Thomas Gidlow: Ron Francis, Bill Peters, and the Carolina Hurricanes deserve an A+

I have to admit that I suprised by how well the canes have played this season. The future looks real bright for us and the canes are actually fun to watch. Peters and Francis have indeed put this team on the right path .

I believe Peters gets an A as well. I like the style he coaches and our players have really bought into it. The D does well with limiting shots despite aggressively pinching in the O zone.

We just need a solid 3 lines of O to go with the stingy D. Need 3 top 6 forwards for that to come true. GMRF would have to pull off some good trades and a FA signing to get there.

Trade/UFA- Staal- Trade/UFA (Versteeg would be in our price range)
Skinner- UFA/Trade- Lindholm
Nordstrom-Rask-Nestrasil
Di - McClement - Gerbe (or checker)

I don't think trading Skinner is as an attractive idea as it may have been weeks ago. He's flourishing with increased ice time and he's proving to be more consistent in many areas of his game. If he's decent defensively and nets us 30 goals a year, he's worth the price IMO.

I believe Peters gets an A as well. I like the style he coaches and our players have really bought into it. The D does well with limiting shots despite aggressively pinching in the O zone.

We just need a solid 3 lines of O to go with the stingy D. Need 3 top 6 forwards for that to come true. GMRF would have to pull off some good trades and a FA signing to get there.

Trade/UFA- Staal- Trade/UFA (Versteeg would be in our price range)
Skinner- UFA/Trade- Lindholm
Nordstrom-Rask-Nestrasil
Di - McClement - Gerbe (or checker)
- gocanes0506

Staal will play with Nordstrom and Nesty, the chemistry is too good to break up. Gerbe is gone after this season and I think Di has been good for Skinner this season, he crashes the net and gets in the dirty areas to win pucks, also has the pace to keep up with Skinner. I think when you net it out you're looking at:

___-___-Lindholm
Nord-Staal-Nesty
Skinner-Rask-Di
___-McClement-____
Nash

Realistically I expect two-three of those spots to be filled by some combination of Nash, prospects. So 2 top 6 forwards(ideally you're probably right about 3) and 4th line guys with potential offensive upside (15-20pts). The only prospect forward I can see making the full-time jump is Aho. leaving 2-3 spots open for free agents/trades/maybe our 1st pick this year. Our defensive core is set and has tons of "near-ready" depth that can slot in the bottom pairing if needed, Carrick, Lowe, Fleury, Murphy, Biega as examples maybe one becomes a trade-chip? It'll be a very interesting off-season to say the least.

I don't think trading Skinner is as an attractive idea as it may have been weeks ago. He's flourishing with increased ice time and he's proving to be more consistent in many areas of his game. If he's decent defensively and nets us 30 goals a year, he's worth the price IMO.
- Thomas Gidlow

Jeff Skinner is 83rd in scoring among forwards. He's a 1st line player in the NHL this year. Fact is that being around 50 points makes you a top line forward in the league this year.