Matt Karash: Quick CBA rules/NHL contract impact tutorial + impacts on Canes roster

Matt, this is another well written blog, kudos to you. My thoughts, and hope is that the coaching staff will ice the best (most competitive) team on opening night regardless of contract/waiver status. If the Canes go into camp with no more additions/subtractions I would hope that the open spots are won by the hungriest, hardest-working players. I would be in favor of starting a guy who would potentially have to burn his 1st year of EL contract over a non-waiver exempt player especially if he wins the spot. Starting the non-waiver guys in Charlotte is not a bad thing, it only becomes an issue if they are recalled to Raleigh and then don't work out and need to be sent down/potentially get picked up by someone.

Another thing to think about is potential trade value of a few of these guys... I would say if the Canes struggle out the gate (and I'm really hoping this is not the case, but if it is) and we are around the 15-20 game mark, JR NEEDS to look to make a trade to improve the team. If we cant identify roles in the bottom 6 by then we need to trade one or two of them. My question is what do you think their trade value becomes? Do they have more value before the season starts to package a few of them/ a pick or two to fill a need now (solid 4th liner with PK ability) or after they cant make the Canes squad? I can't imagine there is much trade value in any of the non exempts because like boychuk last year, whoever doesn't cut it, will be picked up for free.

On defense, when I net it out, I think the Canes have a bias toward starting Murphy in the AHL unless he just blows the doors off in camp. There he can get 20+ minutes of ice time to continue his development, and it saves the team a few $ via not carrying an extra defenseman. And he is always a phone call away if an injury opens up a spot.

Well written blog, though I think the above statement is off. Put simply, I don't think any NHL team typically runs with only 6 defensemen on roster. The reason being, sometimes there just isn't time to get someone from your AHL roster to your NHL roster. For instance, a defenseman twists an ankle during pre-game skate. You need someone ready to go, with the team (therefore on the roster). So putting Murphy in the AHL may be best for his develoopment, playing instead of watching games; but it won't save the Canes much money because they will still have to pay someone to be on the roster. With Murphy's salary being 832k (rest of cap hit is bonus's and guaranteed signing bonus) and league minimum being 550k, the most they could conceivably save is below 300k.

If Canes have a forward they trust playing defense, my entire statement is incorrect. I don't think they do... but I could be wrong.

Due to a lot of competition for the final few spots it's gonna be tough to even decide the best 12 forwards. Without having seen much (if any) of the following: Gerbe, Palushaj, Welsh, McGinn, Lindholm...and little recently of Dalpe, my top 12 are: Staal, Staal, Nash, Welsh, Semin, Tlusty, Ruutu, Skinner, Lindholm (guess work), Dwyer, Bowman, and Gerbe!
13th likely is Westgarth
also ran (and still strong candidates) are Dalpe, Palushaj, Staal-Jared, and Brett Sutter.
Baring any trades before Camp, the biggest decisions are the placing of Skinner, Lindholm, picking the 3rd and 4th line centers, and assembling the penalty kill rotation. This won't be easy, and likely changes will be happening well into the season IMO!!!!

Well written blog, though I think the above statement is off. Put simply, I don't think any NHL team typically runs with only 6 defensemen on roster. The reason being, sometimes there just isn't time to get someone from your AHL roster to your NHL roster. For instance, a defenseman twists an ankle during pre-game skate. You need someone ready to go, with the team (therefore on the roster). So putting Murphy in the AHL may be best for his develoopment, playing instead of watching games; but it won't save the Canes much money because they will still have to pay someone to be on the roster. With Murphy's salary being 832k (rest of cap hit is bonus's and guaranteed signing bonus) and league minimum being 550k, the most they could conceivably save is below 300k.

If Canes have a forward they trust playing defense, my entire statement is incorrect. I don't think they do... but I could be wrong.
- Antilles

Good points. It depends a bit. At points where you have a couple guys banged up and you are making go/no-go decisions at morning skate/warm-ups, you must have a 7th. Same kind of holds true when you are on a trip out west. But if the 6 are healthy the Canes have sometimes gone with 6. The proximity of Charlotte to Raleigh and RDU airport to arena helps too. If something happens at morning skate, you can still get someone.

I think the bigger point is that if you are carrying a 7th who you do not expect to play, who is it? Probably not Murphy. More likely the team would rather get Murphy 20 minutes in Charlotte versus a game in a suit. The Canes have veteran AHL/NHL fringe players like Bellemore, Flood, etc. who would probably make more sense to be a 7th who is an insurance policy likely to sit in the press box. It is not a big difference but all of their contracts are a bit less than Murphy's and a couple of them have guaranteed amounts above their AHL salary which means you basically have to pay them for a few NHL games whether they play them or not.

Well written blog, though I think the above statement is off. Put simply, I don't think any NHL team typically runs with only 6 defensemen on roster. The reason being, sometimes there just isn't time to get someone from your AHL roster to your NHL roster. For instance, a defenseman twists an ankle during pre-game skate. You need someone ready to go, with the team (therefore on the roster). So putting Murphy in the AHL may be best for his develoopment, playing instead of watching games; but it won't save the Canes much money because they will still have to pay someone to be on the roster. With Murphy's salary being 832k (rest of cap hit is bonus's and guaranteed signing bonus) and league minimum being 550k, the most they could conceivably save is below 300k.

