Matt Karash: Carolina Hurricanes blog: Team and player evaluations at 1/4 marke (1 of 2)

Ruutu has looked better but Im not sure his ceiling goes up much more than he is currently playing. I would guess he improves but he looks a tad slower than he has ever looked. Man, that guy falls down alot!

When you look at everything I think you have the team rated accurate. I still think they will get better but you are right that we could be a few weeks away from a death spiral too.

I think injuries have to be taken into account when grading... I know that its not a players fault but injuries still needs to be considered because grades are essentially based off expectations.

Lindholm will be a good player but the unfortunate difficulty he has staying healthy should affect his grade. Anton/Ward the same thing... Its not their fault but their expectations or expectation of contribution is not being met because they cant get on the ice. Anton looked good but we needed more than 2 games to properly grade him. All 3 of those players should be a grade or 2 lower.

I like the Bowman rating... he looks much faster and more comfortable this season. He has really played well since Manny came to town. I am hoping he keeps rising and continues to develop.

Manny Malhotra! What Cane fan doesn't love this guy right now!? I thought it was cool that he got a PTO with the Checkers but had no idea this is what we would get! His line has been one of the better lines every night. Thats saying something when you have Komisarek on your wing.

Westgarth... yes limited games. Has to affect the grade. Coming into camp out of shape and having your GM criticize you for also should count against you.

Nice article Matt, as always I enjoy the read and talking points.

You are right on Matt! Very good analysis of our forwards. I sure hope Eric can start to get it going and hope Skinner is back real soon.

Imo JR will trade a Dman Gleason? and his NTC for a top6/9 forward Hopefully a center to solidify the middle while Gleason has value in a Dman hungry market.

Matt I want to open a can of worms on this comment section.

I have always been a fan of the canes but wasn't real die hard per say up until a few years ago.

My question is, and maybe you will have an article about this down the road, what does JR see in E staal, ward and others he pays at insane rates.Using Eric as an example he is paid almost 2 million more than Kane, Datsuk and the same as Malkin and Crosby and in my opinion doesn't play to even half of their level.

What did I miss, because I don't think he's worth

Opening A Can Of Worms ........ I am also a die hard fan , and if you watched last season at all you would realize that Eric Staal was a beast and worth every penny .( top 5 in scoring ) Then he got hurt at the Worlds and hasn't been the same since . Give him time he will be fine .( I hope ) He is always a slow starter also . Plays his best hockey after Xmas every year .