So far the Canes summer has been about like the 1980 classic movie "Blues Brothers." The path has been a bit uncertain in the end, Jim Rutherford is on a mission from God and is puttin the band back together. First Erik Cole and now about 24 hours later Chad Larose is back in the mix. I think the price on Chad Larose is a steal at an average of $1.7M/year. He is 1 of those players where the majority is not something that gets measured on the stats sheet. I think he still has scoring upside, but even at 15-20 goals and 35-40 points you just do not get the real picture of Chad Larose.

Need a guy to forecheck like mad and make it difficult for the other team to get the puck started up the ice all night? That's Chad Larose.

Need a guy to pester and hound the puck all night long in all 3 zones like an 8-year-old who stole his big brother's caffeine drink? That's Chad Larose.

Need a guy to yammer on the bench or at the other team to stir up some energy on 1 of those road nights in the middle part of the season when you cannot seem to get your team's energy going? That's Chad Larose.

There is going to be a group that criticizes GM Jim Rutherford for bringing back the same team without any significant upgrades (assuming no surprises which is still possible). And I would love to add a top 4 defenseman or a top line right wing as much as anyone. But it comes down to 2 things for me:

1) The Canes were a very good hockey team at about the point this bunch was assembled (once Jokinen and Cole were picked up) closing out the regular season as 1 of the 2 best teams in the Eastern Conference and even better rising up to the same #2 spot in the Eastern Conference in the playoffs.

Sure there is room for improvement, but this was a good hockey team from about the beginning of March on.

2) I think the bigger moves come next summer. The problem the Canes have right now is too many big salaries in the bottom half of their lineup. Next summer, 2 defensemen below our top 4 (Wallin and Kaberle) come off the books at about $4M, the team gets $2.5M more freed up when Walker's contract ends and additional flexibility could be gained with other top half players coming off contract (these situations are trickier because in many cases you need to replace them at a similar and sometimes even higher cost).

Assuming Ruutu gets signed, and the team either signs Babchuk or maybe uses the money for someone else, I am reasonably happy with the 09-10 opening day roster at this point. Are they a frontrunner to win the Stanley Cup or even go deep in the playoffs? Probably not. But then in exactly NONE of the other 3 deep runs in the playoffs was this the case either.

The team is deep if not spectactular at forward. With another step forward by Cam Ward in full-season consistency, I like the team's chances to again make the playoffs, and once that happens we all know that anything is possible.

Put more simply: The Canes were a good hockey team from March on last season, so I am happy to have that team back.

Go Canes!

Join the Discussion: Chat Room » Message Board »

» #14 At Fla: No rest for the weary

» If I were in charge

» Gm 11 Vs. StL: Slide continues at home

» Gm 10 At Min: Temporary help? Or the scout for the rest?

» Gm 9 At Clr: Time for a change?