FrenchConnection44

This is a phenomenal piece. I am pretty pumped over our prospects. Can’t wait to follow them this year.

Johnson may well need to be spelled some on defense as he’s no longer a 22 minute guy, but his defensive metrics are better than any of our 4-5-6 guys last year. And they didn’t sign him to a $3.25 to sit at #7 on the depth chart. I think Joki can and will improve. How much remains to be seen. He’s still quite young. So while Biron thinks he could be trade bait I’m fine with him competing to play on the 3rd line. I do think the D will be improved. Perhaps significantly. Clifton and E Johnson give it a boost. The young guys will improve. Power needs to add a good 15-20 lbs to his frame over the course of the next few yrs. But we are already more sound on D than last year, imo. I actually have more concern - today -at forward with Quinn out and VO still on the team potentially getting minutes with his -23. With Quinn, we have a solid pairing with Cozens or Krebs. But we still need a replacement at forward as well as an upgrade over VO.

Duffer & Biron discussing Sabres defense in this episode. They both predict the top 4 to be Dahlin, Samuelsson, Power, Clifton. Marty thinks 5-6 will go to Johnson and Lyubushkin (!). Thinks Lyu really came on at the end last year. Assuming everyone is healthy. Thinks they will carry 7-8 on D depending on whether they have 2 or 3 goalies. And he thinks Joki is a big trade possibility if that is the case (didn’t say who would be 7th but based on their conversation one can assume it will be Stillman; if Joki is traded). Of course, that assumes perfect health.

From The Athletic on Pesce (given what he wants and with 3 young D studs to keep; he’d be a 1 year loaner). But if I am the Hurricanes I’d keep Pesce barring a massive haul relative to the player. They are a bonafide Cup contender. ——— Pesce is probably looking for a max-term contract worth something in the $6.5 million range annually. The Hurricanes have been reluctant to give out big-ticket, long-term contracts to those in their late 20s and have several players (Aho, Skjei, Martin Necas, Seth Jarvis, Jalen Chatfield) who will expect raises starting with the 2024-25 campaign. Things could be tight, even with a spike in the salary cap next summer. Any team negotiating with Pesce must also consider his injury history. He has twice had his season cut short due to shoulder injuries, and the wear and tear of playing more than 13,000 minutes since coming into the league in 2015 will catch up to him at some point. What the Hurricanes must weigh is how many years Pesce can be expected to play at or near his current level before the drop-off occurs. And if Pesce is indeed seeking an eight-year extension in the $50 million to $55 million range, that might be too rich for Carolina’s blood. So, then what? The Hurricanes could certainly play out next season with Pesce, who is still a key part of their defense. Carolina hasn’t shied away from using its pending UFAs as “own rentals” in the past — see Micheal Ferland, Dougie Hamilton and Vincent Trocheck. The problem is half of the team’s expected top six — Pesce, Skjei and Chatfield — have contracts that are up after the 2023-24 season. So while Carolina has been able in the past to let a few players leave via free agency without compensation, it cannot allow three defensemen to walk for nothing. That means exploring alternatives — and it’s the reason Pesce’s name has come up in trade rumors.

As to cap space, Buffalo is right at the middle of the pack in the league (essentially even with 3 other teams bet 12-15). Cap space around the league is not quite as bad as many are saying. https://www.spotrac.com/nhl/cap/ Id give up future draft considerations, VO, maybe Östlund and another for Helly. But I’m not giving up any prime assets in the pipeline.

Completely agree. I don’t get all this talk. Gibson has dropped off and frankly I’d rather run with the potential upside of UPL than the downside of Gibson (when look at not only save % but also his quality save % and various advanced stats; just not great). I am not a huge UPL fan or defender. But his 9 games two years ago comp just as well with Levi’s 7 last year. Levi is the better goalie prospect imo but UPL is still only 23. Plenty of goalies don’t come into their own until they get older and more experienced. Anecdotally, when one looks back at Ullmark for example, he didn’t even break in to be a starter (30 + starts) til he was 25. And his first full year he ranked pretty low (30s in most categories); he didn’t really become quality starter til 26. I wanted to sign a vet goalie on a 2 yr deal to help take the pressure off our young guys. Esp. Levi. But I still think UPL can improve and we could have a good tandem with Levi for a few years. Not confident it will be this year. But hope springs eternal.

