This podcast episode explores the recent trades that brought Mikko Rantanen (Colorado Avalanche) and Taylor Hall (Chicago Black Hawks) to the Carolina Hurricanes, analyzing their potential impact on the team’s playoff ambitions. With a focus on the players’ strengths, possible line combinations, and adjustments needed within the coaching system, the discussion highlights how these acquisitions can elevate the Hurricanes’ performance.
We dive deep into the strategic maneuvers of general manager Eric Tulsky, whose innovative approach might just be setting the stage for a Hurricanes renaissance. Get firsthand insights on Tulsky's adept management, from cap space wizardry to fostering a competitive spirit within the team. You'll hear how Rantanen and Hall could bring a new dimension to the Hurricanes' style, aiming for playoff glory while maintaining a balanced and powerful lineup.
• Analysis of Mikko Rantanen's skills and expected contributions
• Excitement around Taylor Hall's addition to bolster the second line
• Expectations for Sebastian Aho and potential chemistry with Rantanen
• Discussion on adjusting gameplay and strategy to integrate new players
• Outlook toward the Stanley Cup playoffs and the need for success
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Well, lots of excitement in the Carolina
Hurricanes camp.
These days the Canes have beenon a bit of a roll After an
extended period of 500 hockey.
The Canes have got hot.
They've got 9 of a possible 10points in their last 5 games and
they're playing extremely well.
But the big news happened offthe ice.
Last weekend the Hurricanesmade a major move, acquiring
(00:26):
superstar Miko Rantanen from theColorado Avalanche and Taylor
Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks.
And in to talk about the trade,what we think about it, some of
the stats around these guys anda deep dive into what it might
mean to the Canes.
Pleased to be joined by ErinManning and Katie Berger Ladies.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Hi, there, hey.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay.
So, looking at the Hurricanes,as I mentioned they've been on a
bit of a roll and you know westarted the season.
a lot of folks were thinkingthis was a transition year for
the Canes and I think they maybe taking a step back now and
say maybe not after the big moveon the weekend but the Canes
have really started to turn itup and they moved into second
(01:11):
place in the Eastern Conferenceand they're sitting quite strong
, as you know, and they'retrailing only the red-hot
Washington Capitals, who've beenplaying outstanding hockey this
year.
But as we look at the big moveon the weekend which really sent
the sports world and the hockeyworld abuzz a shocking trade
(01:31):
that brought the Canes' NicoRantanen and Taylor Hall and
sent out, among other players,the key players from the Canes,
marty Nages and, of course, jackDrury.
So what do we think of this?
Why don't we kick it off, katie?
What do you think about thetrade?
Being an Avs fan, you've gotlots to say, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I was so excited when I saw this went down.
Obviously it's a win-win for me, right?
The players don't leave myteams, they just happen to swap
teams.
And so Rantanen is still swapteams, and so ranton is still my
player, natchez is still myplayer, drury's still my player.
I couldn't be happier.
Um, in fact, the notion of thistrade actually had occurred to
(02:14):
me back last summer when I wasborn.
I was thinking about well,ranton needs an extension and
there's a little bit ofcontention over natchez and what
his rfa deal is going to looklike.
Well, why don't the Avs and theCanes just swap players?
And the Canes have the cap roomand what the kind of player
that Rantanen is.
And Natchez's skill set fits inperfectly with the way that the
(02:37):
Avalanche play hockey and wrotea whole big post on X about it,
and it's like a dream come true.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
It has been a fun fun weekend for me for sure,
without a doubt.
Well, I think some of us were alittle bit more than surprised.
You know, the Canes have beenrumored to be in discussions on
a number of differentopportunities, most
significantly, of course, withthe Vancouver Canucks, and a lot
of folks thought theannouncement of anything that
was coming would be for JTMiller or possibly even Elias
(03:11):
Pedersen, but when we heard itwas Mikko Rantanen.
That was quite shocking andagain one of the top players in
the league right now, and hebrings a lot to the table.
What can you tell us aboutranting and as a player?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
well.
The most obvious thing, ofcourse, is that he is a big
player.
He's six foot four and you cantell that when he is on the ice
he is noticeable and he usesthat size to his advantage.
He definitely gets in there andgets positioning and that sort
of thing.
But for being such a big guy hehas amazing skill.
(03:51):
That can be quite subtle andhis skills are varied.
So he is a really really goodplaymaker and passer.
He can sauce the puck into thetightest of spaces and get it to
a teammate.
But he also has a really goodshot.
That is a fast shot.
He can get it on and off hisstick in the blink of an eye and
(04:12):
that's part of why he is such agood goal scorer, because with
that particular shot speed, alot of times it just doesn't
give defenses and goalies enoughtime to react before it's in
the back of the net.
So those pieces areparticularly obvious.
Rantanen is also good along theboards in the offensive zone.
(04:32):
He uses that frame to box outto get pucks, to get it to his
line mates and because he takesup space and draws other players
to him, it opens up the ice forhis line mates and any D that
are guarding the blue line.
So I definitely think that hisparticular offensive game will
(04:52):
fit very, very well with theHurricanes on the ice.
The one thing he is going tohave to get used to is, let's
just say, rantanen is nottypically described as a
200-foot player.
Let's just say Rantanen is nottypically described as a
200-foot player.
His enthusiasm for getting backto the defensive zone and
(05:14):
helping out there perhaps is notas developed as you would
expect for somebody who plays ina Rod Brindamore system.
So he will have to get used tothat aspect of the game.
But he's a smart player.
He is capable of lots of goodhard work and I think that he is
up to the task for sure.
And then in the locker roomthat's also what a lot of people
(05:35):
don't know about Rantanen isthe fact that the guy is
hilarious.
He has a really goofy sense ofhumor.
He's outgoing, he bringssunshine with him, he jokes
around, he's you know, when wethink of our Finnish players on
the canes and the kind ofpersonality they have, that is
not ranting it at all.
(05:55):
He is very bubbly.
That come out of there prettysoon, because I think he's going
to get in with Jarvie and someof that ilk and really start to
yuck it up together off of theice not just on the ice.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Well, it's interesting Eric Tolsky was
saying as well in some of hispressers that he felt that the
Canes players would be a nicematch for Mikko.
And again, virtually anybodythat's come to the Canes has fit
in quite nicely, has enjoyedthe team, has enjoyed the coach.
So again, that's part of thediscussion that will take place
(06:38):
throughout this later in theseason and into the early summer
as the Canes try to put thedeal together to uh, to lock
miko up.
And that's an interesting partof this deal is that of course
miko is going to be aunrestricted free agent this
year.
So a lot of folks are sittingback and saying is this going to
be another situation like jakegensel, or are the canes going
(07:00):
to be able to put a dealtogether and and lock miko
ranting and up for long term?
And of course we know that theopportunity the Canes have is a
unique one because they can signhim for eight years and there
isn't another team in the leaguethat could.
So that's a real advantage, Ithink, for the Hurricanes.
And the other thing we've seenwith Mikko that's interesting is
(07:21):
that through his discussionsand negotiations with the
Avalanche he was willing to takea little bit less in terms of
dollars because he wanted to bea part of that team for the
longer term and of course, withhis very close friend Nathan
McKinnon.
So I think if he can get hookedup with some of these younger
(07:42):
guys, as you mentioned, katie,and certainly with his friend
Sebastian Aho, that could be avery good harbinger of what
might happen in terms of acontract extension for Mikko.
I wanted to read a little bitabout Mikko in a couple of areas
.
One of them is the hockeyforecaster scouting report on
(08:04):
him and they said a few playershave his combination of size,
skill and speed.
So we've seen that for sure hehas an excellent hockey iq and
make can make plays at highspeed and that's something that
differentiates, I think, thestars in the game over others.
For sure they can make plays atvery high speed.
His one-time shot makes him amajor threat on the power play
(08:27):
and he uses his size well toprotect the puck.
So things that we're lookingfor right, they're looking for,
as you mentioned, katie, thatone-time shot, that ability to
get it off, and even in hisfirst game the other day I don't
know if you saw this, butcertainly he was getting some
shots off.
You know he was getting inposition, he was finding those
open areas.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I mean, we saw some of the same situation, of course
, with Martin Natchez playingwith the Avalanche.
He was wiring the puck, as I'msure you were excited to see
that too, katie.
In any case, again, he's anelite skill.
He can do a lot of things well.
If we take a look at the NHLedge information on Mikko as
(09:13):
well top skating speed this yearhe's in the 84th percentile.
So he's again a guy that he'sup around 22 miles an hour, so
he can move pretty quickly,that's for sure.
Speed burst he's at 61, butskating distance he's in the
(09:33):
97th percentile.
Top shot speed 90th percentile.
These are big numbers, likehe's near the top.
Shots on goal 95th percentile.
Okay, so he's a guy that gets alot of shots on goal, as we
know, shooting percentage at 86in the 86th percentile.
So again, these numbers are alloutstanding goals.
He's at 98 because he's amongthe top goal scorers in the
(09:55):
league with 25.
So again the other thing that'sinteresting, he's in the 93rd
percentile for offensive zonetime, so clearly he's a guy that
can get up and they can holdthe puck.
And that's back to, I think,the discussion on his ability to
do good board work.
He's very strong on the boards,right, and he's a guy that can
(10:20):
bring that Erin.
What are you thinking aboutwith Mikko Rantanen?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Well, just like Katie was saying, it was one of those
things that you just you knowyou really didn't expect it
other than you know, this funlittle scenario, oh, what if the
Canes could get somebody likethat?
You know, and I mean, I like tolook at it this way the Canes
have been rumored to be in on alot of top players that they
haven't actually gotten.
We have the Timo Mayerdiscussion.
We had the discussion you know,Jack Eichel.
(10:53):
Yes, Eichel.
Yeah, Matthew Kachuk.
Okay, that was the one I wastrying to think of who?
was the other one.
Matthew Kachuk was the big, andyou know the thing about both
the discussions of K big, and,and you know the thing about
both the discussions of Chuckand and Eichel and all these
guys is that and and and TimoMeyer even, in particular, all
(11:14):
of those guys would have taken abigger package and the the at
the time.
Maybe not now, but at the timethe big piece in addition to
Natchez that would have beenincluded was Seth Jarvis, and I
can't really imagine this teamwithout Seth Jarvis.
So to me the fact that thosedeals didn't work out and this
is the one that did.
It's not just a great fit fromthe perspective of adding Mikko
(11:36):
Rantanen to a team where one ofhis best friends from Finland
actually plays.
But you know, we didn't have tolose Seth Jarvis in one of
these deals because I think thatyou know, and everyone says at
the time I remember thediscussions about Meyer, it was
oh well, you know, jarvis wasstill just a prospect.
Then you know we don't reallyknow what we have here.
(11:56):
I mean, he had just startedplaying.
I think he was his rookieseason.
He's only played this manygames.
You know, I can't even imagineif Jarvis was playing in New
Jersey right now.
I can't imagine how miserablethat would be for Canes fans.
So to get Rantanen withoutlosing players that are so sewn
(12:16):
into the identity of the Canesand I mean as much as I love
Martin Natchez I think this isgood for him and I think it's
good for Jack Drury too.
It's wonderful for them becauseNatchez has not been able to be
utilized the way he should be inthe NHL as long as he's been
playing for the CarolinaHurricanes.
He's so fast and you saw thatwhen I think Katie and I we were
(12:38):
both talking about this alittle bit.
The game on Sunday, his speedand match with Nathan McKinnon
is just breathtaking.
It's incredible to watch whatthey can do, and they're just
getting started.
So sometimes I think the guysneed to go to a system that's
going to fit them better, andI'm hoping, with all these stats
that you've given us, tom, thatthis is what we're going to see
from Rantanen too, that, asgreat as he has been, maybe he
(13:01):
can get even to a higher level.
Maybe we're going to see him inthat top three, top four
discussion in the NHL in some ofthese categories, and that
would be great too.
So that's exciting.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I'd like to add that this is a real big opportunity
for Rantanen because for hisentire career in Colorado he has
played either second fiddle toMcKinnon or then when McCarr
came along a couple years later,then he he was the number three
superstar and he and if hestayed in Colorado he would have
(13:33):
continued to be the numberthree superstar he would.
Mckinnon was the top forwardand McCarr is just McCarr
special unicorn type of playerand Makar is just Makar's
special unicorn type of playerthat he is.
And so it's not just from a cappoint of view but just from a
the Avs wanted to be morebalanced and when it was very
(13:54):
clear that they weren't going tocome to a salary agreement that
allowed them to remaincompetitive from the top of
their lineup to the bottom oftheir lineup, they decided to
deal him, and I think they did.
A lot of people were like, oh,he was surprised.
Yeah, he was surprised.
But you know what?
They could have traded him to ateam that had no playoff
perspective whatsoever for someof their young talent and
(14:17):
probably gotten a bigger packageout of it.
