Dobber’s Offseason Fantasy Grades: Carolina Hurricanes

Dobber

2016-08-05

Eddie Lack - USA TODAY Sports Images

 

Dobber's offseason fantasy hockey grades – Carolina Hurricanes

 

For the last 13 years (12 with The Hockey News) I have reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them. My 14th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey.

Enjoy!

 

GoneChris Terry, Brad Malone, Riley Nash, Nathan Gerbe, Zach Boychuk, Michal Jordan, James Wisniewski

 

Incoming – Matt Tennyson, Lee Stempniak, Andrew Miller, Bryan Bickell, Viktor Stalberg, Teuvo Teravainen

 

Impact of changes – The biggest impact isn’t what changed – it’s what stayed the same. That damn Cam Ward signing. I’m still scratching my head.

 

 

As I said in the Ramblings recently – “Lack isn’t a one game here, one game there, kind of goalie. He needs to get lots of starts. So far, this Ward signing is the worst NHL move of the offseason. That’s a real shame, because one of the best moves of the offseason was done by Carolina just a day earlier. If Ward went to free agency, I would have been shocked – shocked! – if he signed for over $2 million anywhere. I would not have been shocked if all he got was a training camp invite.”

In the days since the signing, I’ve had a lot of time for it to sink in and I’ve found a way for the logic in the signing to fit together neatly in my brain (I need that to happen or I’ll die, I think). Ward is there this year to split starts evenly, 50/50. Then in 2017-18 Ward is the backup. This is just a contract to help transition Lack into the full-time roll rather than dump it on him. At any rate, the impact on Ward staying is that Lack’s numbers will suffer (he needs a heavy workload to thrive) and overall the Hurricanes will give up more goals than they need to. Again.

The other big impact is the Teravainen acquisition. In him, potentially (there’s that word again), the Hurricanes have a future star. In fact, I project him to lead the team in scoring this season (you’ll see that in the Fantasy Guide).

 

Ready for full-time – Sebastian Aho is one of the best players not in the NHL right now and he’ll be a part of Team Finland at the World Cup. He is Carolina’s best forward prospect and he should, barring a monumental camp failure (or injury), make the roster. He probably won’t be among the final three candidates for the Calder Trophy next year, but you can bet his name will be mentioned in that vein at several points throughout the season. Forty points is not unrealistic in his rookie campaign. (Read more on Aho here)

Brock McGinn was up with the team for 21 games last year, but posted a minus-14. Still, he’s really improved at the AHL level and is probably pretty close. He’s a future 40-point, 200-hits player and if he makes the team you could see 20 and 150 as a rookie. (Read more on McGinn here)

📢 advertisement:

Haydn Fleury was Carolina’s first-round pick (seventh overall) in 2014. He had a tremendous season in the WHL for Red Deer, breaking out offensively with 41 points in 56 games. His bread and butter, though, is protecting his own end of the rink. He already boasts NHL size at 6-3, 207 and if he doesn’t make the team this year, he’s certainly not far off. (Read more on Fleury here)

Andrew Poturalski was a dynamic player for New Hampshire last season, posting 52 points in 37 games –many of the highlight reel variety. He was one of (if not ‘the’) most coveted undrafted college free agents last season and the Hurricanes landed him. He’s a little undersized at 5-10, 190, but he has a skill set that Carolina desperately needs. (Read more on Poturalski here)

 

Fantasy Outlook – The Hurricanes are improving a lot, and quickly. The problem is, they were starting from zero. Less than zero, actually. Just such a terrible team, as in fantasy hockey keeper leagues I honestly only had interest in Justin Faulk, Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin on the NHL roster (Jeff Skinner was a big injury risk). But now they have Teravainen, and Aho is one of my favorite prospects in terms of upside, certainty and wait time. The prospect pool is definitely getting better (Julien Gauthier, Jake Bean, Valentin Zykov), but still a long way to go.

 

Fantasy Grade: D+ (last year was D)

 

 

Pick up the 11th annual DobberHockey Fantasy Hockey Guide here (available now for immediate download)

OR

Get the Fantasy Guide and the Prospects Report as part of a package and save$7.00 – here!

 

 

Offseason Fantasy Grades: Anaheim Ducks

Offseason Fantasy Grades: Arizona Coyotes

Offseason Fantasy Grades: Boston Bruins

Offseason Fantasy Grades: Buffalo Sabres

Offseason Fantasy Grades: Calgary Flames

 

 

2 Comments

  1. Mark 2016-08-05 at 20:04

    I was dumbstruck when I read about the Ward signing. I did expect him to be re-signed by the Canes, but for around $1.5m at most. He has been overpaid for years, so it would have been reasonable for the Carolina to expect him to take a big cut in salary to stay with the team now that he’s clearly assuming the role as the backup. In fairness, considering how bad the team in front of him was, he did have a winning record and his GAA and S% were decent. Plus he’s only 32 years old. Both Lehtonen and Niemi both had worse GAA and Sv% than him despite playing for one of the best teams in the League and make way more money that Ward does. I think you would agree that he is a good insurance policy if Lack struggles or gets injured. He’s a bottom 10 starter, but a top 10 backup, IMO.
    Do you think he was overpaid in order to help the Canes reach the salary floor? That might explain Francis’ decision.

  2. Dave 2016-08-06 at 08:46

    Is it possible that the Canes actually played it smart by signing Ward, if, behind closed doors, management asked him to accept the “second” goalie title for the duration of his contract… thus paving the way for Alex Nedeljkovic’s readiness and arrival… which means Lack will never get more than a 50-50 job…?
    and I agree with Mark, the extra money given to Ward has to be a “thank you for your loyalty we need to reach the cap floor” type of move.

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Mar 28 - 19:03 OTT vs CHI
Mar 28 - 19:03 TOR vs WSH
Mar 28 - 19:03 MTL vs PHI
Mar 28 - 19:03 PIT vs CBJ
Mar 28 - 19:03 FLA vs NYI
Mar 28 - 19:03 CAR vs DET
Mar 28 - 20:03 MIN vs S.J
Mar 28 - 20:03 STL vs CGY
Mar 28 - 20:03 WPG vs VGK
Mar 28 - 21:03 EDM vs L.A
Mar 28 - 21:03 COL vs NYR
Mar 28 - 22:03 SEA vs ANA
Mar 28 - 22:03 VAN vs DAL
Mar 28 - 22:03 ARI vs NSH

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
TAGE THOMPSON BUF
JJ PETERKA BUF
ANTHONY DUCLAIR T.B
JORDAN GREENWAY BUF
JURAJ SLAFKOVSKY MTL

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
ALEKSEI KOLOSOV PHI
JOONAS KORPISALO OTT
KAREL VEJMELKA ARI
UKKO-PEKKA LUUKKONEN BUF
JUSTUS ANNUNEN COL

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency L.A Players
23.9 ANZE KOPITAR ADRIAN KEMPE QUINTON BYFIELD
21.0 TREVOR MOORE KEVIN FIALA PHILLIP DANAULT
15.9 ALEX LAFERRIERE PIERRE-LUC DUBOIS VIKTOR ARVIDSSON

DobberHockey Podcasts

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: