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Carolina Hurricanes Preseason: Player by player-what I'm watching (1-12)

September 21, 2014, 10:13 AM ET [7 Comments]
Matt Karash
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
With semi-real games starting already today, here is a quick rundown player by player of what I am looking for in training camp and especially in the preseason games. I will do 12 players in this blog and another 12ish in the next day or 2.

--Alexander Semin. The biggest thing is that he looks healthy. He is taking part in all of the regular drills and everything so far, so all indications are that his wrist is healthy and ready to go. Hopefully the rest of preseason shows exactly the same.

--Justin Faulk. I think the time is now for him to step up and become a leader. To be clear, he already has to some extent, but I think the time is now for him to take a bigger role in this regard. I think he could be a great complementary leader who is just a bit more vocal and fiery.

--Zach Boychuk. He needs to pick up where he left off last summer and carried forward into Charlotte. The biggest thing for him is to be a regular factor on every shift even if there is no offense. It is the little things - forechecking and backchecking hard, using his above average wheels to pressure pucks, entering and winning battles, etc. If he gets ice time with offensively capable line mates, he will produce some offense, but whether he gets this ice time will be determined more by how he plays in the other areas of the game.

--John-Michael Liles. With a fresh start, a training camp and a new system, I think he is 1 of the players capable of significantly boosting last year's meek power play. He had been a very good power play quarterback in Colorado. Hopefully he can refind that. He is also my frontrunner to win the #4 D slot next to Hainsey with another year-to-year surge by Ryan Murphy being the wild card.

--Ryan Murphy. He impressed me last year with his rapid ascent to the NHL level and the fact that he did not look to be in over his head. This said, like any young player, especially on defense, he has a ways to go to round out his game. I hope to write a bigger blog about his ongoing development, but if I had to pick only 1 thing to watch with him, it would be his puck-moving skills in transition. He showed a "gone in a flash" ability fly up the ice with the puck by himself. Even if teams learned to steer him out wide of the faceoff circle where the breathtaking rush ended with a bad angle shot, it was still fun to watch. But in terms of using his speed to create transition offense, the next step for him is to use his speed and vision of the ice in front of him to set up passing lanes, spring forwards and get the puck in front of him and then join the rush. The result is more rushes where the team enters 3v2 or 2v1 and can generate scoring chances versus some of the 1v3 or 1v2 situations from last year when he blew completely by the Canes forwards to enter by himself.

--Cam Ward. The thing that would make me feel most confident in Ward going into 2014-15 would be confidence himself. If he looks like he is trying to will and fight his way into games early and seemingly going through the process of trying to talk himself into believing he can do it early in games, I am skeptical. I want to see the old Cam Ward coming out with a bit of swagger, a bit of hunger for ice time and even a little bit of an edge from not liking his current role/situation.

--Jay McClement. I like his signing. He will bring a lot of things, but biggest for me is wanting to see him anchor a solid PK pairing. With Jordan Staal to lead the other forward group, this would create a path to having a good penalty kill without burning a bunch of hard minutes using forwards who I would rather see skating in scoring situations.

--Jeff Skinner. I am looking for signs of a commitment to more of a 2-way game. More than anything it is his decision-making process in certain situations. If he is entering the offensive zone 1v2 when his line mates are all changing after a long shift does he make a risky move at the blue line in the "offense or bust" past or does he maybe go wide to make sure he at least carries the puck deep? If the opposing defenseman has a little trouble handling a puck at the offensive blue line, does he take the quick swipe for a steal or stay in position? Does his game change just a little bit in terms of risk/reward if the Canes are up 2-1 in the 3rd period? Etc. Everyone continues to want him slotted in the top 6 next to Eric Staal (because already tried with Jordan for an extended period of time and it did not work). As of the end of the 2013-14 season, he was easily a top 6 "scorer" but not even close to being a top 6 "all-around forward." The entire team gets better if Skinner can make this transition.

--Tim Gleason. I am looking for mobility. The most striking thing to me last training camp was how much quicker/faster Brett Bellemore looked throughout training camp versus Tim Gleason and Mike Komisarek who are similar type players. Then Gleason's start of the season was derailed by the preseason concussion, and he just never found it. Maybe with a bit of wake up call last season and a healthy start coming into camp, he can refind a higher gear. And for me it all starts with mobility. Without that, it is just tough.

--Ron Hainsey. He is in the #3 slot with a competition for who is #4 on defense. The key for him is finding chemistry and a complementary partner. If Murphy rises up, Hainsey might get a bit of a Glen Wesley role playing the back side of the offensive rushes for if they occasionally go bad. With Bellemore, he is forced into more of a puck-carrier role. Liles is another possibility. Unless Sekera/Faulk is split up, Hainsey will need to lead a quality NHL 2nd pairing and might need to be a bit of a chameleon in doing so depending on his partner.

--Anton Khudobin. I am looking for him to stay hungry. I have read things that seem to suggest otherwise, but I think he enters camp as the #1 based on his play in 2013-14. After finally climbing the hill to maybe become an NHL starter, does he let out a small sigh of relief and satisfaction that knocks his level of play down just a little? Or does he have the hunger and drive to stay hungry and start pushing for the next goal? How about leading a team to a playoff berth?

We will get a 1st look at a few of these things today when the Canes play Columbus this afternoon and then a few more looks with road games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I will post similar for about another dozen players in the next day or 2 and hope to post my notes/thoughts from the game today late tonight after I settle in after a scheduled out Sunday evening after the game.

Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63

Go Canes!
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