Earlier this week, I posted the first half of a run through the entire Canes roster. You can find part 1 HERE.
So picking up where I left off, here is the next ten. I will try to finish up the last few in the beginning of my next blog.
Nathan Gerbe. He reminds me of Chad LaRose - the lovable Chad LaRose who was the hard-working bottom half of the roster energy player. Somewhere along the way he became a lightning rod for Canes fans when he was too often elevated to the top half of the roster because of lack of depth. So my point is that Nathan Gerbe and his consistent effort and energy level are a positive, but when he can be pushed down to something like a 9th-13th forward slot on a healthy team, it will be a sign that the team forward depth is finally getting to where it needs to be.
Jiri Tlusty. With his two-way play and ability to fit on any kind of line, he is a good serviceable top 9 forward, but his ups and downs demonstrate that he is more a complementary version of capable than a driver for his line. That puts his value salary-wise about where he was this year.
Andrej Nestrasil. He actually reminds me very much of Tlusty. He is not a pure scorer, but has enough offensive ability and hockey sense to play on a higher line. Because of this and the Canes challenges with ready young players and budget to sign high-end free agents, I peg Nestrasil as the most likely current roster player to rise into the top 6 and be serviceable in that role. He has enough size and skill to be a 3rd on a scoring line if EStaal/Semin find their way back together. He has enough two-way ability to play wing next to JStaal on a defense-first second line. Etc.
Patrick Dwyer. He had a solid season in his limited role. Like McClement, he was a regular on a league-best penalty kill (before the fall off after the trade deadline), finished with a respectable 7 goals for his role and ice time (especially minus any power play minutes) and was part of a 4th line that surged in January through March and was arguably the best 4th line in the team's history for that stretch. I would not be surprised to see him re-signed after Francis sorts out the slots above him.
Brad Malone. In the first half of the season, he looked a bit like an old NHL enforcer who was capable of only 3-4 minutes of ice time and next to nothing in terms of production. Then once the injury wave subsided and he found a regular role in the targeted 4th line he surged with it to become a valuable energy player with some scoring to boot.
John-Michael Liles. He continues to get better as a Cane. Upon his arrival, I was initially okay with his defensive play but disappointed in his inability to help the power play. As time has worn on and he has become more comfortable, I think he has quietly improved. He and Tim Gleason had a decent run in a role as second pairing. I think this is important because I do not see the Canes budget fitting more than one big addition on defense. That leaves Hainsey and Liles to be part or maybe all of a top 4 pairing that must be serviceable to give the Canes a chance to improve. I think he could be especially important because of his ability to be part of the solution to the weak 5-on-5 scoring with his ability to move the puck and help the Canes generate more off the rush.
Ron Hainsey. I think he took a small step backwards in 2014-15 but is still top 4 capable. The downside is that he just is not the type of defenseman who generates much for offense, and I think this is one of the struggles with 5-on-5 scoring. Especially when paired with one of the physical puck-moving-challenged defenseman like Gleason, Harrison or Bellemore, they just do not help much generating anything off the rush or even getting the puck into the offensive zone in a way where the forwards get to play offense enough. I think he could fit real well with a right shot puck-moving defenseman, but at least as of end of 2014-15 Murphy was not ready, and it is not clear there will be budget to add much here.
Jeff Skinner. As talented as he is offensively (and I think his scoring will rebound just fine), I just do not see enough improvement in his all-around game. I am still of the opinion that the Canes could actually get better both defensively and not really lose that much offensively by brokering a deal of Skinner for a similar age, similar quality defenseman. The defense gets better twice if you replace Skinner with an average or better defensive forward and when you add another top 4 defenseman to the team. And if that defenseman is a good all-around defenseman who can provide some skating and puck movement to the second pairing, I actually think that the minus in Skinner goals could be replaced by a the additional 20 minutes plus of better puck movement and scoring chances across the board 5-on-5.
Chris Terry. I like him as a depth player, and I think he is a no-brainer if Francis can get him to sign another two-way deal that makes it possible to cut costs by sending him to the AHL if he falls to #13 or #14 on the depth chart. He has average if not better NHL ability as a finisher, on the power play and in the shootout. That might not be enough to claim an every night roster spot, but it makes him capable of providing instant help in the event of injuries especially if they are to power play type players. It is important to note that he also improved the rest of his game.
Riley Nash. Had the Canes managed to scratch their way to points in the standings early in the season when the roster was decimated and then gone on to make the playoffs, Riley Nash would deserve a huge amount of credit. He played very well for the first quarter of the season, but there just was not enough help. And he mostly faded into the background as the season wore on. He is a serviceable depth center, but the real slot for that is filled by McClement. With the emergence of Victor Rask at center, I would actually be curious to see if he can use his speed at right wing, but regardless of position I think he has grown to become serviceable forward depth but not enough more to have a guaranteed roster slot next fall.
What say you Canes fans? Would you take Jiri Tlusty back at $2.5M/year to buy time until we can develop youth? Could Hainsey/Liles be a serviceable veteran second defense pairing if the Canes budget only holds a new partner for Justin Faulk? Which of Terry, Nash and Dwyer is most likely to see a Canes uniform and ice time next October?
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
Go Canes!