I have some catching up to do to combine 2 half-written game recap blogs from what was a good weekend overall for the Canes splitting back to back road games.
But there is bigger and more immediate news times 2 today.
First, the Canes re-signed Justin Faulk (he was to become a restricted free agent this summer) for 6 years for $29M (so $4.87M/year). First, at a very basic level I am happy to have Justin Faulk re-signed. He has ascended the depth chart ahead of schedule and become a legitimate NHL top 4 defenseman. So at a headline level, I am pleased.
But the recurring negative for me in nearly if not the full 100% of the Canes deals of late is that in the Canes seem to pay at or even above the high side of fair in any deal for a top half of the roster player. Two pretty good comparables re-signed this summer. Roman Josi who has stepped into a top pairing role in Nashville re-signed as an RFA for 7 years at $4M/year, and Slava Voynov re-signed for 6 years at $4.17M/year. Both players had recently risen up the depth chart to take a spot in the top 4 like Faulk, bring a pretty good all-around game and are expected to slot long-term in the top 4 if not top 2 on their teams. We can debate whether Faulk is equal to these players, a little better or a little worse even, but I think I can make a strong case that $800-900k less (in the Josi/Voynov) range would not have been completely unfair.
I wrote a blog that you can find
HERE that showed the Canes as the most top heavy team in the league salary-wise heading into this season. As much as I like Justin Faulk and recognize that he needs to be part of the mix long-term, it is exactly this kind of deal that puts the Canes surprisingly as a yearly contender for most top heavy team (salary-wise) in the NHL. Eric Staal is a great player, but he will make $9.25M over the next 2 years pretty much at the ceiling for NHL forwards. Even if Cam Ward does regain his #1 form, he is no bargain ranking in the top 5 in pay amongst NHL goalies. Ditto for Jeff Skinner and Jordan Staal who are good players but paid at or arguably above fair value. When you combine the top heavy roster salary-wise and the recent struggles by the organization to develop depth forwards from the system, you get what you have now - a team that is struggling to fill out the bottom half of its roster with players who can make a difference.
The 2nd bombshell today is word that Canes GM Jim Rutherford might step down from his GM position and hand the reigns to Ron Francis this summer. You can find that article from the Raleigh News & Observer
HERE. Even in the midst of a disappointing season in which everyone deserves to step forward and take his share of blame, I lean more positive than negative on Rutherford. If you work through how the 2002 and 2006 teams were built, he deserves a huge amount of credit for getting talent on the cheap and overachieving relative to salary budget. But in a strange twist, he has actually struggled a bit in a new world order that has seen the Canes increase budget and spend much closer to the salary cap and the top spenders in the league. While the Canes might still be small market, their budget is not so much anymore. Per the blog linked above, Rutherford continues to be good at finding diamonds in the rough to add players. He did that very well again this summer with the additions of Sekera, Khudobin, Gerbe and Hainsey this summer. But the combination of an underperforming expensive core that just does not seem to be working and not much money left because of it is on its way to seeing the Canes fall short of the playoffs for the 5th straight year.
I go back and forth on the Rutherford thing:
1) The positive is that he has built some real good teams and continues to show an uncanny knack for finding good players on the cheap.
2) The negative is that 5 consecutive playoff misses in a league in which 16 of 30 teams make it is just unacceptable. That alone might just make it necessary to appease the increasingly frustrated portion of the fan base with a sign of accountability.
What say you Canes fans? Am I nitpicking the salary on the Justin Faulk deal, or do you see the same "high end of the range ALWAYS" trend that I do? Where do you stand on Canes GM Jim Rutherford? How do you feel about the prospect of Ron Francis replacing him?
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
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