Matt Karash: Carolina Hurricanes Red-White Scrimmage Notes

hearing rumors of trading for meszaros, any thoughts on that and what the D-pair might look like if that happened?

hearing rumors of trading for meszaros, any thoughts on that and what the D-pair might look like if that happened?
- jerbear53

I am skeptical. The big thing for me is the $. He is a $4M cap hit. Maybe as importantly, his actual salary is $5.5M. I don't see the Canes taking on that salary to add depth. And not sure it makes that much sense for Flyers (trying to dump cap mostly) if they have to eat a bunch of the contract.

But to answer your question, the healthy version of Meszaros is a decent top 4 who can play any situation (PP, PK, regular strength) reasonably well. He is a left shot but has played both sides. If added, I think he would slot nicely next to Hainsey which would leave 3 somewhat similar options in Gleason, Harrison and Komisarek to fill out the 3rd pairing and also provide veteran depth in case of injury.

Philly still has a $4.9m LTIR on Pronger ,so they'll be ok this year but they have Matt Read & Brayden Schenn to sign next year ,so they may actually wave 2 players and move/demote a couple more even with the cap going up ,and they over paid for who they have which Imo is not as good as the Canes D-corp ,or not for the $$$ difference ,but I'd rather have Franson a younger cheaper player via OS or trade ,but The Canes still need a scoring vet winger/center just as bad as one injury to the top 6 ,and there a one line team again.

Philly still has a $4.9m LTIR on Pronger ,so they'll be ok this year but they have Matt Read & Brayden Schenn to sign next year ,so they may actually wave 2 players and move/demote a couple more even with the cap going up ,and they over paid for who they have which Imo is not as good as the Canes D-corp ,or not for the $$$ difference ,but I'd rather have Franson a younger cheaper player via OS or trade ,but The Canes still need a scoring vet winger/center just as bad as one injury to the top 6 ,and there a one line team again.
- elaeskimos

I think I mostly agree with the end of your comment. Canes could use more depth on defense (same as any other team), but I don't think it is a must-have now. And either using a bit of money at forward or at least retaining the financial flexibility to do something later might make more sense than spending it all being unable to adjust a bit once we see what happens Oct/Nov.

I think I mostly agree with the end of your comment. Canes could use more depth on defense (same as any other team), but I don't think it is a must-have now. And either using a bit of money at forward or at least retaining the financial flexibility to do something later might make more sense than spending it all being unable to adjust a bit once we see what happens Oct/Nov.
- CarolinaMatt63

How are you guys still thin up front with the likes of Staal,Staal,Semin,Skinner,Ruutu and Tlusty or are you talking bottom six forward depth?

How are you guys still thin up front with the likes of Staal,Staal,Semin,Skinner,Ruutu and Tlusty or are you talking bottom six forward depth?
- blizzzard

Last year the Canes learned a 2 good lesson's 1. You can't have enough scoring depth with Skinner & Ruutu out ,and 2. your backup goalie better be a "slight" fall off than a huge fall off ,so yes you need at least 2 forwards who can score 20g in your bottom 6.

How are you guys still thin up front with the likes of Staal,Staal,Semin,Skinner,Ruutu and Tlusty or are you talking bottom six forward depth?
- blizzzard

It's the bottom 6. The Canes really only have 7-8 experienced forwards (EStaal, Semin, Tlusty, JStaal, Skinner, Ruutu, Dwyer and to some degree Bowman). That leaves 4-5 spots to be filled by players with 50ish or fewer NHL games. I think some of these players will work but counting on 5-6 sounds more like rebuilding than trying to return to the playoffs this year. It might even be okay to start the season with a complete run of youth to see who works, but doing this without any financial flexibility to add a veteran via trade later would be really risky.

It's the bottom 6. The Canes really only have 7-8 experienced forwards (EStaal, Semin, Tlusty, JStaal, Skinner, Ruutu, Dwyer and to some degree Bowman). That leaves 4-5 spots to be filled by players with 50ish or fewer NHL games. I think some of these players will work but counting on 5-6 sounds more like rebuilding than trying to return to the playoffs this year. It might even be okay to start the season with a complete run of youth to see who works, but doing this without any financial flexibility to add a veteran via trade later would be really risky.
- CarolinaMatt63

Matt, what are you saying? We've shored up the D, b/u G, and have at least as good a group of forwards as we had last year, with a lot of potential improvement! That isn't a downgrade from the team that started last year in a position to make the playoffs! Pitkinen is a big loss, but the additions pretty much nullify that. Certainly one or two of the forward options will be better than our bottom six last year! That's almost a certainty!...IMO

I am skeptical. The big thing for me is the $. He is a $4M cap hit. Maybe as importantly, his actual salary is $5.5M. I don't see the Canes taking on that salary to add depth. And not sure it makes that much sense for Flyers (trying to dump cap mostly) if they have to eat a bunch of the contract.

But to answer your question, the healthy version of Meszaros is a decent top 4 who can play any situation (PP, PK, regular strength) reasonably well. He is a left shot but has played both sides. If added, I think he would slot nicely next to Hainsey which would leave 3 somewhat similar options in Gleason, Harrison and Komisarek to fill out the 3rd pairing and also provide veteran depth in case of injury.
- CarolinaMatt63

Totally agree here Matt. The Canes' could definitely use another experienced nhl ready Dman, but the price would have to be right and the Flyers would have to eat at least half of his cap hit. I like this potential option, we'll see what pans out. My feeling is Niskanen is not likely traded anytime soon. The Pens still seem high on him.