Would have gotten more playersor more draft picks or something
like that.
But they said we're competitive.
We need to find somebody whomatches what we're going to need
from Rantanen being gone, andwe want Rantanen to have an
opportunity to still shine, tostill have an impact in the
(14:39):
postseason.
And so him coming to theHurricanes puts him in a really,
really nice spot because,number one, he can be the guy.
He is not going to be playingsecond fiddle or third fiddle or
whatever to other stars, it isthe guy.
He is the guy, he is thesuperstar.
I mean, we love Ajo, we loveJarvi, we love our players, but
(15:00):
he is on a different level.
But he is on a different leveland I'm really excited to see
how he embraces that particularrole on the ice and in the
locker room and helps to pushthis team hopefully further than
they have managed to get inthis particular iteration of the
franchise and the history ofthe group.
(15:20):
So I'm really really excited tosee how that goes, because I
think Mikko has it in him, butagain he was in a position where
he didn't have that opportunity.
Now he has that opportunity.
He has players that complementhis skill set really well.
It's go time for him.
I really, really hope he seizesthis and makes the most out of
(15:42):
it.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Well, you know you mentioned something interesting.
This and makes the most out ofit.
Well, you know you mentionedsomething interesting Nico
Rantan's performance in theplayoffs is off the charts.
He's got 100 points in 81 games.
It's insane and I think againfor the Hurricanes.
A big body, a guy that candefinitely drive.
You know the offense and theplay and playoffs is going to be
a huge asset for them.
(16:04):
And again, it's back to the samechallenge the Canes have had
for the last six years gettingin the playoffs and then kind of
running out of gas.
And size is a key element ofthis, and I think Miko brings
that for sure.
And the other thing I wanted toask, as we prior to moving on
to the next players how do wethink this is going to affect
Sebastian Ajo?
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Yeah, Well, we just said in our last meeting
together that what we needed tosee for Ajo was a true
center-winger duo, that he hadnever had that kind of the close
.
I mean he's gotten close withJarvis.
But the problem there is thatright now Jarvis is being used
on Stahls' line to help JordanStahls' line get some offense.
(16:46):
You can't form a duo if yourprimary winger is constantly
being moved away from you.
So it's a little challenging.
So if this turns into that kindof connection, that kind of
chemistry, where you have twoplayers who are just reading
each other so well and feedingoff each other so well, that is
(17:06):
definitely going to changethings for the Canes, both in
the regular season and thepostseason.
And I think back to you know,not only were there lots of
pundits that were saying thatthe Canes would miss the
playoffs this season which wassuch a funny thing to think
about but also Sarah Sivian, whoused to be the Canes reporter
for the Athletic.
She always said that what theCanes lacked was what, in her
(17:28):
terms, oomph per 60, meaning youknow that superstar talent.
Well, I don't think you can getmuch more oomph than Nico
Rantanen.
So this is exciting.
This is a new era for the Canes.
I think that a lot of us, thewords that kept being used
Friday night was this is thefranchise altering deal, and
it's going to take a while forit to settle in and for us to
(17:50):
see everything that comes of it,but this is not your typical
trade, so it's exciting.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Well, the other thing , and I think you're hitting
something which is reallyimportant it's going to take a
while for these players to, youknow, kind of become accustomed
to their teammates, to their newlocation to you know the style
of play their coach.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
I mean, this is all new right.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
And I think that, as fans, we have to.
You know, yeah, martin Natchezand Jack Drury off to a quick
start with the avalanche, but wejust need to be patient, and a
lot of folks have talked aboutthis on the Canes broadcast and
other folks have talked aboutlook, you have to understand
that this is a major major.
And other folks have talkedabout look, you have to
understand that this is a majormajor shift.
Here's a player, particularlyin the case of Nico, who's been
(18:36):
with the same team right fromthe get-go.
He's very close to all of thoseplayers, and certainly the key
ones, and all of a sudden he'sin a different locker room with
a bunch of people that are newand he hasn't played with
previously.
So, yeah, we just need to bepatient, let these guys find
their way.
Rod's got to find thecombinations.
We'll talk a little bit aboutthat in a few minutes but he's
(18:57):
got to find the combinationsthat are going to work.
We are very sure.
I think we believe stronglythat, of course, miko will team
up with Sebastian Ajo and one ofthe interesting things about
that too and I'd like to getyour thoughts on this of course,
seabass, or Sebastian as he'scalled sometimes he was most
successful with Tewo Taravainenfor a long time.
(19:24):
Okay, so the two cherubs, asthey called it, the two Finns
missing Tewo this year.
I think that's affected atdifferent times.
That's affected Sebastian aswell.
Now he's got a countryman, he'sgot a friend of his that is
again on a different level ofplay, and so he's in a situation
where he can start to, you know, maybe he can move forward from
the fact that he lost one ofhis best friends and a great
(19:46):
hockey player in table, and Ithink that's another part of
this story that's going to playout over time.
I think it's going to work outvery well for the Hurricanes.
So, again, a lot of positivethings, a lot of different side
stories here, for sure, with theaddition of Mikko and the Canes
had to add somebody like that.
We've talked a lot about thefact that you see these teams
(20:09):
out there with the.
You know McDavid and Dreisaitlor you know some of the other
combinations of Les, mckinnonand Rantanen, and thankfully
that's not there anymore.
So, yeah, I think a lot ofdifferent side stories are going
to play out, so it'll beinteresting to see how it goes.
What are our expectations forthe rest of the year for Mikko.
What do we hope he's going todo for us?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I definitely think that we need to have reasonable
expectations.
You know, he was used toplaying with McKinnon, who was
one type of center, and now he'swith Ahu, who's another type of
center.
But I don't see, I think hisproduction will be fine, I think
he'll have really goodproduction.
I think he will definitely comeclose to 100 points, if not get
(21:04):
it again.
Part of it just depends on howquickly that chemistry forms.
A lot of that will have to dowith Rantanen himself and how he
plays their game to playingwith Miko.
They cannot be playing the exactsame game with him on the wing
as they played with other guyson their wing.
This is not Roslevic, this isnot Svitch, not Jarvis.
He is his own type of playerand they need to learn how to
(21:26):
read him, and they need toelevate their games too.
You know, going back to whatwe're talking about with Aho,
aho needs to find another gearif you're going to center a
player like ranton, and you needto be playing yourself in a
higher gear, and so not onlywill I think ranton's production
be good, but anything thatperhaps he doesn't get because
(21:46):
he's not playing with mckinnonanymore will be made up for by
the added production that willcome from his line mates that
they wouldn't have otherwiseenjoyed if the trade hadn't
happened in the first place.
So overall I think it'll begreat.
I just want to make sure thatwhoever he ends up playing with,
they get as much time and asmuch runway to create chemistry
(22:07):
together so that they are redhot and ready to go once the
playoffs roll around.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Absolutely Okay.
So I agree.
And again, I think you knowhe's going to produce, you know
he is.
He's just that kind of a playerand the question is you know
who are going to be the otherfolks with him and how fast can
they ramp this up?
Now the other player in thisdeal was an interesting one and
(22:34):
apparently it turns out thatEric Tulsky really wanted this
player.
He had been talking to Chicagofor a while.
He felt like Taylor Hall wouldbe a great addition to the
Hurricanes for the playoff runthis year.
And you know the magic ofTulsky once again, in putting
this deal together, finding away to get Hall and at the same
(22:58):
time put together the deal thatwould allow him to get Mikko
Rantanen and make it work withinthe cap constraints that Eric
has had to struggle with thisentire year.
Taylor Hall is an interestingone.
With this entire year, taylorHall is an interesting one Again
.
Hall is a big player.
He's a guy that comes in, he'sa stocky player, he's extremely
(23:20):
strong.
All of a sudden now you'reseeing quite a change to the
Hurricanes.
I mean, we saw Marty Natchez,who is a tall player, but he's
not a bulky player, doesn't playa heavy game Jack Drury, of
course, again, a slight playertoo doesn't play a heavy game
Jack Drury, of course, again aslight player too and you're
bringing in two guys that aregoing to bring some real size
and going to change thelandscape of the Hurricanes in
terms of that.
Here's the scouting report fromHockey Forecaster on Taylor Hall
(23:43):
, which I think is interesting.
He still has the speed and I'lltalk about that in a minute
that helped him be the numberone overall pick in 2010.
So he was a number one overallpick.
We know that.
That's incredible.
An explosive skater and asuperb playmaker.
So this is interesting andwe'll talk about how that's
going to work with his new linemates.
(24:04):
He makes others around himbetter an opposing defenseman
miserable.
Him better an opposingdefenseman miserable.
I love that.
He's battled injuries andinconsistency throughout his
career, but he's still one ofthe most dangerous wingers when
healthy in the NHL.
So this is quite a story forhim and we look at just as I'm
(24:27):
talking about this, we look atthe NHL edge stuff, and one of
the things that really jumpedout at me and certainly when he
was healthy a couple of yearsago with the Bruins it was very
strong is his skating his topspeed, his ability to get speed
bursts and so on.
So this guy can really motorand you know he can get down low
(24:48):
and low and he looks sometimesa little bit like William
Carrier.
He can really go in and getthings done and he's a heavy
shooter as well.
So what are we thinking about?
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Taylor Hall Well, I think that one of the things
that we talked about was thatthe Canes they definitely still
needed another top six wingerand I think that, based on how
things went in the first game,it looks like there's a good
chance that Hall will be used inthat role, at least to start.
We'll see how it goes, but Iknow that the comment from the
(25:24):
JFresh hockey account was thathe's an underrated four checker,
and I found myself watchingthat very much in the game
against the Islanders becausehis four checking is really very
excellent.
So that's going to endear him toRod Brindamore, no question,
because we all know that that is, you know, one of the key
elements of the Jordan Stahlline, the line that they really
(25:44):
want every line to kind of havethat, that identity in terms of
being able to just get in on thepuck and forecheck hard and you
know, work, the cycle and allthat.
So I think that Taylor Hall isgoing to be a tremendous asset
to the team and, you know, if hecan stick on that second line,
which would be great because youknow both Svechnikov and
Kokaniemi could use to havesomebody that's going to help
(26:05):
them elevate their game in thoseareas, and Svechnikov, in
particular, being a powerforward type.
You know having a playmaker.
You said that um hall had a lotof good playmaking ability,
that that's going to be acritical element for that line
too, so it's going to beinteresting to see how it all
pans out yeah, I'm reallyexcited to see what can, um,
(26:25):
what can happen with hall.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
uh, exactly what aaron said he seems like he's
more of a prototypical RodBrindamore style player and you
know, and we need to get Svetchgoing.
I think we've talked about it onmultiple different occasions
that he hasn't quite lived up tothe billing and hasn't produced
the way that we want him to,and so the combined presence of
Hall on his line to help get himthe puck and give him those
(26:51):
scoring opportunities, as wellas having Rantanen on the team
who can perhaps tutor him alittle bit more in the finer
points of being a skilled powerforward that you don't have to
be either or you can be both,and will be huge for Svets in
the coming weeks and I'm reallylooking forward to seeing how
that impacts his game.
And Hall also seems likesomebody who really wants to be
(27:15):
a Hurricane.
He's excited for thisopportunity.
He's mentioned in interviewsbefore that he's kind of hoping
that this might be his last stop, with kind of giving that wink
and nod towards I want to dowell, I want to prove myself so
that I can get a contract thatI'm happy with to get me to what
could potentially be hisretirement years.
(27:35):
And so he comes in motivated.
He comes in with a good skillset and definitely that
heaviness.
Last post-season Brendan Mooreplayed with the lines because he
felt like lines were gettingpushed over, were too small,
getting pushed off the puck toomuch, losing those battles in
(27:57):
the corner.
Well, with Rantanen, you're notgoing to be losing those
battles.
That gives you size on thatfirst line, but then that second
line.
They're all big, strong dudeson that second line and really,
really have the opportunity toput together something that has
the physicality of stall's linebut more of a scoring upside,
(28:19):
similar to, but not equal to,the first line.
And so if they can find thatperfect blend of physicality and
a scoring touch and be thatextra threat, teams are really
going to have to consider howthey play their Hurricanes.
It's not going to be a matterof if you shut down Ajo and
Rantanen, then you're good to go.
You've taken care of the entireCarolina Hurricanes offense.
(28:43):
You have these other big boysyou have to worry about as well,
and so I really like thescoring threat that he brings to
help create a proper two-lineattack system on offense.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Yeah, a couple of comments.
I agree and I'm really excitedabout the potential of this
being a heavy line.
I mean, historically the Caneshave been really relying on
Stahl's line to do a lot of thatheavy lifting, as we know, and
a lot of other smaller players,and this is changing the
(29:17):
landscape of the Hurricanes bigtime.
