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Canes deadline day open blog...Thoughts on Jokinen to Pit for.....nothing

April 3, 2013, 10:42 AM ET [4 Comments]
Matt Karash
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
I will add to the bottom of the blog as/if things happen...

My schedule today will not allow me to watch the streaming trade wire, so I will post this open blog for debate and discussion in the event that the Canes do a deal or 2.

It is difficult to say what Rutherford might be up to. He has been both ends of the spectrum making very small "take a shot" type deals like Anson Carter, Jussi Jokinen, etc. but has also pulled off a couple more roster-changing moves reacquiring Erik Cole and also the Andrew Ladd for Tuomo Ruutu swap.

Joni Pitkanen's season-ending injury last night obviously opens up another hole on defense. Icing 7 defensemen but still having McBain scratched tells you where he currently fits in the pecking order after a rough couple of weeks. He would have some value as a still fairly young, but also experienced puck-moving type defenseman. The other wild card is Jokinen. Rutherford tried to give him away for nothing a week ago thereby submarining his value, but you could see a case where the Iginla lottery losers look to plans B and C and settle for a lesser addition also at a much lower price. You can make a case that with the current slide and key injuries now including Pitkanen that Rutherford could/should become a trade deadline seller, but the Canes really don't have that much of significant value in terms of expiring contract rentals. Expiring UFA contracts include only Larose, Corvo, Brent, Ellis and the just-acquired Bergeron. Even a fire sale nets only a couple mid-round picks which makes you ask 'why bother?'

Unfortunately the Canes are not in a place where a specific piece will fix any big problems. Rutherford took a shot at that yesterday with the addition of Bergeron. In his first game, he did improve the power play earning an assist and looking pretty good overall, but he also had the blue line turnover that led to shorthanded goal against. Past the power play help, I don't see how any 1 player via trade makes the team that much better. The return of Ward, Ruutu and Faulk would all help and are probably the only significant reinforcements on the way to try to right a currently sinking ship.

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Jokinen to Pit for a conditional 6th or 7th round pick. Canes also eat some (having found a # yet) of his salary.

So the Canes tried to give him away last week for nothing. I guess this is the next notch down from that having to still pay for part of him. It's hard to make a complete judgement until it is revealed how much salary is being eaten (and therefore how much is actually being saved). At some point, even the struggling Jussi Jokinen is better than what you can get for the cost savings. If the Canes eat only $500k, could you find a better fit for $2.5M? Arguably yes if you add a solid physical forward with some scoring potential. If the Canes eat $1M of salary, could you find a better fit for $2M? That is challenging. If the Canes eat $1.5M of salary, could you do better for $1.5M? Very, very doubtful.

I think you have to look back to the timing of this. It happened about in unison with re-signing Semin for $7M/year. I detailed the Canes financial contract futures in a blog a few weeks back that might be worth a look as context to this move. Short version is that the Canes salary goes up by a bunch next year from escalating salary contracts and new contracts kicking in for JStaal, Skinner and Harrison. Replacing Semin with someone cheap would have been a 1-shot way to make up some of this increase. But Semin was (and continues) to play very very well on the top line with Eric Staal and Jiri Tlusty. The decision was made to commit to Semin. As part of that, the edict was put out to find a way to save at least some of that money back. The Canes are already short on the blue line, so cutting money here would have required re-spending it to backfill or otherwise being real real thin. That leaves only a few viable options to save money at forward - Jussi Jokinen or Tuomo Ruutu. Jokinen has struggled this year. And Ruutu, at least theoretically since he has only played 2 games, brings exactly the physicality, size and jam that the Canes lineup desperately needs.

So in the end, Jokinen is the victim of the double whammy of underperforming and the team's need to save $ somewhere. But if word gets out out that the Canes keep $1M or more of Jokinen's salary, I balk. You still have to pay something for Jokinen's roster spot ($550k minimum) and I question whether you are just digging a deeper hole in terms of forward depth for a cost savings of $1-1.5M tops.

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