If Canes have a forward they trust playing defense, my entire statement is incorrect. I don't think they do... but I could be wrong.
- Antilles

Most of what you say is accurate. They almost definitely will have seven (maybe even eight) D-men on the roster...(Bellemore or Murphy or both), but with the AHL team in Charlotte (3 hours away), it's not an absolute need to have much depth here.
The hardest part of slotting the roster spots is the bottom line and special teams, IMO! There must be 8-10 candidates for the bottom two lines and special teams!

Matt, this is another well written blog, kudos to you. My thoughts, and hope is that the coaching staff will ice the best (most competitive) team on opening night regardless of contract/waiver status. If the Canes go into camp with no more additions/subtractions I would hope that the open spots are won by the hungriest, hardest-working players. I would be in favor of starting a guy who would potentially have to burn his 1st year of EL contract over a non-waiver exempt player especially if he wins the spot. Starting the non-waiver guys in Charlotte is not a bad thing, it only becomes an issue if they are recalled to Raleigh and then don't work out and need to be sent down/potentially get picked up by someone.

Another thing to think about is potential trade value of a few of these guys... I would say if the Canes struggle out the gate (and I'm really hoping this is not the case, but if it is) and we are around the 15-20 game mark, JR NEEDS to look to make a trade to improve the team. If we cant identify roles in the bottom 6 by then we need to trade one or two of them. My question is what do you think their trade value becomes? Do they have more value before the season starts to package a few of them/ a pick or two to fill a need now (solid 4th liner with PK ability) or after they cant make the Canes squad? I can't imagine there is much trade value in any of the non exempts because like boychuk last year, whoever doesn't cut it, will be picked up for free.
- CanesJKG

I am mostly a big fan of having legitimate tryouts and building the best team but there are exceptions. In another blog, I voted against using Murphy as a 7th defenseman/power play specialist at the expense of trying to develop him into a real defenseman. I also would not be huge fan of plugging someone like Brock McGinn into a 4th-line/8-minute per night role. If he earns a spot in the top 9 and can make the team better playing 12-16 minutes per night, that is great. If he rises above most of the fray but looks more like a marginal #12 or #13 forward then I would be inclined to use the other options and let him play another season in juniors without burning a year off his entry-level contract.

I don't think any of the Canes fringe players would garner a huge trade return right now. What you can sometimes do is find another team with a similarly promising player who just hasn't worked out and make an even swap to get both another try in a different system/scenario. But I don't see any package of Canes AHLers netting a real good 3rd-line forward.

I am mostly a big fan of having legitimate tryouts and building the best team but there are exceptions. In another blog, I voted against using Murphy as a 7th defenseman/power play specialist at the expense of trying to develop him into a real defenseman. I also would not be huge fan of plugging someone like Brock McGinn into a 4th-line/8-minute per night role. If he earns a spot in the top 9 and can make the team better playing 12-16 minutes per night, that is great. If he rises above most of the fray but looks more like a marginal #12 or #13 forward then I would be inclined to use the other options and let him play another season in juniors without burning a year off his entry-level contract.

I don't think any of the Canes fringe players would garner a huge trade return right now. What you can sometimes do is find another team with a similarly promising player who just hasn't worked out and make an even swap to get both another try in a different system/scenario. But I don't see any package of Canes AHLers netting a real good 3rd-line forward.
- CarolinaMatt63

Basically i agree with what you're saying, but remember when a team has a borderline player that they decide to move/ trade, they will be happy to get another player that they perceive is better (or as good). One man's trash is another man's treasure! Also different teams are looking for different things to improve their team!

You've got one thing very wrong. Lindholm IS eligible to play in the American League because he's not North American. Actually, I think they changed the minimum age requirement across the board anyway, (it used to be that you had to be 20 OR European-trained to play in the AHL), but the fact that he's only played in Sweden exempts him from minimum age requirement.
He doesn't want to play in Charlotte, but if that's where the team wants to put him, they can. It's only his preference that he either play for the big team or go back to Sweden.

The jump from SEL to NHL would be quite significant. Most players spend another year, at least, before coming over, and then even spend some time in the AHL. I'm having a hard time finding another which made the jump to NHL the year after their draft year, though I am sure one or two must exist. Guys like Eriksson and Hornqvist, Berglund, Sedins, spent at least 2 more years in the SEL, and some of them went to the AHL. Alfreddson, Backstrom and Kopitar both spent 1 more year, and they are the exceptions, excelling from their rookie year on. These are all the successful ones. Most, like Paajarvi, Josefson, Tedenby, Zibanejed, Larsson..all haven't established an NHL role yet, and they all spent at least 1 more year in the SEL.

The jump from SEL to NHL would be quite significant. Most players spend another year, at least, before coming over, and then even spend some time in the AHL. I'm having a hard time finding another which made the jump to NHL the year after their draft year, though I am sure one or two must exist. Guys like Eriksson and Hornqvist, Berglund, Sedins, spent at least 2 more years in the SEL, and some of them went to the AHL. Alfreddson, Backstrom and Kopitar both spent 1 more year, and they are the exceptions, excelling from their rookie year on. These are all the successful ones. Most, like Paajarvi, Josefson, Tedenby, Zibanejed, Larsson..all haven't established an NHL role yet, and they all spent at least 1 more year in the SEL.
- Blackstrom2

I tend to agree with you on the unlikelyhood of Lindholm making the team, but JR and Ronnie Francis seem to think he's ready, sooooooo we will see!