And you think about teams likethe Florida Panthers and some of
the other teams that they'regoing to face that are really
heavy.
They play a heavy game All of asudden.
Now they're not going to justface one line, they're going to
face more, and I think that'sgoing to be critical for them.
A couple of things on Hall.
He's another left shot rightwinger.
(29:38):
He can play both sides, but heseems to do best on the right
side, so he's very similar toMikko Rantanen in that regard.
The other thing is, hall hasalways had pretty darn good
power play numbers as well.
So he's, a guy that and Ithought he looked good in his
first go on that second powerplay unit.
He seemed to look like he wasout there making some things
(29:58):
happen.
Eric Tulsky really wanted him.
You know that means a lot.
Yes, Because you know, eric hashandpicked the guys that have
the Canes in second overall inthe East.
That's an amazing story Afterlosing so many key players in
free agency.
It's one that we'll keeptalking about because I think
what's happening and we'reseeing it on X for sure a lot of
(30:19):
folks have finally realizedthat Eric Tulsky is an
incredible, incredible generalmanager and he's making a lot of
great moves.
And the fact that he wantedTaylor Hall this much and he
felt Hall was an ideal fit forthe Rod Grindamore you know,
style of play tells me a lot andthat gives me a good feeling
that that, uh, taylor, you knowhe, as you say, he's motivated
(30:42):
like crazy.
Uh, he's going to come in andhe's going to want to show.
You know, he was kind of againin Chicago he.
He started off fine but he kindof lost his way, and you know,
with a team that's losing a lot.
I guess it's not you know it'snot unexpected, but Now he comes
to a fresh start.
And again this guy was MVP oneyear.
(31:04):
He was a Hart Trophy winner.
I mean, he's got the pedigreefor sure and he's not so old
that he can't come in and make adifference.
I think he's got a lot ofrunway left.
You know we talked a little bitabout the fact that he
struggled through a lot ofinjuries.
He's missed a lot of games overthe last six or seven years, so
his body has not been beat upas badly, I guess, as some of
(31:25):
the other players in the league.
That's probably a good thing,and if he's healthy Now, last
year's injury was a tough one.
It was a torn ACL.
We know what that's like.
So it took him a long time tocome back from that, but he's
from my eyeballs watching him insome of the highlights of the.
Hawks, and certainly in thefirst game with the Canes.
He looks like he's skating justfine, so again excited to have
(31:51):
Taylor on board.
Now we look at this.
We've got to think about thelineup and how do we think it's
going to come together.
Erin, what do you got?
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Well, I did see the practice lines today and we're
going to see pretty much similarto what we saw in the third
period, I think, against theIslanders it's going to be, at
least if the practice lines holdfor the game, because you
always have to say that becauseyou never know, but if the
practice lines are the same asthe game lines for tomorrow
night's game.
They had Rantanen, ajo andJackson Blake on the top line I
(32:26):
don't have them in the rightorder, I'm sorry and then they
had Svetch Kokanemi and Hall onthe second, the same stall line,
martinuk Stahl and Jarvis, andthen now the third line.
Today at practice it was RileyStillman with Yuhayeska, because
(32:49):
Jack Roslevic is out sick.
So the fourth line may be alittle bit in flux because and
and you know with Eric Robinson,sorry and Yuhayeska.
So the fourth line may be alittle bit in flux because we
don't know if Roslevic's illnessis the kind of thing that he's
not going to be able to playthrough or, you know, if he's
going to be all right.
(33:09):
Now, because it's one game.
I don't see them making a callup.
If I have a feeling, if theyhave to, they'll go 11-7.
Now, that would be reallyinteresting, given that we have
two new players in the lineupand going 11-7 would mean adding
a third that hasn't played agame yet with the Canes.
So that could be an interestingscenario to keep an eye on, you
(33:32):
know for and of course by thetime this comes out we'll
already know.
But for us it's kind of funny.
I think we talked about this alittle bit.
I'm not sold and neither isKatie, I think on whether
Jackson Blake should remain onthat top line.
I think eventually you reallywant to have Seth Jarvis back up
there.
Jarvis can play on his off wingwith no problem.
He can play on the left.
(33:52):
He has played on the left ingames with the Canes.
So I don't really see thatyou're going to want one of your
top offensive producers on theteam, because he really is, you
know, playing on the third lineindefinitely.
But we all know the situationwith Will Carrier's injury and
not having an obvious fit toslot back in there.
(34:14):
They're going to be jugglingsome pieces around and trying to
decide what the best thing todo is.
I'm sure once they get home,you know going forward.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
And.
I don't know if it's somethingjust because of Blake being
currently up there, but thepractice lines had Rantanen
listed at the left wing andwhile he is a left shot, his
entire career he has played onthe right wing.
He likes to play on his offsidebecause he likes to open up for
that shot from the face-offcircle into the goal, and so I
(34:44):
don't know if putting him on theleft wing at the moment is
because of Blake or because theyjust haven't quite figured out
how they're going to usesomebody who's a left shot on
the right wing or what it is.
But I would also expect that,whatever the final lineup is
that they go with coming out ofI'm going to say coming out of
the Four Nations, I would liketo think that whatever they
(35:04):
envision for the playoffs to be,their lines will be what they
go with, starting after the FourNations face off.
I hope that they do haveRantanen back over there Now.
It could just be that he'slisted at left wing at the
moment and then when we watchhim play he'll be on the right
side of the ice most of the time.
That's that's to be determined,but that that is where you want
(35:25):
to find him yeah, I wouldn'tread anything into that.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
He'll be playing the right wing, I don't think
there's any question.
He's uh, yeah, he's, he's theright winger and that's what he
does.
Um, and, and blake was fine onthe left side, I mean he was
fine.
But I think the bigger questionis, and that's uh, I think
that's a good segue into, youknow, we think about what this
lineup might look like comingout of the Four Nations.
(35:48):
Okay, so you've got you knowthinking that we want to keep
Kokaniemi with Sveshnikov andTaylor Hall.
I think that would be kind offun if we could do that.
We know we're going to have Ahoand Rantanen as a combination.
Who should move up there.
That's going to be a questionwe can talk about.
(36:08):
And then, of course, if it'sJarvis and that's fine who's
going to replace Seth on thatline with Martinuk and Jordan
Stahl?
So kind of interestingquestions.
If Tyson Jost is healthy, ofcourse he'll come back and take
that fourth line center spot,which that's fine for now, and
we'll talk a little bit aboutsome thoughts beyond that.
(36:29):
But let's say it's Jost andyou've got, of course, eric
Robinson, who will be just fineon that fourth line.
He's a great left winger forthat line, and you've got Jack
Rostelevich.
Now is it possible?
Rostelevich moves up.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
Besides Stahl.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Yeah, or anywhere, is it possible?
He moves up off the fourth line.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
I think that is possible because I know we
haven't had a lot of samplesizes of seeing him on that
fourth line, but he hasn't beenterribly effective there and you
wouldn't really expect him tobe.
It's not his role.
He doesn't usually.
I think in Columbus there weretimes when he played at 4C,
usually for the same kind ofreasons that he's taken that
kind of spot here occasionally.
(37:13):
I think he can handle that.
Okay, it's not his again, nothis best spot.
But as a fourth line winger Ireally don't think you're
getting the best out of JackRoslevic.
So I would think that theycould try him next to Jordan
Stahl if they wanted to get.
If the idea of having Jarvisthere is to have a little bit
more scoring touch, why not?
(37:35):
Roslevic is the leading goalscorer on the team right now.
A second only to Rantanen, whohas not yet scored for who has
not yet scored for the Canes?
He's the leading goal scorer ofthe people who have been here
from day one.
So they could try that.
I don't know if Roslevic'sdefensive lapses would drive
(37:56):
that line crazy or if that wouldjust be absorbed in what Jordan
Stahl is capable of doing.
So you know that would besomething that they could try.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Katie, katie, what do you think?
That's a possibility, or Icould see, and you know you'd
have to see how it affectsthings defensively again.
They could try to put him onthe second line, and Svetch has
played with Stahl before, and sothat could work.
If you're wanting to jumpstartSvetch, though, and make him
into an offensive threat, moreso than he has been this season
(38:29):
probably not the move the Caneswant to make, but you never know
.
The other possibility would betrying somebody like Hall there
and see how he works with them,if you want to move Roslevic up,
but right now, roslevic reallyis kind of an interesting puzzle
piece on the where does he fit?
Because there's not a clear-cutrole for him right now on this
team.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Right.
Well, and that takes us intothe next part of this, which is
the Canes are going to have tomake some more moves.
We know that as we kind of headout through the four nations
and then head towards the tradedeadline, the Canes have got a
bit of a hole at center ice.
Now They've got to resolve that.
I don't see them going into theplayoffs with Tyson Jost as
(39:13):
their fourth line centerman, andI think Jack Roslevic is in a
position where we've talked alot about this.
He, at the start of the year,was a revelation I mean
incredible but he basically isplaying himself off the team.
There really isn't a spot forhim.
He's not a fourth liner and hewon't be a fourth liner going
(39:34):
into the playoffs.
I cannot imagine that to be thecase.
They need a much heavier, moreaggressive fourth line if
they're going to compete.
So he's not the right fit now.
He is in a position where theycould trade him and get
something for him.
You know, 18 goals, that's nottoo shabby.
So he definitely is in aposition of value and I think,
(39:59):
as we take a look at this andpull up some of the cap
information, we can see that theCanes could very well have.
If they put William Carrier onlong-term injured reserve and he
joins Jesper Fost, they couldend up with around 3.5 million
just under 3.5 million in capspace.
Now if they decided to tradeJack Roslevic, of course, they
(40:21):
move up over 6 million.
Now they've got some money toplay with and I think they could
very clearly shore up.
You know some of the positions.
What are we thinking about?
You know, as the Canes start tohead towards the trade deadline
, what do you think they shouldbe looking for?
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Well, like you said, I think the 4C position is
something they're going to belooking at.
I think that there's always,like we talked about before, I
think, a depth defenseman isgoing to be necessary.
William Carrier is not somebodyyou can just replace by
(41:01):
bringing somebody in, but theymight take a look at some depth
forward options that could bebetween third line and fourth
line, just in case they and thatwould.
That would really depend onCarrier's situation.
If they believe that WillCarrier will in fact be
recovered well enough to returnby the playoffs, they probably
won't look at that, but if theydon't, or if they're unsure,
(41:23):
they might bring in somebody inthat kind of spot too.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
So we'll just have to see what happens with that yeah
, exactly what aaron said depthdefenseman for sure, because we
saw with ghost out that I, Ithink, the uh talent level of
what they have.
And now, now, granted, comeplayoffs, then you might have
your black aces and stuff likethat, and I'm sure plenty of
(41:46):
Canes fans would be clamoring tosee Scott Morrow given a shot
in those circumstances.
But even then, that's a rookieand you know the types of
mistakes that rookies are proneto.
That's just natural.
I'm not sure Brenda Moore isgoing to want to risk that.
So bring in somebody who's asteady seventh defenseman.
(42:09):
I know I had postulated thatmaybe that'd be Tony D'Angelo,
but then, right after ourpodcast came out, he went and
signed with the Islanders andthat was very entertaining
watching him play against theCanes.
It figures that his first gamein his new sweater was against
the Islanders and that was veryentertaining, watching him play
against the Canes.
It figures that his first gamein his new sweater was against
the Canes.
But somebody along those lines,somebody that is going to slot
(42:34):
in there for those handful ofminutes next to whoever he needs
to in order to shore up thedefense and make the team be
able to function at a goodbubble.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
Yeah, and I think the top of the list is center ice
for sure, and you know, I wantto throw a couple of names out
as we start to contemplate whowe might see the Canes having
interest in.
There are some free agents,ufas, coming up that might be of
interest.
Nick Bukestad, of course, withUtah, he's a guy that last year
I thought the Canes wouldactually look at.
(43:06):
He's big, he's 6'6", he's over200 pounds.
Last year he had over 20 goals.
He had an excellent year forArizona, the Coyotes, last year.
He's a guy that's on a veryfriendly deal 2.1 million.
So again, the kind of playerthat could come in with size.
He can do it all.
He's a guy that could actuallymove up in the lineup if KK or
(43:29):
somebody else struggled.
So I think that would bevaluable.
Another guy that's interestingis Radek Foxa.
We know Foxa from his days,mostly in Dallas.
He's another big player, 6'3",220.
He's a guy that you know.
He's had some good seasons 15,20, not 20, but you know higher
teens.
He's on a $3.25 million deal,again, 31 years old.
(43:52):
So Fox is another guy theymight want to consider,
depending on the type of playerthey want.
In that fourth line, the otherone that I thought on the UFA
side that we'll keep an eye onas days go on, is Isaac
Lundestrom with the AnaheimDucks.
He's just 25, so he's a youngUFA.
He's on a $1.5 million deal.
