Jay McClement was 1 of the players on my list of 9 players to target in my free agency blog, so I am obviously pleased with the signing. The price is also right at $1M. I had him pegged at $1-1.2M. He fills the role vacated by Manny Malhotra as a safe and sound veteran 4th-liner who can take defensive zone draws, is not in over his head playing 8-10 4th-line minutes and can fill a faceoff/center slot on the PK. As much as I like Manny Malhotra, especially as a person and a story, I think McClement is actually a modest upgrade in this role. I think he is a little better mobility-wise and has a little more left in the tank for a long 82-game season. McClement will slot right into the 4th-line center position. With the addition of Brad Malone yesterday, the Canes have added 2 4th-liners. That is to go with Patrick Dwyer and Riley Nash. At the point where the Canes can push these 2 players down to the 4th-line or press box, the team depth starts to look like a balanced, playoff potential NHL team. At the point where too many of (McClement, Dwyer, Nash, Malone are the best available option for a top 9 role, it starts to feel like another instance of Chad LaRose or Patrick Dwyer being forced into the top 6 in a role just simply above their skill level. To be clear, I actually like LaRose and also Dwyer and think that both had a useful role on a good hockey team, but both are just too offensively limited to be an 82-game top 6 forward on a good team.
So recapping my 2 Canes free agency preview blogs, I had the following:
4 needs: 1) Top 4 defenseman. 2) Scoring-capable RW for top 9. 3) Scoring-capable C for top 9. 4) Top 4 defenseman.
I go back and forth on the prioritization of the 1st 3 roles, but the 4th is clear 4th in importance. So with the McClement and Malone signings, I think the Canes added good depth, but the biggest holes are still there. To be clear, per my blog yesterday, I am not calling the summer a failure (or a success for that matter). It is still very early in the process, and it is no surprise that Ron Francis is playing a game of patience looking to opportunistically get more help for less money.
In my 2nd free agency preview blog, I named 9 players that I thought could fill the 4 needs above. McClement was actually 1 of them. A few of the others are still available.
1-Top 4 D --Coburn: Could still be available via trade if Phi starts itching to cut salary cap. --Quincey: Stayed home Det for a pretty big $4.25M; probably was not an option for Canes. --Del Zotto: So far the risk is winning out over the upside. He is still available.
2-Top 9 RW --Kulemin: Signed pretty big contract. --Hemsky: Had enough of a run with Spezza that he got off the cheap pile too.
I think of the options still available, I like Lee Stempniak best. He is not spectacular or flashy, but is just a pretty good all-around player who could play on any line.
3-Top 9 C --Richards: He signed a 1-year/$2M "want to go to a contender" deal that he would not have signed with Canes. --Perreault: I liked him as a bit of a riskier bargain with a lot of upside, but he really did not end up being much of a bargain at $3M.
I really like David Legwand, especially if his price starts to fall. If the Canes cannot get everything that they need, I would much rather be deep at center and take our chances at wing. Wing offers a few possibilities for pleasant surprises in training camp. In the category of young players rising up early, there are McGinn and Rask. Rask is a natural center, but he might be more likely to play wing at NHL level. In the category of late arriving youth is Boychuk. He is a wild card who just might finally be ready. I guess the default at center is Riley Nash. Every time I talked about him being too light offensively for a 3rd line role, he scored. So if he falls into this role, I will before each game talk about how he is only a 4th-liner. But seriously, I just think the team is better if he can be forced down to a 4th line role.
4-4th-line center: --McClement: See above. --Fiddler. I cannot remember where, but I think he signed today.
If Ron Francis could swing a deal for a top 4 defenseman and a good top 9 center, I could make a case that we are still light (and we might very well be), but I would also be willing to take my chances with that entering training camp.
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
Go Canes!