Out with the Old, In with the Familiar

Photo Source: Greatesthockeylegends.com

Well well well... the Canes off-season has been a little bit different this year.  Out with Kirk Muller and in with Bill Peters; out with Jim Rutherford and in with Ron Francis (and so forth).  The Hurricanes are preparing for a new season with a new staff and with high hopes that the team will get out of their playoff drought.  With Peters in the coaching position and Francis at the managing helm it could be a recipe for success...or disaster, but lets not make those end-of-the-season assumptions just yet.

The Positives:

• Francis has made it clear that he wants a hockey heritage here in Carolina overall.  He isn't just looking at reshaping the team per se, but he has gone after the arena entertainment aspect of the game and wants to make sure the fans are more focused on the team than the silly games played during intermission.  No more Ron the Ref, but if it takes that to get the fans more into the team then I am all more it.  If we could have more fans in the arena like those in Section 328 it would definitely make PNC Arena a more intimidating rink to play in for opposing teams.
• The hiring of Bill Peters has been the shocker of the summer for the Canes.  I was even scratching my head and going "who?!"  While Peters is still an unknown to me, I think that having a fresh face and coaching staff will bring an about face to the team who have been stuck in a rut for such a long time.  The bonus with Peters is that he comes from a team with an amazing winning tradition: Detroit.  To leave a team like Detroit who are in the playoffs every year to come to Carolina could mean something really good.  
• The 2014 Draft class represents that Francis and Peters know the weak spots on the team.  Of the seven picks they had, the Canes selected three defensemen: Haydn Fleury (7th overall), Glen Wesley's son Josh (96th), and Kyle Jenkins (187th).  At the beginning of last season I believe the defense was pretty stellar but eventually derailed and never regained momentum.  Even though there are problems with every facet of the team, a tighter defense corps is the most needed.

The Negatives:

• The offseason signings have been, for the most part, sub-par.  Jay McClement, Brad Malone, and the return of Tim Gleason are the highlights amongst the other two-way players brought into the organization this summer.  McClement is good if he isn't given too many minutes, but you give him second and first line minutes (not likely, but he did get a lot of ice time in Toronto) he becomes unreliable. Malone isn't a full-time NHLer and considering his age he doesn't have a lot of room left to prove his spot for the full-time gig.  Gleason... veteran presence and with only a one-year deal it shows that the Canes fully expect to see the Gleason of old and not the Gleason of last year.  Out of these three Gleason is the one that has the most to prove being a returning player (a practice the Canes need to stop full-tilt).  The fact that the locker room has been left virtually unchanged leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
• Peters at the moment is being filed under both "pro" and "con" for the same reason mentioned above: he is an unknown to most fans.  The Hockey News was championing other candidates, such as Ulf Samuelsson, and made no mention of Bill Peters.  He doesn't have a reputation yet and his lack of head coaching experience on the NHL level could come into play too.  This will be a daunting task for an unproven coach and that can be scary.

In conclusion, unless our younger group of players come into fruition, the Canes will be having the same struggle all season as they have had in the past.  Peter Karmanos and Ron Francis may believe that they have a "very good" team, but it's for the most part the same team from last season which severely underperformed.  The weight of the team this year falls even harder on Eric Staal and Cam Ward to prove to the rest of the league that the team needs to be taken seriously this time.  Staal needs to produce more and be a more effective leader.  He also needs to boost Skinner, Semin, and Jordan Staal to provide more on the ice and create an explosive offensive juggernaut.  Ward needs to stay healthy and play out of his skin because Khudobin is definitely ready to take over the starting position.  The competition between the two will be a focal point for the team.  Overall, if this team can lock itself down and mature, it will be a contender, but if they do not change from last year it will be another season without playoff hockey.