He's a guy that a couple ofyears ago had 16 goals, so he's
(44:14):
again.
He can move up the lineup alittle bit.
He's very defensively.
Responsible, he kills penalties.
He does all the right kind ofthings.
Responsible he kills penalties,he does all the right kind of
things.
So I think there are players outthere and I think as the weeks
go on we'll start to hear therumor mill go If the Canes
decided they want somebody withterm.
There are some players too.
Of course.
They could go back to Vancouverand have conversations with
(44:35):
Patrick Albine and JimRutherford and they have lots of
those for a guy like DakotaJoshua.
Now, he's a guy that last lastyear 18 goals.
He's 6'3 and 205.
He's a big player.
He's on a $3.25 million dealtill 28, 29.
So a little bit longer deal buthe's a guy that could come in
and certainly give them somedepth at center.
(44:55):
The guy that I really would loveto see them go after is Kevin
Stenland, who's again with Utah.
Stenland last year was thefourth line center for the
Florida Panthers.
This guy is an ace in thefaceoff circle.
He's right now.
He's at almost 60%.
He's in the top five, I think,in the league.
So he's a right-hand shot.
He brings everything you needas a center iceman to the game.
(45:17):
So there are players out there.
I wanted to just throw somenames out to let us know that
there are some players that willbe available that could help
the Hurricanes, and I kind ofhope they go with size.
I hope they go with the rightshot as well.
They could use a nice anotherright shot centerman.
That's good in the faceoff time.
So some of these folks kind offit the bill and we'll keep an
(45:37):
eye on them.
I guess the question I would askhere as we go through all this.
I guess the question I wouldask here as we go through all
this.
Look, at the start of the yeara lot of folks were saying guess
what?
This is a transition year.
So you know we'll expect theCanes to make the playoffs.
Some folks said they didn'tthink they would.
But okay, that's fine.
But we'll expect the Canes tomake the playoffs and they'll
(45:59):
make a round or two and that'swonderful.
And next year they got Nikitian.
They're going to have tons ofroom in the cap.
You know, don't worry about it.
We're coming next year and Ifelt all along that Tom Dundon,
the owner of the Canes, is notthat kind of guy.
He definitely wants to go forit and I think this past weekend
gave us the answer to thequestion Are the Canes serious
(46:21):
about going for the cut.
Speaker 2 (46:23):
Definitely.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Absolutely.
I think that the addition ofRantanen says that they're not
content with what they've had inthe playoffs in the past and
they're ready to take that nextstep forward.
The big question is not justgetting Rantanen situated and
settled into the Canes system,but will we see the Canes system
open up a little bit tomaximize the offense, especially
(46:50):
at the top line and even of thetop two lines?
Because the defense firstapproach has gotten them very
far.
It's gotten them into theplayoffs for six years.
It's gotten them into thesecond round.
Most of those times it hasn'tbeen able to get them further
because when it comes down towhen you're finally facing one
of the top, you know those,those last handful of the last
(47:13):
man standing teams.
You know the final four.
If you want to call it that, yougot to have some punch in your
offense.
You can't be just hoping toshut them down.
You have to be doing your workon the other side and it can't
be about opportunistic goals, itcan't be about lucky bounces,
it has to be about attack.
That was the word that we usedlast time.
(47:34):
You have a player now who ismore than capable of leading the
attack on the offense, thesystem is going to have to
evolve a little bit to allow forthat.
I think it's going to beinteresting to see how that
happens.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
I think it starts with ice time as well, Like I'm
not saying I'd rant into the ice, but part of the reason his
nickname is Moose is not justbecause he's a big guy, it's
because he is sturdy.
He likes that ice time.
He plays better when he is outthere a lot and gets lots of
touches, gets those goodopportunities and he will make
(48:14):
the most of those opportunities.
But if you are playing him 80%of the amount of time that he
has played in the past, thathe's used to, you know you don't
expect him to produce at thesame rate that he has produced
in the past.
You need to, you need to givehim that cookie.
You need to give him thosechoice moments and really off,
(48:36):
emphasize your offensiveopportunities when you've got
them.
There have been times in gameswhere there is an offensive zone
, face-off and the fourth lineis what Rod sends out there to
take the face-off.
What it's in the offensive zone?
It's in the offensive zone.
Send out your scoring line.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
There was a game where he did that four times in
a row after icings.
He kept sending the fourth lineout.
Speaker 2 (49:05):
I was like no no, put Rantanen out there.
Put Rantanen and Ajo out there.
It is an offensive zone, faceoff.
Put them out there.
If they were just out there,then put KK's line out there.
Put the scoring lines out thereon those opportunities, and
it's not.
I'm not suggesting a bigoverhaul.
I'm not suggesting that theCarolina hurricanes all of a
sudden try to become theColorado avalanche.
(49:27):
That would be, a disaster ifthey tried to do that.
That wouldn't work.
But just those little tweaks,those few extra shifts, deciding
when those shifts come,maximizing those opportunities,
giving the, you know, taking therestraints off a little bit as
far as the defensive zone isconcerned in order to open up
(49:48):
the ice.
Open up those opportunitieswill be very, very key and very
important.
And I would also like to say,because you mentioned the cap
and re-signing Rantanen, thedollar signs is not going to be
what prevents Rantanen fromsigning.
They will offer him somethingthat he will be more than
willing to accept.
I think the key for Rantanenre-signing is going to be
(50:10):
whether or not he feels like hisgame is a good fit in the
Carolina Hurricanes system.
If he feels like he's beingstifled, that he doesn't have
the opportunities that he wants,it's not going to matter that
Ajo is his buddy.
He's going to go find a teamthat's willing to give him that
ice time and those opportunitiesand pursue a championship.
(50:32):
He's not going to go sign withBuffalo or San Jose, or even
someone said he was going torevenge sign with Chicago to
play with Conor Bedard becauseof what the Avs did to him.
No, he's not going to do thatbecause they're not in a cup
window.
But he'll go find somebody elsewho is in a cup window who's
willing to give him the type ofgame and ice time he wants, and
(50:53):
he can find that in Carolina.
He can.
They just need to tweak thingsa touch in order to complement
his particular game.
Speaker 3 (51:05):
Sorry go ahead.
Oh no, I'm sorry.
I was going to say.
One of the things that mighthelp with that is that they are
now going to have a true fourthline.
They're going to be buildingone.
They're going to build one forthe playoffs and up until now,
as we know, rod Rindemore hasbeen very solid about balancing
the four lines, balancing theirice time, balancing, you know,
(51:28):
as much as he can.
Ajo's line does get the most icetime, but only by a little bit.
Stahl's line usually has thesecond most ice time, you know.
And then with both Kokuniemiand Drury, if you look at the
ice time of the centers as asort of shortcut of how much ice
time they're getting, they'vebeen about a minute apart in ice
time, you know.
So what you can't do withsomeone like Rantanen on the
(51:50):
team is do that you have to havea fourth line that comes out
there and plays their eight ornine minutes, and that's good,
because those minutes have to goto Ajo's line with Rantanen on
it.
They have to.
That's where those minutes comefrom, because there's only so
many minutes on the ice in a60-minute game for each line to
play.
You're not going to take icetime away from Jordan Stahl
because he's doing what is oneof the most important jobs on
(52:11):
the team when it comes toshutting down the other team's
top line.
So that ice time has to comefrom the fourth line.
And it goes back to what Tomwas just saying about adding a
true fourth line center, one ofthese big burly guys that you're
not looking to drive offensebut you're looking to.
You know, be that, tire out theother team for a little while,
give everybody on your team abreather, you get that going and
(52:33):
then there's no issue.
Then there's plenty of ice timefor the Rantanen-Anaho
combination to get out there anddo some damage.
Speaker 1 (52:42):
Yeah, I mean a couple of things.
First of all, we know that thestyle of play is materially
different than the avalanche.
We also know that he playedwith two of the best players in
the game regularly in CaleMcCarr and Nathan McKinnon.
So to have an expectation thathe's going to come in and do the
(53:05):
same as he did with the Canesis probably unrealistic.
Now, having said all that, Ithink the Canes are going to
look at this with a little bitof a different eye.
Certainly Rod Brendamore,because he is one of the best
players in the game.
And he has not had that before.
So he's relied on you know,Sebastian, and he's relied on
kind of a committee the rest ofthe way, but he's finally got
(53:28):
someone that's a true superstar.
And you know I'm sure that he'sgoing to have some discussions
with.
You know the powers.
That be to say they're going tobe encouraging.
Use this guy because we want tokeep him he's one of the great
players in the game and takeadvantage of him.
If he's going to get paid 13,14, whatever numbers of millions
(53:49):
next year, he's got to delivera big amount to the team.
So give him the opportunity todo that.
And the other thing I'll justsay is that in the short time we
saw the power play the othernight, I was really excited
about some of the chemistry thatwas forming with he and Shane
Gossespierre.
You know, you remember Shane,of course, had really done a lot
(54:12):
of that with Marty Natchez.
He was really one of the keyguys to get that puck to him for
those big shots.
I saw him doing the same kindof thing quite nicely with Miko
in just the first game.
They don't even know each other.
So I've got a feeling that thisis going to be huge and it
actually plays into one of thekey discussions that I think we
(54:34):
want to be thinking about.
What do the Canes have to do tobe in a position to go all the
way?
Okay, what has to happen?
What do they have to improve?
One of the big things is thepower play.
Speaker 2 (54:49):
Especially in the playoffs, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (54:54):
So if you think about where the Canes are right now
and we know they're going to bebolstering the team a little bit
how do we feel about the Canesgoing into the playoffs?
How do we feel about theirchances of winning the Stanley
Cup as we sit here today?
Speaker 3 (55:09):
They were already one of Muddy Puck's top forecasted
teams before the Rantanen trade.
You know, we were just a littlebit below, I think, vegas and,
if my memory serves, maybeFlorida, in terms of their odds.
So I'd love to see I haven'tbeen able to get back out there,
but I'd love to see wherethey've got them ranked now,
because this is huge, this is abig game changer, you know.
(55:31):
I think that, at the very least, my expectation now is that
they need to make the EasternConference final and they need
to win games.
I would love to see them makeit to the Stanley Cup final.
I think that's doable.
I don't think that's impossibleat this point, but I want to
see them.
You know, at the very leastthey have to break that curse of
(55:53):
not being able to win games inthe Eastern Conference final.
That's, that's the minimum atthis point.
What do you think, katie?
Speaker 2 (55:59):
Yeah, I agree, I think they can go real far.
Again, part of it just dependson how everything gels together
and the kind of identity thatthey play with.
I think they took that loss toFlorida a couple years ago to
heart with the physicality inthe in the Eastern conference
final, and that's part of whythey're adding bigger bodies
(56:22):
that are harder to to pusharound and get off the puck.
And so if they can, if they cantake those players and apply
that identity and if they canfind that, that chemistry on
that top line between Ajo andRantanen and Winger, wow I mean
you can't help but be excited.
I think that Freddie andKochekov will be a solid duo in
(56:46):
net.
They don't have to bespectacular.
I don't think anyone isexpecting them to come in and be
Shostakhin, but if they face aShostakhin Bobrovsky etc in the
playoffs, they need to be ableto at least hold the fort well
enough to let the that thescoring group, get their
(57:07):
opportunities and do their thingand not have to play from
behind, and I think they'reperfectly capable of of doing
that.
So I'm excited to see whathappens.
A lot of pieces have to kind offall into place, but they don't
have to wow.
If we get lucky, fall intoplace, it's a really good
likelihood that they will,provided good usage and good
planning and good coaching.
Speaker 3 (57:29):
Well, everybody's staying healthy too, and all
those things, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (57:33):
Well, I mean, it's interesting.
You know the team as it wasbuilt this year, again because
of the cap challenges that, uh,that eric faced, um, they have,
you know they've done well.
I mean, the rest of the leaguehas not been nearly as dominant
as it has in recent years, sothat's been good for them and
and even though they have anextended period of 500 hockey
(57:54):
you know, 25 games or so uh,they're still sitting in a very
strong position and I thinkthat's again the coaching that
Bryndamore does.
You know the basic assets thathe has, the guys like Slavin and
, of course, aho and others.
He's got some players that hecan really build around and I
really like your comment aboutgoaltending, katie, because
(58:14):
that's something that ultimately, if we have a healthy Freddie
Anderson and Piotr has lookedgood his last three or four
games.
And I think having Freddie,there is a great kind of an
incentive for Piotr and he's,you know, if he gets into one of
those periods where he can playlike he can, uh, and he did
(58:36):
this last year we're going tohave goaltending.
That's as good as anybody andthat's going to be key, because
one of the things we've seenthis year which is kind of
unusual is the number of odd manbreaks.
Uh, the canes have given up alot, and the other thing they
have to do we've talked aboutthis repeatedly they got to
start the game on time.
