Today the Carolina Hurricanes sent Phil Di Giuseppe, Sergey Tolchinsky, Brody Sutter, Brendan Woods, Drew MacIntyre and Trevor Carrick to the AHL (a couple have to clear waivers first).
Based on line combinations from this weekend for the veterans and puzzle-piecing who is left, the Carolina Hurricanes roster currently looks like:
Eric Staal - Victor Rask - Elias Lindholm Nathan Gerbe- Jordan Staal - Andrej Nestrasil Jeff Skinner - Riley Nash - Kris Versteeg Brad Malone - Jay McClement - Chris Terry Brock McGinn- Derek Ryan - Joakim Nordstrom
Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk John-Michael Liles - James Wisniewski Noah Hanifin - Ryan Murphy Jaccob Slavin - Michal Jordan Haydn Fleury - Brett Pesce
Cam Ward - Eddie Lack
The ongoing competition is for a 13th roster spot at forward with the competition between Brock McGinn, Derek Ryan and Joakim Nordstrom. Whoever wins that slot has a pretty decent chance of playing on the 4th line and pushing Brad Malone to #13.
I think it is like this: --Derek Ryan is most skilled and scoring-capable of the group, but he is also a center which means either he or someone else needs to shift to make room.
--Brock McGinn brings some of the sandpaper that the team really wants and also has some scoring ability, so he clearly has the ability to go out and seize the role.
--Joakim Nordstrom might be the safest choice based on NHL experience and proven sound defensive play at the NHL level.
On defense, I think the Hanifin/Murphy combination pulled ahead this weekend. Michal Jordan is fairly certain to keep an NHL spot by virtue of his 1-way contract. That leaves young guns Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin and Haydn Fleury on the outside looking in right now despite pretty strong play in preseason. An injury or 2 could change things obviously, but otherwise I think one of them would need to play lights out to supplant a veteran or Ryan Murphy or Noah Hanifin. But here's the thing, with his playing increasing day by day and a game-winning goal on Sunday just maybe Jaccob Slavin is up to that task.
What say you Canes fans? Who makes the final roster if the team stays healthy? Who wins an extra spot or 2 if injuries open things up?
Matt Karash is a long-time passionate Hurricanes hockey fan, season ticket holder and also the founder of Canes and Coffee web site.
Twitter=@CanesandCoffee
Go Canes!