Matt Karash: They're baaaacckkkk!!!

The Canes are going to be solid this year. Scoring goals definitely shouldn't be a problem and Ward is solid.

Welcome back, Matt! Can you address the defense? Losing a physical/shot blocking player such as Bryan Allen makes me wonder how many shots Ward will face again. Then again, we have a lot more fire power offensively as well. Are we looking to win games 5-4 or 6-5 this year?

I didn't put a lot of thought into line combos etc., for the last few months... but NOW, I'm starting to get that adrenalin pumping (recalling how excited i was after Staal/ Semin sighnings)! I know we'll miss Ruutu, but the top two lines should be tough to handle! We have a lot of choices for filling the 3rd / 4th lines, and depending on how Kirk wants to structure them, and who plays on special teams i could see 6 or seven guys making the last three roster spots. it should be interesting who makes the cut!

Matt Karash: They're baaaacckkkk!!!
- CarolinaMatt63

not having ruutu till the playoffs could be a problem for the canes. hurts their depth a little. and is it true that there is talk of moving Eric Staal to the wing?

With Ruutu out the most similar playing style of the prospects in Charlotte would seem to be Wallace. He doesn't have Ruutu's scoring but he hits everything on skates when he is on the ice creating space for the scorers. Coach Daniels uses him on lines with Boychuk or Bowman often to give them room to skate.

A couple comments (THRILLED TO BE DEBATING CANES HOCKEY AGAIN!):

--The defense. At least on the blue line the team is definitely built to win some 6-5 and 5-4 games. One positive is that they are built to handle this in net. Ward is pretty much and unrattleable (surely that isn't a word but you get the point) veteran at this point. He could lose 6-5 on Sun, 5-4 on Tue and show up for a Wed or Thu game no worse for wear mentally. Not sure he will enjoy it, but he will be fine.

I think the key to balancing this is Gleason and Harrison. With Allen gone, they are the only 2 likely to see much ice time who fit the defense-first mold. They need to stay healthy and log a lot of the hard minutes (i.e. PK) for the team to be good enough defensively.

--Ruutu. His loss really hurts. The team is heavier on top 6 LW options (Skinner, Jokinen and EStaal as options and really only Semin left on the right side) and also heavier on skill than physical play and grit. Again from the guys listed only Ruutu really brings the grit and jam to the wing.

There are a bunch of options to fill in Ruutu's spot, but I think someone like Dalpe has a huge opportunity coming into camp in mid-season form.

A couple comments (THRILLED TO BE DEBATING CANES HOCKEY AGAIN!):

--The defense. At least on the blue line the team is definitely built to win some 6-5 and 5-4 games. One positive is that they are built to handle this in net. Ward is pretty much and unrattleable (surely that isn't a word but you get the point) veteran at this point. He could lose 6-5 on Sun, 5-4 on Tue and show up for a Wed or Thu game no worse for wear mentally. Not sure he will enjoy it, but he will be fine.

I think the key to balancing this is Gleason and Harrison. With Allen gone, they are the only 2 likely to see much ice time who fit the defense-first mold. They need to stay healthy and log a lot of the hard minutes (i.e. PK) for the team to be good enough defensively.

--Ruutu. His loss really hurts. The team is heavier on top 6 LW options (Skinner, Jokinen and EStaal as options and really only Semin left on the right side) and also heavier on skill than physical play and grit. Again from the guys listed only Ruutu really brings the grit and jam to the wing.

There are a bunch of options to fill in Ruutu's spot, but I think someone like Dalpe has a huge opportunity coming into camp in mid-season form.
- CarolinaMatt63

yup, my guess is we start with Tlusty - Staal - Semin
Skinner - Staal - Dalpe
Bowman - Jokinen - Larose
Wallace - Brent - Dwyer
other possibles Nodl, Stewart, Samson, Sutter