If you do a comparison of the 2014-15 Hurricanes up to the trade deadline versus the options for the 2015-16 opening night roster quite a bit has changed. The last time the Canes had this many wild cards and new faces was the summer of 2005, and we all know how that turned out.
In net: --Gone is Anton Khudobin. --Returning is Cam Ward. --Added is Eddie Lack.
The situation sets up to be a 1A and 1B scenario, but only if both players play well. It will be interesting to see which goalie gets out of the gate faster in training camp and stakes a claim to the larger cut off October starts.
What to watch in camp --Can 1 of these goalies seize the #1 role by himself in training camp?
On defense --Gone are Jay Harrison, Tim Gleason, Brett Bellemore and Andrej Sekera. --Returning are Justin Faulk, Ron Hainsey, John-Michael Liles and also Michal Jordan and Ryan Murphy who split the season between the AHL and NHL. --Added is James Wisniewski and a slew of kids who will enter an open competition for NHL ice time.
The most noticeable thing is the disappearance of 'big, physical stay-home' defensemen. The Canes basically have 5 slots filled by Faulk, Hainsey, Liles, Wisniewski and Jordan who are all on 1-way contracts. Past that there will be an interesting competition for the remaining slots between recent high-profile 1st round picks Noah Hanifin and Haydn Fleury, older prospects like Ryan Murphy, Keegan Lowe, Rasmus Rissanen and Danny Biega and a the next way of 19-21 year old blue liners moving up. This last group includes Jaccob Slavin (US college last season), Trevor Carrick (AHL last season), Roland McKeown (Canadian junior last year), Brett Pesce (US college last year) and a few others who are likely to be farther away.
What to watch in camp --What does Bill Peters do with the 4 veteran defensemen, pair them or split them to help mentor youth? --Who wins the free for all competition for the open slots.
At forward: --Gone are Jiri Tlusty, Alexander Semin and Patrick Dwyer. --Returning are Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask, Riley Nash, Nathan Gerbe, Jay McClement, Chris Terry, Andrej Nestrasil and Brad Malone. --Added is Kris Versteeg.
Between the start of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 season starts, the Canes have much of the same core but are minus 2 top 6 regulars in Semin and Tlusty. Versteeg adds some offensive fire power, but the Canes thus far have made a commitment at forward to improving from within. The Hurricanes are not as deep in terms of prospects at forward and also lack real high draft pick options at forward. But there are some wild cards. The Canes signed Derek Ryan who will be a 28-year old rookie coming off leading 2 different European teams in scoring in each of the past 2 years. There is Sergey Tolchinsky's highlight reel act. There is Zach Boychuk who looked better at the NHL level last season and just maybe is ready to settle into the NHL. There is Brock McGinn whose time might be now.
What to watch in camp --The Canes need some combination of chemistry and better play at least scoring-wise at forward to improve in 2015-16. Does Versteeg spark 1 of the top 2 lines and help lift up underwhelming 2014-15 goal totals for his line mates? Who else plays in top 6?
What say you Canes fans? Do you agree that the Canes enter the 2015-16 season with an incredibly high number of wild cards that could yield upside? How do you feel about the prospect of 2 inexperienced defensemen likely being slotted into the lineup with no veteran plan B? Can the same forwards put up better numbers? Are you ready for training camp and then real hockey after a long summer?
Matt Karash is a long-time passionate Hurricanes hockey fan, season ticket holder and also the founder of the Canes and Coffee web site.
Twitter=@CanesandCoffee
Go Canes!