 2) With Brett Carson gone, I am not sure (have we added any veteran AHLers with NHL experience that I missed?) the Canes have a single AHL defenseman with NHL experience; 3) When playoff push time comes, a logical addition to a Canes team that was minus Allen or Gleason would be to add veteran depth on defense. So when you get to that point, it might make sense just to keep the prospects and draft picks, pass on the same that you might get for Allen or Gleason and pay the ~$1M down the stretch.

I am not sure that Derek Joslin's mobility is good enough at this point for him to play in the top 4, but like most (if not all) Canes fans, I liked what he brought to his time on the 3rd pairing and was also impressed with his ability to be a decent option always willing to shoot the puck on the 2nd power play unit. He maybe battles Harrison for the last slot or otherwise is ready to go when the Canes need a #7 because of injury.

The wild card in this is Ryan Murphy. He is not projected to stick with the big club this year. If the team were lighter on offensive/power play talent, maybe you could make a case for keeping him as a #6/#7 guy and power play specialist. But with Kaberle and McBain, the team is not horribly thin in this respect. This said, the Canes have a history of young players who were not supposed to be ready storming through training camp and making the team. Eric Staal was clearly slotted for another year in juniors when he led the NHL in preseason scoring in his rookie year and made the team. Sutter was not a clear roster guy coming into his 2nd year but earned it. Best bet is that Murphy gets a short look in the NHL (Canes did this with Boychuk a couple years back) but that he then returns to his junior team when that decision day comes.

What say you Canes fans? How does the blue line shake out? Does the late 2010-11 additions of Allen and Joslin combined with the big Kaberle signing and subtraction of Corvo provide enough ammunition for Dave Lewis to build a better defense? What happens with Murphy?

Go Canes!

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