In Jim Rutherford's latest fireside chat on hurricanes.nhl.com, the GM stated a lot of what Hurricanes fans probably thought was obvious: The team is going to have to make some sort of move to improve their defense, be it through the draft, trade, or free agency.
Carolina is currently sitting on the No. 14 pick in this year's entry draft, so it's hopeful at best that the Canes can acquire the rights to someone who is an immediate NHL-caliber defenseman.
Free agency is an option, though the defensemen who will be available are mostly of the older variety (Rob Blake, J-M Liles) and/or out of realistic price range for a team who operates under a self-imposed cap limit.
Anything can happen of course, but as of right now, the Hurricanes have the following lineup on their homepage:
Line 1: Whitney-Staal-Cole
Line 2: Samsonov-Brind'amour-Williams
Line 3: Ruutu-Cullen-Walker
Line 4: LaRose-Letowski-Eaves
D: Wallin-Gleason, Kaberle-Corvo, Seidenberg-Conboy
With all of these players healthy, the Canes are definitely capable of dominating games offensively, the way they did at the beginning of last season. Even the late-season collapse didn't prevent them from finishing fourth overall in the Goals For column.
On the other hand, the departure of workhorses Glen Wesley and Bret Hedican leave a significant void in a defense that was already notoriously porous (or porously notorious... either one is fun to say), one that gave up more goals than 25 other NHL teams. The only teams allowing more goals than the red and black last year were the Maple Leafs, the Thrashers, and the tied-for-last Lightning and Kings. Yikes.
It was announced today that the Canes have locked up toughman Tim Gleason, the only legitimate 'defensive defenseman' in the system currently, to a backloaded four year contract—a move which incited much rejoicing. But without at least one other shutdown D-man, Cam Ward is going to have to steal a lot of games.
So, what to do?
The Canes are as offensively deep as any team in the NHL. If Jim Rutherford is looking to make a deal for a top-pairing defenseman, he has plenty of quality forwards to barter.
To a handful of other teams around the league with the exact opposite problem (lots of big name D-men but not a lot of offense; Nashville, Vancouver, Calgary, et al) this could be a fruitful partnership opportunity. The Carolina forward corps seems to be at an important crossroads, so let's break down where they stand.
Untouchable: Eric Staal, Rod Brind'amour
Brind'amour is team captain and signed on for three more years at a relatively modest $3.6 million per. The team would be foolish to ditch the two-time Selke winner now.
Staal wears an 'A' on his jersey (actually three... but this one is most important) and is pretty much destined to be captain once Brind'amour steps down. I'm pretty sure the franchise is committed to building around Staal for the foreseeable future. I wouldn't expect these two to go anywhere.
Rest Easy: Matt Cullen, Sergei Samsonov, Scott Walker, Patrick Eaves
Cullen has two years left on his contract, and $2.9 mil yearly, it's a pretty easy one on the organization's pocket. His 49 points in 59 games last year should convince the team to hang on to him.
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