Uh, you know, we've seen somuch of this getting behind in
(58:57):
the first period and then it'sone of the best teams in the
league, I guess, to come frombehind victories.
But again, they've got to getthat going.
Again, they've got to startgetting to their game more
frequently and I think that'sbeen an interesting question why
not?
And they've got to fix that forsure if they're going to go
(59:19):
deep in the playoffs.
But anyway, lots to think about.
Any closing remarks, erin, whatdo you got for us?
Speaker 3 (59:27):
Well, I think that this is, you know, one of those
things where you look at all ofthis shaking out over know
friday and friday evening andyou realize that we are in the
eric tulsky hurricanes era.
Now this is eric tulsky, incharge, in the driver's seat.
This is his first major trade.
Um, you know he made this boldmove you can.
(59:48):
It showcases his intelligenceand also the fact that you know
he he didn't lose any prospectsin this trade.
Think about that for a second.
No prospects were moved in thistrade and, beyond that, he
ended up with slightly more capspace than when they started
this trade.
Because of how they did theHall salary retention I mean the
random salary retention andtaking on Hall's salary in full
(01:00:11):
they ended up with more capspace than they had when they
started.
How do you do that?
They ended up with more capspace than they had when they
started.
How do you do that?
Well, I mean, this is a man whohis world, you know, includes
things like, you know, dungeonsand Dragons and Six Sided Dice.
He knows what he's doing.
He knows what he's doing and hedoes it on a level that I think
(01:00:31):
we all need to kind of sit backand say, okay, this is going to
be quite a ride, because evenall the names that you mentioned
, tom, I wouldn't be surprisedif there's somebody he pulls out
of left field that we've noteven thought about.
But he was an absolutelyperfect fit.
That's the fun part, that's theexciting part, because we have
no idea what he's going to donext.
Speaker 2 (01:00:52):
And that's you know.
Welcome to Eric Tulsky'shurricanes.
To piggyback off of the Tulskything, there was one of the
avalanche reports that said thatwhen Chicago agreed to the
salary retention, they didn'tknow whose salary they were
going to be retaining.
It was so smoothly that evenChicago had no idea that this
(01:01:13):
was going to be Rantanen, and soTulsky had this arranged ahead
of time.
Maybe it was going to bePedersen, maybe it was going to
be Rantanen, and so Tulsky hadthis arranged ahead of time.
Maybe it was going to bePettersson, maybe it was going
to be Rantanen, maybe it wasgoing to be like Chicago didn't
even know who they were going tobe retaining on.
So he did a fantastic job.
And then my own personal finalthought is I'd like to highly
encourage Canes fans, at leastfor the rest of this season, to
(01:01:35):
be at least couch ColoradoAvalanche fans Go read our
marketing and Jack Drury,because I mean, they're still
our homegrown guys.
They still have a special skillset and we all as fans really
enjoyed their time with the team.
It's not like they had signed adeal and came in for a year or
two before we traded them, likehappened last year.
(01:01:57):
These are our guys, and whilethe fit might not have been
perfect especially for Natchezin the system, we still want
them to do well, we want them tobe successful, we want them to
have really great careers.
Speaker 3 (01:02:13):
And man Natchez next to McKinnon is fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (01:02:14):
Oh my gosh to McKinnon is fun to watch.
I highly recommend you guys,y'all out there in Kane's land,
watch some of the Avalanchegames coming up, because the two
of them, with their speedtogether and the way that they
process and think the game plusif you have Makar jumping in
from the backside, it is, andthat's just after two games I
can't wait to see what kind ofchemistry they develop together.
(01:02:35):
And, not to be forgotten, druryis providing something the Avs
really really need to, and aface-off guy and someone who can
be a third-line center for them.
That is how he is being playedand how they want to be
utilizing him once they figureout who his wingers are going to
be on that line.
And a lot of the Avscommentators have talked about
(01:02:59):
how he just has a grindersmentality despite his size, and
that he goes in, he fights forpucks and he's good at cutting
down angles, and how wonderfulhis defensive game is.
So, you know our guys.
You know I still I'm alwaysgoing to think of nature's and
Drury as our guys, as Canesfirst, avs second, even though
they're on the Avs now.
(01:03:20):
So go watch them, appreciatetheir game and what they're
doing too, and if the starsalign and everything goes
beautifully, here's to anAvs-Canes Stanley Cup final.
Speaker 3 (01:03:31):
Wouldn't that be something, wouldn't that?
Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
be fun.
That would be amazing, wouldn'tthat be something.
Speaker 1 (01:03:34):
Wouldn't that be fun?
That would be amazing.
Well, you know, the interestingthing about Drury and you
mentioned this is you know Jackdid a lot of the five-on-three
defensive responsibilities.
He was great in the face-offdot on the fourth line or even
when he was up on the secondline.
Those are things they've got toreplace and you know that's
going to be part of what I'msure Eric is going to be up on
(01:03:56):
the whiteboard as he likes to do, and having option A, b, c and
D as they head towards the tradedeadline.
Speaker 2 (01:04:02):
You guys will be amused, though.
One of the things a lot of theABS commentators have talked
about is how impressiveNatchez's work is in the
defensive zone.
Speaker 3 (01:04:13):
That's great to hear.
Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
Nathan McKenna made me this.
That is great to hear NathanMcKinnon maybe it is that is
great to hear yeah, the otherthing I was going to mention,
though and you said thisrightfully so not just Nathan
McKinnon.
There's a lot of other greatplayers on the on the Avalanche
team, and particularly I saw himteaming up nicely with Kael
McCart so yeah, hey, we wish, wewish, marty the best, and he
(01:04:37):
certainly did a great cane andso much fun.
And and one of the things thatwe saw instantly was that, on
the on the three on three, uh,the canes are going to have to
do some, uh, some juggling,because of course he and and
Sebastian Ajo were among thebest combinations in the circuit
.
So that's something.
We're going to have to wait andsee how that plays out, because
(01:04:57):
obviously, whoever goes inthere is not going to be the
same kind of player that Martywas.
So, anyway, things are going tochange.
Change is good and in thisparticular case, I think change
is going to be fantastic.
So, lots to look forward to.
We've got lots coming up.
We're going to be having somefun.
Lots to look forward to We'vegot lots coming up.
We're going to be having somefun when the Four Nations
(01:05:20):
Tournament comes up.
Of course, we now have threeplayers, so we've gone up 50% in
representation with the Canes,now that Miko's on board, and
during that period, we're goingto have a nice round table and
we'll talk about a lot ofdifferent things and we'll
certainly reach out to our allof our viewers and listeners for
any questions that they mayhave.
(01:05:41):
That we can tackle as well andwe'll have some fun with that.
But but as always, ladies, it'suh.
It's been great to talk aboutthis and I can't think of
anything that's more fun thantalking about picking up a
player like miko rem and also,of course, david.
So lots of excitement with theCanes.
There's never a dull moment andI'm sure that we've got lots
coming up in the weeks ahead.
(01:06:02):
So again, thanks so much forjoining and having some fun
talking hockey.
For those of you listening andwatching, of course, we really
appreciate that you're spendingtime with us.
We'd really love to hear fromyou as well.
If you have questions orcomments, please leave those
down below and we'll jump onthem just as quick as we can.
If you like this episode,please subscribe, and if you
(01:06:25):
wanna be alerted to futureepisodes of StormTracker and get
a chance to listen to more ofthese great ladies talking about
the hurricanes and sometimesthe Colorado avalanche as well,
by all means, press thesubscribe button and the bell
and you'll be alerted of anyfuture episodes when they're
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As always, we thank you so muchfor joining us and we'll get
(01:06:47):
together real soon right here onStormTracker.
Thank you.
Well, lots of excitement in the Carolina
Hurricanes camp.
These days the Canes have beenon a bit of a roll After an
extended period of 500 hockey.
The Canes have got hot.
They've got 9 of a possible 10points in their last 5 games and
they're playing extremely well.
But the big news happened offthe ice.
Last weekend the Hurricanesmade a major move, acquiring
(00:26):
superstar Miko Rantanen from theColorado Avalanche and Taylor
Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks.
And in to talk about the trade,what we think about it, some of
the stats around these guys anda deep dive into what it might
mean to the Canes.
Pleased to be joined by ErinManning and Katie Berger Ladies.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Hi, there, hey.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay.
So, looking at the Hurricanes,as I mentioned they've been on a
bit of a roll and you know westarted the season.
a lot of folks were thinkingthis was a transition year for
the Canes and I think they maybe taking a step back now and
say maybe not after the big moveon the weekend but the Canes
have really started to turn itup and they moved into second
(01:11):
place in the Eastern Conferenceand they're sitting quite strong
, as you know, and they'retrailing only the red-hot
Washington Capitals, who've beenplaying outstanding hockey this
year.
But as we look at the big moveon the weekend which really sent
the sports world and the hockeyworld abuzz a shocking trade
(01:31):
that brought the Canes' NicoRantanen and Taylor Hall and
sent out, among other players,the key players from the Canes,
marty Nages and, of course, jackDrury.
So what do we think of this?
Why don't we kick it off, katie?
What do you think about thetrade?
Being an Avs fan, you've gotlots to say, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I was so excited when I saw this went down.
Obviously it's a win-win for me, right?
The players don't leave myteams, they just happen to swap
teams.
And so Rantanen is still swapteams, and so ranton is still my
player, natchez is still myplayer, drury's still my player.
I couldn't be happier.
Um, in fact, the notion of thistrade actually had occurred to
(02:14):
me back last summer when I wasborn.
I was thinking about well,ranton needs an extension and
there's a little bit ofcontention over natchez and what
his rfa deal is going to looklike.
Well, why don't the Avs and theCanes just swap players?
And the Canes have the cap roomand what the kind of player
that Rantanen is.
And Natchez's skill set fits inperfectly with the way that the
(02:37):
Avalanche play hockey and wrotea whole big post on X about it,
and it's like a dream come true.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
It has been a fun fun weekend for me for sure,
without a doubt.
Well, I think some of us were alittle bit more than surprised.
You know, the Canes have beenrumored to be in discussions on
a number of differentopportunities, most
significantly, of course, withthe Vancouver Canucks, and a lot
of folks thought theannouncement of anything that
was coming would be for JTMiller or possibly even Elias
(03:11):
Pedersen, but when we heard itwas Mikko Rantanen.
That was quite shocking andagain one of the top players in
the league right now, and hebrings a lot to the table.
What can you tell us aboutranting and as a player?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
well.
The most obvious thing, ofcourse, is that he is a big
player.
He's six foot four and you cantell that when he is on the ice
he is noticeable and he usesthat size to his advantage.
He definitely gets in there andgets positioning and that sort
of thing.
But for being such a big guy hehas amazing skill.
(03:51):
That can be quite subtle andhis skills are varied.
So he is a really really goodplaymaker and passer.
He can sauce the puck into thetightest of spaces and get it to
a teammate.
But he also has a really goodshot.
That is a fast shot.
He can get it on and off hisstick in the blink of an eye and
(04:12):
that's part of why he is such agood goal scorer, because with
that particular shot speed, alot of times it just doesn't
give defenses and goalies enoughtime to react before it's in
the back of the net.
So those pieces areparticularly obvious.
Rantanen is also good along theboards in the offensive zone.
(04:32):
He uses that frame to box outto get pucks, to get it to his
line mates and because he takesup space and draws other players
to him, it opens up the ice forhis line mates and any D that
are guarding the blue line.
So I definitely think that hisparticular offensive game will
(04:52):
fit very, very well with theHurricanes on the ice.
The one thing he is going tohave to get used to is, let's
just say, rantanen is nottypically described as a
200-foot player.
Let's just say Rantanen is nottypically described as a
200-foot player.
His enthusiasm for getting backto the defensive zone and
(05:14):
helping out there perhaps is notas developed as you would
expect for somebody who plays ina Rod Brindamore system.
So he will have to get used tothat aspect of the game.
But he's a smart player.
He is capable of lots of goodhard work and I think that he is
up to the task for sure.
And then in the locker roomthat's also what a lot of people
(05:35):
don't know about Rantanen isthe fact that the guy is
hilarious.
He has a really goofy sense ofhumor.
He's outgoing, he bringssunshine with him, he jokes
around, he's you know, when wethink of our Finnish players on
the canes and the kind ofpersonality they have, that is
not ranting it at all.
(05:55):
He is very bubbly.
That come out of there prettysoon, because I think he's going
to get in with Jarvie and someof that ilk and really start to
yuck it up together off of theice not just on the ice.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Well, it's interesting Eric Tolsky was
saying as well in some of hispressers that he felt that the
Canes players would be a nicematch for Mikko.
And again, virtually anybodythat's come to the Canes has fit
in quite nicely, has enjoyedthe team, has enjoyed the coach.