Couple more. Excited about Johnson. I was ready to move on but if he can come into the team and be a quality 5-6 defender that will be a big plus.

Still a lot of forwards out there and hopefully that brings the price down on some. I think a veteran along the lines of a Tatar on a 1 year deal (2 max) would be ideal to make up for the loss of Quinn. Assuming they buy in and fit the team concept. Tatar is not special but he finished 24th in Selke voting and that could be a positive. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Don’t want to spend big, imo. But I think we need one and that could open the door to trade Olafsson. If anyone is interested.

JJP was 20 at the start of the season. VO was 27. And in spite of 28 goals / 40 points he was a -23 (meaning 63 goals were scored while he was on the ice). However one needs to parse +/- that’s not good. JJP is likely to see significant improvement. Even if he’s not the scorer VO is he is not likely to be nearly the liability.

Couple more.

These videos are great. Man, wish I were up there to watch.

Just came on to post this. Loves this interview. Love his attitude. “I play an abrasive game.” Yea ya do. 👍 Great attitude.

Well said. We still need a vet goalie for sure, imo. And it may take time. But we have a lot of time before the season begins. I’m pretty content with the D we signed today. And love this team as well as the youth in the pipeline. Adams has been great so far. Think about where this team was four years ago. Between 2012 & 2021. Today there is a lot of hope.

Still need a goalie. Disappointed we didn’t land Andersen. He came in at a reasonable price, imo. May not have wanted to come here unless we went a lot higher. But some think he is not as good as he appears on paper of late. Hope we don’t give up a prized prospect to get one. Love the idea of Olafsson and a future draft pick. We have such a strong set of prospects we can afford to do that. Also still feel like we need another forward. Ideally one who can also win some face offs. But need a vet to replace Quinn. Imo.

I like the defensemen. A solid #4 in Clifton who gives our prospect D men time to develop. And a 5-6 in Johnson Johnson has a ton of experience he will bring went through entire rebuild and won a Cup with Avalanche so that’s a plus. Clifton also comes from a winning franchise and is young still but a vet for us. Clifton had a 4.2 defensive point shares Johnson a 2.8. Orlov $7.75 M per yr for 2 yrs. Pricey. Plus he probably thought Hurricanes closer to a Cup. Good piece here.

Noon is when it starts I believe. Will be interesting to see a) who we target (probably several); b) who is interested in coming to play with us; c) how much of our space and how long we are willing to spend. top 4 D appears the priority.

Makes sense that they are expecting him to get less value than the QO; and are negotiating with him. He played pretty well for us and is still relatively young. Also no offer for Clague or Pekar. But did give one to Murray and Weissbach

Agree that we need to have more than just two rookies at 12 & 13 fwds. Hence a relatively low priced Vet. It might be wise to wait and see and let some of the prices come down (unless we get a deal right away that’s appealing cap wise) I still lean to move on from VO. When we look at goals we also have to look at what he gives up defensively. And that is the other issue with defense. Yes, we need a top 4 defender, imo, and a vet goalie. But on defense a two way forward can really help and better two way play from the forwards is needed. I doubt we’d get that from the rookies at this stage.

I do want a good look at the youngsters. To me the reason for another forward is on a short term deal to replace Quinn (I don’t expect him to skate into the ice in January as a new improved player over last year. I suspect he would struggle a bit the second half and will take more time to get to full speed). But move on as the young players come into their own.

Agree on Jost. Esp now that we are down Quinn. Hinistroza struggled to stay at the nhl level and crack the lineup. But may be worth Re-upping with the Quinn Injury. Unless we see a better talent out there. Given we have some D in the pipeline I’m content with a vet to pair with Power. Dahlin doesn’t need one that much but would still be nice to have a veteran who has been on a winner with playoff experience and can add that voice to the defensive meetings. That’s something all our blue liners could benefit from. Plus we have some big deals to retain our own with Power and Dahlin. As the talent enters its prime, and if it pans out, we are going to need some space for those guys as well as shoring up needs. But definitely need an upgrade with some defensive competitive toughness. It will be interesting to see whether Adams sees the need for a big time goalie or a good but aging vet like Andersen.