Say no more!

Evidently our Eric and his little brother had a little too much fun at a bachelor party the other night and managed to get themselves arrested, along with a dozen of their closest friends. No major commentary or anything, I just think it's kind of funny. At least Eric is of legal age to drink, unlike Jordan. No mention of Marc that I can see - I wonder if he doesn't normally hang out with the other two.

House cleaning

I think I'm going to be doing some updates to the blog - maybe some graphics or fancy web thingies (technical term, I'm sure you understand). I haven't quite decided and I haven't had much time to really think about it.

So, we're done...

It appears, according to the N&O, that JR is done tinkering for the moment. OK, so where does that leave the Canes right now? Here is a possible lineup that would keep scoring depth down to three lines; four if Hamilton and LaRose have some chemistry.

First Line: Eric Staal, Erik Cole, Cory Stillman
Second Line: Rod Brind'Amour, Andrew Ladd, Justin Williams
Third Line: Matt Cullen, Scott Walker, Ray Whitney
Fourth Line: Jeff Hamilton, Craig Adams, Chad LaRose

Top Six Defense: Bret Hedican, Glen Wesley, Niclas Wallin, Mike Commodore, Frantisek Kaberle, Tim Gleason

Utility/Extras: Trevor Letowski, Dennis Seidenberg, some prospect who has been playing well

Strengths: Scoring depth at forward, Shootouts (Cullen, Hamilton, and Whitney would be my first three), Faceoffs (Brind'Amour and Cullen)
Weaknesses: Depth on defense - I'm not confident in the ability of Hedican and/or Wesley to make it through this season intact. Who is behind them and ready to step up should they go down? Casey Borer? Brett Carson? Jamie McBain? I don't know enough about them to be confident that they'll be able to step up any time soon. Seidenberg is serviceable, but only just. Unless we kiss and make up with Babchuk, we're an injury or two away from a scary situation.

We could always re-sign Tanabe, who I really think played pretty well last year, despite numerous detractors. Sadly, that would make me feel a little bit better about the defense situation; and that's saying something in itself.

The return of Cullen

So it has finally happened and Cullen is on his way back to Raleigh. In exchange we sent Andrew Hutchinson (who never really had a fair shake), prospect Joe Barnes (meh), and a third round pick. We have a bona fide third line center and it makes me wonder what the team has in store for Jeff Hamilton. Will he play on the third line? Will he play fourth line and get power play minutes?

I like the fact that we have some serious threats on the shootout now. Those lost points would have put us in the playoffs last year and I think they'll make a big difference this year too.

Moving slowly

Not really much going on in Hurricane-land. We're just waiting for either some more player movement or training camp, whichever comes first. Personally, I think it will be the latter.

Better late than never

I missed the draft by two weeks, but I'm in Columbus for Origins. I don't know how much hockey updating I'll be doing from here, but I'll leave you with a thought...

When I was talking to a member of the Hurricanes' staff, I asked about the alleged Pitkanen for Wallin trade. He referenced what JR said publicly, but also mentioned that I shouldn't believe everything I read (no problem there) and that it may not have been Philly at all.

I'm wondering, looking at the teams and players out there, that it is possible that the Canes might be going after either Ed Jovonavski or Derek Morris out of Phoenix. Jovonavski has a no-trade clause, but they're both rumored to be on the block. Please note that this is pure, 100% speculation.

Minor signings

The Canes announced the re-signing of three prospects -- Ryan Bayda (LW), Tim Conboy (D), J.D. Forrest (D), and Wade Brookbank (D). All of them are two-way contracts and not really that important for this upcoming season.

Bayda has been involved in several short stints with the Canes, doing well at times but never quite breaking out. He has 22 points in 78 NHL games over three seasons. At this point, I think he's locked into the injury call-up role if anything at all.

Conboy had some discipline problems at St. Cloud State (and apparently what was described as a "Bertuzzi-like incident" with another player during a game) and was released from the team in 2004. Hockey's Future projects him as an aggressive, physical AHL defenseman - a fighter.

I know Forrest played in Finland after four years at BC, but was injured last year.

As for Brookbank, one small and interesting note is that (according to Wikipedia anyway) he is the cousin of former Hurricane Geoff Sanderson. He's a defenseman and enforcer, much like Conboy, except with more NHL-ready skills. He has also played left wing when needed.

Current Hurricanes Roster

Player	Pos	Age	Actual	07-08	08-09	09-10	10-11	11-12
			Cap Hit	Salary	Salary	Salary	Salary	Salary
Forwards			27.109
Staal, Eric	C	22.7	4.5	4.5	5	RFA
Cole, Erik	L	28.7	4	4	4	UFA
Brind'Amour, Rod	C	36.9	3.6	4	4	3	3	UFA
Williams, Justin	R	25.8	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	UFA
Ladd, Andrew	L	21.6	1.834	0.984	RFA
Stillman, Cory	L	33.5	1.75	1.75	UFA
Walker, Scott	R	34	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	UFA
Whitney, Ray	L	35.2	3.55	3.55	3.55	3.55	UFA
Letowski, Trevor	R	30.2	0.8	0.8	UFA
Adams, Craig	R	30.2	0.6	0.6	0.6	UFA
Larose, Chad	C	25.3	0.475	0.5	RFA
Hamilton, Jeff	C	29.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	UFA
Defencemen			11.046
Hedican, Bret	D	36.9	2.432	2.432	UFA
Kaberle, Frantisek	D	33.7	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.2	UFA
Wallin, Niclas	D	32.4	1.725	1.725	1.725	1.725	UFA
Commodore, Mike	D	27.7	1.25	1.3	UFA
Wesley, Glen	D	38.8	1.4	1.4	UFA
Gleason, Tim	D	24.4	1.175	1.175	RFA
Hutchinson, Andrew	D	27.3	0.475	0.5	UFA
Seidenberg, Dennis	D	26	0.389	0.85	RFA
Goaltenders			4.067
Grahame, John	G	31.8	1.4	1.4	UFA
Ward, Cam	G	23.3	2.667	2	2.5	3.5	RFA
Cap Hit			42.222
Cap Space			7.778
Average Age			29.81
Players Signed			22

Note: I didn't include Leighton (I don't have his contract details on hand and I think he'll be in the AHL anyway). The ages are calculated up to today.

And our big spash is...

Jeff Hamilton

This fills our third line center role by the looks of it. My first impression was "Who?" I usually do a pretty good job keeping tabs on most players around the league, but I have to admit not knowing the first thing about this guy. He's cheap ($800K per in a two year deal) and he looks to have some potential offense in him. He's number 51, which isn't taken, so there's no issue there.

He'll also be thirty years old by the time the season rolls around. Considering this is the first I've heard of him, it's not exactly like he's been ripping apart the league or anything. Looking at his career stats though, he looks to have done well when given the chance. We'll see how it works out.