So again, that's part of thediscussion that will take place
(06:38):
throughout this later in theseason and into the early summer
as the Canes try to put thedeal together to uh, to lock
miko up.
And that's an interesting partof this deal is that of course
miko is going to be aunrestricted free agent this
year.
So a lot of folks are sittingback and saying is this going to
be another situation like jakegensel, or are the canes going
(07:00):
to be able to put a dealtogether and and lock miko
ranting and up for long term?
And of course we know that theopportunity the Canes have is a
unique one because they can signhim for eight years and there
isn't another team in the leaguethat could.
So that's a real advantage, Ithink, for the Hurricanes.
And the other thing we've seenwith Mikko that's interesting is
(07:21):
that through his discussionsand negotiations with the
Avalanche he was willing to takea little bit less in terms of
dollars because he wanted to bea part of that team for the
longer term and of course, withhis very close friend Nathan
McKinnon.
So I think if he can get hookedup with some of these younger
(07:42):
guys, as you mentioned, katie,and certainly with his friend
Sebastian Aho, that could be avery good harbinger of what
might happen in terms of acontract extension for Mikko.
I wanted to read a little bitabout Mikko in a couple of areas
.
One of them is the hockeyforecaster scouting report on
(08:04):
him and they said a few playershave his combination of size,
skill and speed.
So we've seen that for sure hehas an excellent hockey iq and
make can make plays at highspeed and that's something that
differentiates, I think, thestars in the game over others.
For sure they can make plays atvery high speed.
His one-time shot makes him amajor threat on the power play
(08:27):
and he uses his size well toprotect the puck.
So things that we're lookingfor right, they're looking for,
as you mentioned, katie, thatone-time shot, that ability to
get it off, and even in hisfirst game the other day I don't
know if you saw this, butcertainly he was getting some
shots off.
You know he was getting inposition, he was finding those
open areas.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I mean, we saw some of the same situation, of course
, with Martin Natchez playingwith the Avalanche.
He was wiring the puck, as I'msure you were excited to see
that too, katie.
In any case, again, he's anelite skill.
He can do a lot of things well.
If we take a look at the NHLedge information on Mikko as
(09:13):
well top skating speed this yearhe's in the 84th percentile.
So he's again a guy that he'sup around 22 miles an hour, so
he can move pretty quickly,that's for sure.
Speed burst he's at 61, butskating distance he's in the
(09:33):
97th percentile.
Top shot speed 90th percentile.
These are big numbers, likehe's near the top.
Shots on goal 95th percentile.
Okay, so he's a guy that gets alot of shots on goal, as we
know, shooting percentage at 86in the 86th percentile.
So again, these numbers are alloutstanding goals.
He's at 98 because he's amongthe top goal scorers in the
(09:55):
league with 25.
So again the other thing that'sinteresting, he's in the 93rd
percentile for offensive zonetime, so clearly he's a guy that
can get up and they can holdthe puck.
And that's back to, I think,the discussion on his ability to
do good board work.
He's very strong on the boards,right, and he's a guy that can
(10:20):
bring that Erin.
What are you thinking aboutwith Mikko Rantanen?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Well, just like Katie was saying, it was one of those
things that you just you knowyou really didn't expect it
other than you know, this funlittle scenario, oh, what if the
Canes could get somebody likethat?
You know, and I mean, I like tolook at it this way the Canes
have been rumored to be in on alot of top players that they
haven't actually gotten.
We have the Timo Mayerdiscussion.
We had the discussion you know,Jack Eichel.
(10:53):
Yes, Eichel.
Yeah, Matthew Kachuk.
Okay, that was the one I wastrying to think of who?
was the other one.
Matthew Kachuk was the big, andyou know the thing about both
the discussions of K big, and,and you know the thing about
both the discussions of Chuckand and Eichel and all these
guys is that and and and TimoMeyer even, in particular, all
(11:14):
of those guys would have taken abigger package and the the at
the time.
Maybe not now, but at the timethe big piece in addition to
Natchez that would have beenincluded was Seth Jarvis, and I
can't really imagine this teamwithout Seth Jarvis.
So to me the fact that thosedeals didn't work out and this
is the one that did.
It's not just a great fit fromthe perspective of adding Mikko
(11:36):
Rantanen to a team where one ofhis best friends from Finland
actually plays.
But you know, we didn't have tolose Seth Jarvis in one of
these deals because I think thatyou know, and everyone says at
the time I remember thediscussions about Meyer, it was
oh well, you know, jarvis wasstill just a prospect.
Then you know we don't reallyknow what we have here.
(11:56):
I mean, he had just startedplaying.
I think he was his rookieseason.
He's only played this manygames.
You know, I can't even imagineif Jarvis was playing in New
Jersey right now.
I can't imagine how miserablethat would be for Canes fans.
So to get Rantanen withoutlosing players that are so sewn
(12:16):
into the identity of the Canesand I mean as much as I love
Martin Natchez I think this isgood for him and I think it's
good for Jack Drury too.
It's wonderful for them becauseNatchez has not been able to be
utilized the way he should be inthe NHL as long as he's been
playing for the CarolinaHurricanes.
He's so fast and you saw thatwhen I think Katie and I we were
(12:38):
both talking about this alittle bit.
The game on Sunday, his speedand match with Nathan McKinnon
is just breathtaking.
It's incredible to watch whatthey can do, and they're just
getting started.
So sometimes I think the guysneed to go to a system that's
going to fit them better, andI'm hoping, with all these stats
that you've given us, tom, thatthis is what we're going to see
from Rantanen too, that, asgreat as he has been, maybe he
(13:01):
can get even to a higher level.
Maybe we're going to see him inthat top three, top four
discussion in the NHL in some ofthese categories, and that
would be great too.
So that's exciting.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I'd like to add that this is a real big opportunity
for Rantanen because for hisentire career in Colorado he has
played either second fiddle toMcKinnon or then when McCarr
came along a couple years later,then he he was the number three
superstar and he and if hestayed in Colorado he would have
(13:33):
continued to be the numberthree superstar he would.
Mckinnon was the top forwardand McCarr is just McCarr
special unicorn type of playerand Makar is just Makar's
special unicorn type of playerthat he is.
And so it's not just from a cappoint of view but just from a
the Avs wanted to be morebalanced and when it was very
(13:54):
clear that they weren't going tocome to a salary agreement that
allowed them to remaincompetitive from the top of
their lineup to the bottom oftheir lineup, they decided to
deal him, and I think they did.
A lot of people were like, oh,he was surprised.
Yeah, he was surprised.
But you know what?
They could have traded him to ateam that had no playoff
perspective whatsoever for someof their young talent and
(14:17):
probably gotten a bigger packageout of it.
Would have gotten more playersor more draft picks or something
like that.
But they said we're competitive.
We need to find somebody whomatches what we're going to need
from Rantanen being gone, andwe want Rantanen to have an
opportunity to still shine, tostill have an impact in the
(14:39):
postseason.
And so him coming to theHurricanes puts him in a really,
really nice spot because,number one, he can be the guy.
He is not going to be playingsecond fiddle or third fiddle or
whatever to other stars, it isthe guy.
He is the guy, he is thesuperstar.
I mean, we love Ajo, we loveJarvi, we love our players, but
(15:00):
he is on a different level.
But he is on a different leveland I'm really excited to see
how he embraces that particularrole on the ice and in the
locker room and helps to pushthis team hopefully further than
they have managed to get inthis particular iteration of the
franchise and the history ofthe group.
(15:20):
So I'm really really excited tosee how that goes, because I
think Mikko has it in him, butagain he was in a position where
he didn't have that opportunity.
Now he has that opportunity.
He has players that complementhis skill set really well.
It's go time for him.
I really, really hope he seizesthis and makes the most out of
(15:42):
it.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Well, you know you mentioned something interesting.
This and makes the most out ofit.
Well, you know you mentionedsomething interesting Nico
Rantan's performance in theplayoffs is off the charts.
He's got 100 points in 81 games.
It's insane and I think againfor the Hurricanes.
A big body, a guy that candefinitely drive.
You know the offense and theplay and playoffs is going to be
a huge asset for them.
(16:04):
And again, it's back to the samechallenge the Canes have had
for the last six years gettingin the playoffs and then kind of
running out of gas.
And size is a key element ofthis, and I think Miko brings
that for sure.
And the other thing I wanted toask, as we prior to moving on
to the next players how do wethink this is going to affect
Sebastian Ajo?
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Yeah, Well, we just said in our last meeting
together that what we needed tosee for Ajo was a true
center-winger duo, that he hadnever had that kind of the close
.
I mean he's gotten close withJarvis.
But the problem there is thatright now Jarvis is being used
on Stahls' line to help JordanStahls' line get some offense.
(16:46):
You can't form a duo if yourprimary winger is constantly
being moved away from you.
So it's a little challenging.
So if this turns into that kindof connection, that kind of
chemistry, where you have twoplayers who are just reading
each other so well and feedingoff each other so well, that is
(17:06):
definitely going to changethings for the Canes, both in
the regular season and thepostseason.
And I think back to you know,not only were there lots of
pundits that were saying thatthe Canes would miss the
playoffs this season which wassuch a funny thing to think
about but also Sarah Sivian, whoused to be the Canes reporter
for the Athletic.
She always said that what theCanes lacked was what, in her
(17:28):
terms, oomph per 60, meaning youknow that superstar talent.
Well, I don't think you can getmuch more oomph than Nico
Rantanen.
So this is exciting.
This is a new era for the Canes.
I think that a lot of us, thewords that kept being used
Friday night was this is thefranchise altering deal, and
it's going to take a while forit to settle in and for us to
(17:50):
see everything that comes of it,but this is not your typical
trade, so it's exciting.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Well, the other thing , and I think you're hitting
something which is reallyimportant it's going to take a
while for these players to, youknow, kind of become accustomed
to their teammates, to their newlocation to you know the style
of play their coach.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
I mean, this is all new right.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
And I think that, as fans, we have to.
You know, yeah, martin Natchezand Jack Drury off to a quick
start with the avalanche, but wejust need to be patient, and a
lot of folks have talked aboutthis on the Canes broadcast and
other folks have talked aboutlook, you have to understand
that this is a major major.
And other folks have talkedabout look, you have to
understand that this is a majormajor shift.
Here's a player, particularlyin the case of Nico, who's been
(18:36):
with the same team right fromthe get-go.
He's very close to all of thoseplayers, and certainly the key
ones, and all of a sudden he'sin a different locker room with
a bunch of people that are newand he hasn't played with
previously.
So, yeah, we just need to bepatient, let these guys find
their way.
Rod's got to find thecombinations.
We'll talk a little bit aboutthat in a few minutes but he's
(18:57):
got to find the combinationsthat are going to work.
We are very sure.
I think we believe stronglythat, of course, miko will team
up with Sebastian Ajo and one ofthe interesting things about
that too and I'd like to getyour thoughts on this of course,
seabass, or Sebastian as he'scalled sometimes he was most
successful with Tewo Taravainenfor a long time.
(19:24):
Okay, so the two cherubs, asthey called it, the two Finns
missing Tewo this year.
I think that's affected atdifferent times.
That's affected Sebastian aswell.
Now he's got a countryman, he'sgot a friend of his that is
again on a different level ofplay, and so he's in a situation
where he can start to, you know, maybe he can move forward from
the fact that he lost one ofhis best friends and a great
(19:46):
hockey player in table, and Ithink that's another part of
this story that's going to playout over time.
I think it's going to work outvery well for the Hurricanes.
So, again, a lot of positivethings, a lot of different side
stories here, for sure, with theaddition of Mikko and the Canes
had to add somebody like that.
We've talked a lot about thefact that you see these teams
(20:09):
out there with the.
You know McDavid and Dreisaitlor you know some of the other
combinations of Les, mckinnonand Rantanen, and thankfully
that's not there anymore.
So, yeah, I think a lot ofdifferent side stories are going
to play out, so it'll beinteresting to see how it goes.
What are our expectations forthe rest of the year for Mikko.
What do we hope he's going todo for us?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I definitely think that we need to have reasonable
expectations.
You know, he was used toplaying with McKinnon, who was
one type of center, and now he'swith Ahu, who's another type of
center.
But I don't see, I think hisproduction will be fine, I think
he'll have really goodproduction.
I think he will definitely comeclose to 100 points, if not get
(21:04):
it again.
Part of it just depends on howquickly that chemistry forms.
A lot of that will have to dowith Rantanen himself and how he
plays their game to playingwith Miko.
They cannot be playing the exactsame game with him on the wing
as they played with other guyson their wing.
This is not Roslevic, this isnot Svitch, not Jarvis.
He is his own type of playerand they need to learn how to
(21:26):
read him, and they need toelevate their games too.
