Nathan Gerbe: Small Man, Big Surprises

Picture Source: booksbycassandracarr.com

On July 26th the Canes announced the signing of 5'5", 178 pound Nathan Gerbe from Buffalo for a pretty small sum: $500,000 if he plays the entire season with the Canes, $150,000 if he plays for the Checkers, and $250,000 if he plays for both teams.  In 188 games for the Sabres he scored 29 goals and 43 assists for 72 points, which is a far cry from his minor league (41 goals, 53 assists, 94 points in 101 games) and college (71 goals, 62 assists, 133 points in 123 games) career stats.  With that said, it seems that this left winger maybe turn out to be a career AHLer or have a prosperous European elite leaguer, but one has to remember that Gerbe is only 26 years old.  26 may seem old for a guy still trying to find a permanent spot in the big league, but he still has some development time left in him, not a lot of time mind you because if he is going to finally breakout he has at most two seasons to make his mark.

In my opinion, this could be a good move for him, but I will definitely be extremely cautious, too.  Just think about it:  Gerbe at one point for the Sabres had a three-year, $2.55 million contract and now has a contract that will only guarantee $500k if he plays full-time for the Canes.  A change like that will only bring motivation to anyone struggling to make it in the NHL.  Will he get the $500k?  Not this year, but I will guarantee that he will make numerous appearances for the Canes.  He will most likely produce for the Checkers, but time will tell if he can bring his A-game to the first team.  When he does play for the Canes I can see him making it onto the third line with some time on the second line if there happens to be an injury.

The big and oh so obvious elephant-in-the-room worry about him is his size, but having seen him play both college and pro hockey I know that his size makes him more nimble.  He has pace and great hands which is a plus for the Canes for games that go into the shootout because they need better shootout specialists (Eric Staal always shooting from the hash-marks never translates into a Canes shootout win).  As I said before, having him on the third line as well as an occasional stint on the second line could prove to me massively beneficial for him and the team.

This could be one of Jim Rutherford's off season moves that proves worthy along with Mike Komisarek.  This could be the best $150-500,000 spent by the club and if Gerbe doesn't work out it isn't a massive loss of money or talent.

So as we wait for training camp and October 4th to come around here are some highlight videos of Gerbe to pass the time (as well as pass judgment):