You know, going back to whatwe're talking about with Aho,
aho needs to find another gearif you're going to center a
player like ranton, and you needto be playing yourself in a
higher gear, and so not onlywill I think ranton's production
be good, but anything thatperhaps he doesn't get because
(21:46):
he's not playing with mckinnonanymore will be made up for by
the added production that willcome from his line mates that
they wouldn't have otherwiseenjoyed if the trade hadn't
happened in the first place.
So overall I think it'll begreat.
I just want to make sure thatwhoever he ends up playing with,
they get as much time and asmuch runway to create chemistry
(22:07):
together so that they are redhot and ready to go once the
playoffs roll around.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Absolutely Okay.
So I agree.
And again, I think you knowhe's going to produce, you know
he is.
He's just that kind of a playerand the question is you know
who are going to be the otherfolks with him and how fast can
they ramp this up?
Now the other player in thisdeal was an interesting one and
(22:34):
apparently it turns out thatEric Tulsky really wanted this
player.
He had been talking to Chicagofor a while.
He felt like Taylor Hall wouldbe a great addition to the
Hurricanes for the playoff runthis year.
And you know the magic ofTulsky once again, in putting
this deal together, finding away to get Hall and at the same
(22:58):
time put together the deal thatwould allow him to get Mikko
Rantanen and make it work withinthe cap constraints that Eric
has had to struggle with thisentire year.
Taylor Hall is an interestingone.
With this entire year, taylorHall is an interesting one Again
.
Hall is a big player.
He's a guy that comes in, he'sa stocky player, he's extremely
(23:20):
strong.
All of a sudden now you'reseeing quite a change to the
Hurricanes.
I mean, we saw Marty Natchez,who is a tall player, but he's
not a bulky player, doesn't playa heavy game Jack Drury, of
course, again, a slight playertoo doesn't play a heavy game
Jack Drury, of course, again aslight player too and you're
bringing in two guys that aregoing to bring some real size
and going to change thelandscape of the Hurricanes in
terms of that.
Here's the scouting report fromHockey Forecaster on Taylor Hall
(23:43):
, which I think is interesting.
He still has the speed and I'lltalk about that in a minute
that helped him be the numberone overall pick in 2010.
So he was a number one overallpick.
We know that.
That's incredible.
An explosive skater and asuperb playmaker.
So this is interesting andwe'll talk about how that's
going to work with his new linemates.
(24:04):
He makes others around himbetter an opposing defenseman
miserable.
Him better an opposingdefenseman miserable.
I love that.
He's battled injuries andinconsistency throughout his
career, but he's still one ofthe most dangerous wingers when
healthy in the NHL.
So this is quite a story forhim and we look at just as I'm
(24:27):
talking about this, we look atthe NHL edge stuff, and one of
the things that really jumpedout at me and certainly when he
was healthy a couple of yearsago with the Bruins it was very
strong is his skating his topspeed, his ability to get speed
bursts and so on.
So this guy can really motorand you know he can get down low
(24:48):
and low and he looks sometimesa little bit like William
Carrier.
He can really go in and getthings done and he's a heavy
shooter as well.
So what are we thinking about?
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Taylor Hall Well, I think that one of the things
that we talked about was thatthe Canes they definitely still
needed another top six wingerand I think that, based on how
things went in the first game,it looks like there's a good
chance that Hall will be used inthat role, at least to start.
We'll see how it goes, but Iknow that the comment from the
(25:24):
JFresh hockey account was thathe's an underrated four checker,
and I found myself watchingthat very much in the game
against the Islanders becausehis four checking is really very
excellent.
So that's going to endear him toRod Brindamore, no question,
because we all know that that is, you know, one of the key
elements of the Jordan Stahlline, the line that they really
(25:44):
want every line to kind of havethat, that identity in terms of
being able to just get in on thepuck and forecheck hard and you
know, work, the cycle and allthat.
So I think that Taylor Hall isgoing to be a tremendous asset
to the team and, you know, if hecan stick on that second line,
which would be great because youknow both Svechnikov and
Kokaniemi could use to havesomebody that's going to help
(26:05):
them elevate their game in thoseareas, and Svechnikov, in
particular, being a powerforward type.
You know having a playmaker.
You said that um hall had a lotof good playmaking ability,
that that's going to be acritical element for that line
too, so it's going to beinteresting to see how it all
pans out yeah, I'm reallyexcited to see what can, um,
(26:25):
what can happen with hall.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
uh, exactly what aaron said he seems like he's
more of a prototypical RodBrindamore style player and you
know, and we need to get Svetchgoing.
I think we've talked about it onmultiple different occasions
that he hasn't quite lived up tothe billing and hasn't produced
the way that we want him to,and so the combined presence of
Hall on his line to help get himthe puck and give him those
(26:51):
scoring opportunities, as wellas having Rantanen on the team
who can perhaps tutor him alittle bit more in the finer
points of being a skilled powerforward that you don't have to
be either or you can be both,and will be huge for Svets in
the coming weeks and I'm reallylooking forward to seeing how
that impacts his game.
And Hall also seems likesomebody who really wants to be
(27:15):
a Hurricane.
He's excited for thisopportunity.
He's mentioned in interviewsbefore that he's kind of hoping
that this might be his last stop, with kind of giving that wink
and nod towards I want to dowell, I want to prove myself so
that I can get a contract thatI'm happy with to get me to what
could potentially be hisretirement years.
(27:35):
And so he comes in motivated.
He comes in with a good skillset and definitely that
heaviness.
Last post-season Brendan Mooreplayed with the lines because he
felt like lines were gettingpushed over, were too small,
getting pushed off the puck toomuch, losing those battles in
(27:57):
the corner.
Well, with Rantanen, you're notgoing to be losing those
battles.
That gives you size on thatfirst line, but then that second
line.
They're all big, strong dudeson that second line and really,
really have the opportunity toput together something that has
the physicality of stall's linebut more of a scoring upside,
(28:19):
similar to, but not equal to,the first line.
And so if they can find thatperfect blend of physicality and
a scoring touch and be thatextra threat, teams are really
going to have to consider howthey play their Hurricanes.
It's not going to be a matterof if you shut down Ajo and
Rantanen, then you're good to go.
You've taken care of the entireCarolina Hurricanes offense.
(28:43):
You have these other big boysyou have to worry about as well,
and so I really like thescoring threat that he brings to
help create a proper two-lineattack system on offense.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Yeah, a couple of comments.
I agree and I'm really excitedabout the potential of this
being a heavy line.
I mean, historically the Caneshave been really relying on
Stahl's line to do a lot of thatheavy lifting, as we know, and
a lot of other smaller players,and this is changing the
(29:17):
landscape of the Hurricanes bigtime.
And you think about teams likethe Florida Panthers and some of
the other teams that they'regoing to face that are really
heavy.
They play a heavy game All of asudden.
Now they're not going to justface one line, they're going to
face more, and I think that'sgoing to be critical for them.
A couple of things on Hall.
He's another left shot rightwinger.
(29:38):
He can play both sides, but heseems to do best on the right
side, so he's very similar toMikko Rantanen in that regard.
The other thing is, hall hasalways had pretty darn good
power play numbers as well.
So he's, a guy that and Ithought he looked good in his
first go on that second powerplay unit.
He seemed to look like he wasout there making some things
(29:58):
happen.
Eric Tulsky really wanted him.
You know that means a lot.
Yes, Because you know, eric hashandpicked the guys that have
the Canes in second overall inthe East.
That's an amazing story Afterlosing so many key players in
free agency.
It's one that we'll keeptalking about because I think
what's happening and we'reseeing it on X for sure a lot of
(30:19):
folks have finally realizedthat Eric Tulsky is an
incredible, incredible generalmanager and he's making a lot of
great moves.
And the fact that he wantedTaylor Hall this much and he
felt Hall was an ideal fit forthe Rod Grindamore you know,
style of play tells me a lot andthat gives me a good feeling
that that, uh, taylor, you knowhe, as you say, he's motivated
(30:42):
like crazy.
Uh, he's going to come in andhe's going to want to show.
You know, he was kind of againin Chicago he.
He started off fine but he kindof lost his way, and you know,
with a team that's losing a lot.
I guess it's not you know it'snot unexpected, but Now he comes
to a fresh start.
And again this guy was MVP oneyear.
(31:04):
He was a Hart Trophy winner.
I mean, he's got the pedigreefor sure and he's not so old
that he can't come in and make adifference.
I think he's got a lot ofrunway left.
You know we talked a little bitabout the fact that he
struggled through a lot ofinjuries.
He's missed a lot of games overthe last six or seven years, so
his body has not been beat upas badly, I guess, as some of
(31:25):
the other players in the league.
That's probably a good thing,and if he's healthy Now, last
year's injury was a tough one.
It was a torn ACL.
We know what that's like.
So it took him a long time tocome back from that, but he's
from my eyeballs watching him insome of the highlights of the.
Hawks, and certainly in thefirst game with the Canes.
He looks like he's skating justfine, so again excited to have
(31:51):
Taylor on board.
Now we look at this.
We've got to think about thelineup and how do we think it's
going to come together.
Erin, what do you got?
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Well, I did see the practice lines today and we're
going to see pretty much similarto what we saw in the third
period, I think, against theIslanders it's going to be, at
least if the practice lines holdfor the game, because you
always have to say that becauseyou never know, but if the
practice lines are the same asthe game lines for tomorrow
night's game.
They had Rantanen, ajo andJackson Blake on the top line I
(32:26):
don't have them in the rightorder, I'm sorry and then they
had Svetch Kokanemi and Hall onthe second, the same stall line,
martinuk Stahl and Jarvis, andthen now the third line.
Today at practice it was RileyStillman with Yuhayeska, because
(32:49):
Jack Roslevic is out sick.
So the fourth line may be alittle bit in flux because and
and you know with Eric Robinson,sorry and Yuhayeska.
So the fourth line may be alittle bit in flux because we
don't know if Roslevic's illnessis the kind of thing that he's
not going to be able to playthrough or, you know, if he's
going to be all right.
(33:09):
Now, because it's one game.
I don't see them making a callup.
If I have a feeling, if theyhave to, they'll go 11-7.
Now, that would be reallyinteresting, given that we have
two new players in the lineupand going 11-7 would mean adding
a third that hasn't played agame yet with the Canes.
So that could be an interestingscenario to keep an eye on, you
(33:32):
know for and of course by thetime this comes out we'll
already know.
But for us it's kind of funny.
I think we talked about this alittle bit.
I'm not sold and neither isKatie, I think on whether
Jackson Blake should remain onthat top line.
I think eventually you reallywant to have Seth Jarvis back up
there.
Jarvis can play on his off wingwith no problem.
He can play on the left.
(33:52):
He has played on the left ingames with the Canes.
So I don't really see thatyou're going to want one of your
top offensive producers on theteam, because he really is, you
know, playing on the third lineindefinitely.
But we all know the situationwith Will Carrier's injury and
not having an obvious fit toslot back in there.
(34:14):
They're going to be jugglingsome pieces around and trying to
decide what the best thing todo is.
I'm sure once they get home,you know going forward.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
And.
I don't know if it's somethingjust because of Blake being
currently up there, but thepractice lines had Rantanen
listed at the left wing andwhile he is a left shot, his
entire career he has played onthe right wing.
He likes to play on his offsidebecause he likes to open up for
that shot from the face-offcircle into the goal, and so I
(34:44):
don't know if putting him on theleft wing at the moment is
because of Blake or because theyjust haven't quite figured out
how they're going to usesomebody who's a left shot on
the right wing or what it is.
But I would also expect that,whatever the final lineup is
that they go with coming out ofI'm going to say coming out of
the Four Nations, I would liketo think that whatever they
(35:04):
envision for the playoffs to be,their lines will be what they
go with, starting after the FourNations face off.
I hope that they do haveRantanen back over there Now.
It could just be that he'slisted at left wing at the
moment and then when we watchhim play he'll be on the right
side of the ice most of the time.
That's that's to be determined,but that that is where you want
(35:25):
to find him yeah, I wouldn'tread anything into that.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
He'll be playing the right wing, I don't think
there's any question.
He's uh, yeah, he's, he's theright winger and that's what he
does.
Um, and, and blake was fine onthe left side, I mean he was
fine.
But I think the bigger questionis, and that's uh, I think
that's a good segue into, youknow, we think about what this
lineup might look like comingout of the Four Nations.
(35:48):
Okay, so you've got you knowthinking that we want to keep
Kokaniemi with Sveshnikov andTaylor Hall.
I think that would be kind offun if we could do that.
We know we're going to have Ahoand Rantanen as a combination.
Who should move up there.
That's going to be a questionwe can talk about.
(36:08):
And then, of course, if it'sJarvis and that's fine who's
going to replace Seth on thatline with Martinuk and Jordan
Stahl?
So kind of interestingquestions.
If Tyson Jost is healthy, ofcourse he'll come back and take
that fourth line center spot,which that's fine for now, and
we'll talk a little bit aboutsome thoughts beyond that.
(36:29):
But let's say it's Jost andyou've got, of course, eric
Robinson, who will be just fineon that fourth line.
He's a great left winger forthat line, and you've got Jack
Rostelevich.
Now is it possible?
Rostelevich moves up.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
Besides Stahl.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Yeah, or anywhere, is it possible?
He moves up off the fourth line.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
I think that is possible because I know we
haven't had a lot of samplesizes of seeing him on that
fourth line, but he hasn't beenterribly effective there and you
wouldn't really expect him tobe.
It's not his role.
He doesn't usually.
I think in Columbus there weretimes when he played at 4C,
usually for the same kind ofreasons that he's taken that
kind of spot here occasionally.
(37:13):
I think he can handle that.
Okay, it's not his again, nothis best spot.
But as a fourth line winger Ireally don't think you're
getting the best out of JackRoslevic.
So I would think that theycould try him next to Jordan
Stahl if they wanted to get.
If the idea of having Jarvisthere is to have a little bit
more scoring touch, why not?
(37:35):
Roslevic is the leading goalscorer on the team right now.
A second only to Rantanen, whohas not yet scored for who has
not yet scored for the Canes?
He's the leading goal scorer ofthe people who have been here
from day one.
So they could try that.
I don't know if Roslevic'sdefensive lapses would drive
(37:56):
that line crazy or if that wouldjust be absorbed in what Jordan
Stahl is capable of doing.
So you know that would besomething that they could try.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Katie, katie, what do you think?
That's a possibility, or Icould see, and you know you'd
have to see how it affectsthings defensively again.
They could try to put him onthe second line, and Svetch has
played with Stahl before, and sothat could work.
If you're wanting to jumpstartSvetch, though, and make him
into an offensive threat, moreso than he has been this season
(38:29):
probably not the move the Caneswant to make, but you never know
.
The other possibility would betrying somebody like Hall there
and see how he works with them,if you want to move Roslevic up,
but right now, roslevic reallyis kind of an interesting puzzle
piece on the where does he fit?
Because there's not a clear-cutrole for him right now on this
team.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Right.
Well, and that takes us intothe next part of this, which is
the Canes are going to have tomake some more moves.
We know that as we kind of headout through the four nations
and then head towards the tradedeadline, the Canes have got a
bit of a hole at center ice.
Now They've got to resolve that.
I don't see them going into theplayoffs with Tyson Jost as
(39:13):
their fourth line centerman, andI think Jack Roslevic is in a
position where we've talked alot about this.
He, at the start of the year,was a revelation I mean
incredible but he basically isplaying himself off the team.
There really isn't a spot forhim.
He's not a fourth liner and hewon't be a fourth liner going
(39:34):
into the playoffs.
I cannot imagine that to be thecase.
They need a much heavier, moreaggressive fourth line if
they're going to compete.
So he's not the right fit now.
He is in a position where theycould trade him and get
something for him.
You know, 18 goals, that's nottoo shabby.
So he definitely is in aposition of value and I think,
(39:59):
as we take a look at this andpull up some of the cap
information, we can see that theCanes could very well have.
If they put William Carrier onlong-term injured reserve and he
joins Jesper Fost, they couldend up with around 3.5 million
just under 3.5 million in capspace.
Now if they decided to tradeJack Roslevic, of course, they
(40:21):
move up over 6 million.
Now they've got some money toplay with and I think they could
very clearly shore up.
You know some of the positions.
What are we thinking about?
You know, as the Canes start tohead towards the trade deadline
, what do you think they shouldbe looking for?
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Well, like you said, I think the 4C position is
something they're going to belooking at.
I think that there's always,like we talked about before, I
think, a depth defenseman isgoing to be necessary.
William Carrier is not somebodyyou can just replace by
(41:01):
bringing somebody in, but theymight take a look at some depth
forward options that could bebetween third line and fourth
line, just in case they and thatwould.
That would really depend onCarrier's situation.
If they believe that WillCarrier will in fact be
recovered well enough to returnby the playoffs, they probably
won't look at that, but if theydon't, or if they're unsure,
(41:23):
they might bring in somebody inthat kind of spot too.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
So we'll just have to see what happens with that yeah
, exactly what aaron said depthdefenseman for sure, because we
saw with ghost out that I, Ithink, the uh talent level of
what they have.
And now, now, granted, comeplayoffs, then you might have
your black aces and stuff likethat, and I'm sure plenty of
(41:46):
Canes fans would be clamoring tosee Scott Morrow given a shot
in those circumstances.
But even then, that's a rookieand you know the types of
mistakes that rookies are proneto.
That's just natural.
I'm not sure Brenda Moore isgoing to want to risk that.
So bring in somebody who's asteady seventh defenseman.
(42:09):
I know I had postulated thatmaybe that'd be Tony D'Angelo,
but then, right after ourpodcast came out, he went and
signed with the Islanders andthat was very entertaining
watching him play against theCanes.
It figures that his first gamein his new sweater was against
the Islanders and that was veryentertaining, watching him play
against the Canes.
It figures that his first gamein his new sweater was against
the Canes.
But somebody along those lines,somebody that is going to slot
(42:34):
in there for those handful ofminutes next to whoever he needs
to in order to shore up thedefense and make the team be
able to function at a goodbubble.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
Yeah, and I think the top of the list is center ice
for sure, and you know, I wantto throw a couple of names out
as we start to contemplate whowe might see the Canes having
interest in.
There are some free agents,ufas, coming up that might be of
interest.
Nick Bukestad, of course, withUtah, he's a guy that last year
I thought the Canes wouldactually look at.
(43:06):
He's big, he's 6'6", he's over200 pounds.
Last year he had over 20 goals.
He had an excellent year forArizona, the Coyotes, last year.
He's a guy that's on a veryfriendly deal 2.1 million.
So again, the kind of playerthat could come in with size.
He can do it all.
He's a guy that could actuallymove up in the lineup if KK or
(43:29):
somebody else struggled.
So I think that would bevaluable.
Another guy that's interestingis Radek Foxa.
We know Foxa from his days,mostly in Dallas.
He's another big player, 6'3",220.
He's a guy that you know.
He's had some good seasons 15,20, not 20, but you know higher
teens.
He's on a $3.25 million deal,again, 31 years old.
(43:52):
So Fox is another guy theymight want to consider,
depending on the type of playerthey want.
In that fourth line, the otherone that I thought on the UFA
side that we'll keep an eye onas days go on, is Isaac
Lundestrom with the AnaheimDucks.
He's just 25, so he's a youngUFA.
He's on a $1.5 million deal.
He's a guy that a couple ofyears ago had 16 goals, so he's
(44:14):
again.
He can move up the lineup alittle bit.
He's very defensively.
Responsible, he kills penalties.
He does all the right kind ofthings.
Responsible he kills penalties,he does all the right kind of
things.
So I think there are players outthere and I think as the weeks
go on we'll start to hear therumor mill go If the Canes
decided they want somebody withterm.
There are some players too.
Of course.
They could go back to Vancouverand have conversations with
(44:35):
Patrick Albine and JimRutherford and they have lots of
those for a guy like DakotaJoshua.
Now, he's a guy that last lastyear 18 goals.
He's 6'3 and 205.
He's a big player.
He's on a $3.25 million dealtill 28, 29.
So a little bit longer deal buthe's a guy that could come in
and certainly give them somedepth at center.
(44:55):
The guy that I really would loveto see them go after is Kevin
Stenland, who's again with Utah.
Stenland last year was thefourth line center for the
Florida Panthers.
This guy is an ace in thefaceoff circle.
He's right now.
He's at almost 60%.
He's in the top five, I think,in the league.
So he's a right-hand shot.
He brings everything you needas a center iceman to the game.
(45:17):
So there are players out there.
I wanted to just throw somenames out to let us know that
there are some players that willbe available that could help
the Hurricanes, and I kind ofhope they go with size.
I hope they go with the rightshot as well.
They could use a nice anotherright shot centerman.
That's good in the faceoff time.
So some of these folks kind offit the bill and we'll keep an
(45:37):
eye on them.
I guess the question I would askhere as we go through all this.
I guess the question I wouldask here as we go through all
this.
Look, at the start of the yeara lot of folks were saying guess
what?
This is a transition year.
So you know we'll expect theCanes to make the playoffs.
Some folks said they didn'tthink they would.
But okay, that's fine.
But we'll expect the Canes tomake the playoffs and they'll
(45:59):
make a round or two and that'swonderful.
And next year they got Nikitian.
They're going to have tons ofroom in the cap.
You know, don't worry about it.
We're coming next year and Ifelt all along that Tom Dundon,
the owner of the Canes, is notthat kind of guy.
He definitely wants to go forit and I think this past weekend
gave us the answer to thequestion Are the Canes serious
(46:21):
about going for the cut.
Speaker 2 (46:23):
Definitely.
Speaker 3 (46:26):
Absolutely.
I think that the addition ofRantanen says that they're not
content with what they've had inthe playoffs in the past and
they're ready to take that nextstep forward.
The big question is not justgetting Rantanen situated and
settled into the Canes system,but will we see the Canes system
open up a little bit tomaximize the offense, especially
(46:50):
at the top line and even of thetop two lines?
Because the defense firstapproach has gotten them very
far.
It's gotten them into theplayoffs for six years.
It's gotten them into thesecond round.
Most of those times it hasn'tbeen able to get them further
because when it comes down towhen you're finally facing one
of the top, you know those,those last handful of the last
(47:13):
man standing teams.
You know the final four.
If you want to call it that, yougot to have some punch in your
offense.
You can't be just hoping toshut them down.
You have to be doing your workon the other side and it can't
be about opportunistic goals, itcan't be about lucky bounces,
it has to be about attack.
That was the word that we usedlast time.
(47:34):
You have a player now who ismore than capable of leading the
attack on the offense, thesystem is going to have to
evolve a little bit to allow forthat.
I think it's going to beinteresting to see how that
happens.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
I think it starts with ice time as well, Like I'm
not saying I'd rant into the ice, but part of the reason his
nickname is Moose is not justbecause he's a big guy, it's
because he is sturdy.
He likes that ice time.
He plays better when he is outthere a lot and gets lots of
touches, gets those goodopportunities and he will make
(48:14):
the most of those opportunities.
But if you are playing him 80%of the amount of time that he
has played in the past, thathe's used to, you know you don't
expect him to produce at thesame rate that he has produced
in the past.
You need to, you need to givehim that cookie.
You need to give him thosechoice moments and really off,
(48:36):
emphasize your offensiveopportunities when you've got
them.
There have been times in gameswhere there is an offensive zone
, face-off and the fourth lineis what Rod sends out there to
take the face-off.
What it's in the offensive zone?
It's in the offensive zone.
Send out your scoring line.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
There was a game where he did that four times in
a row after icings.
He kept sending the fourth lineout.
Speaker 2 (49:05):
I was like no no, put Rantanen out there.
Put Rantanen and Ajo out there.
It is an offensive zone, faceoff.
Put them out there.
If they were just out there,then put KK's line out there.
Put the scoring lines out thereon those opportunities, and
it's not.
I'm not suggesting a bigoverhaul.
I'm not suggesting that theCarolina hurricanes all of a
sudden try to become theColorado avalanche.
(49:27):
That would be, a disaster ifthey tried to do that.
That wouldn't work.
But just those little tweaks,those few extra shifts, deciding
when those shifts come,maximizing those opportunities,
giving the, you know, taking therestraints off a little bit as
far as the defensive zone isconcerned in order to open up
(49:48):
the ice.
Open up those opportunitieswill be very, very key and very
important.
And I would also like to say,because you mentioned the cap
and re-signing Rantanen, thedollar signs is not going to be
what prevents Rantanen fromsigning.
They will offer him somethingthat he will be more than
willing to accept.
I think the key for Rantanenre-signing is going to be
(50:10):
whether or not he feels like hisgame is a good fit in the
Carolina Hurricanes system.
If he feels like he's beingstifled, that he doesn't have
the opportunities that he wants,it's not going to matter that
Ajo is his buddy.
He's going to go find a teamthat's willing to give him that
ice time and those opportunitiesand pursue a championship.
(50:32):
He's not going to go sign withBuffalo or San Jose, or even
someone said he was going torevenge sign with Chicago to
play with Conor Bedard becauseof what the Avs did to him.
No, he's not going to do thatbecause they're not in a cup
window.
But he'll go find somebody elsewho is in a cup window who's
willing to give him the type ofgame and ice time he wants, and
(50:53):
he can find that in Carolina.
He can.
They just need to tweak thingsa touch in order to complement
his particular game.
Speaker 3 (51:05):
Sorry go ahead.
Oh no, I'm sorry.
I was going to say.
One of the things that mighthelp with that is that they are
now going to have a true fourthline.
They're going to be buildingone.
They're going to build one forthe playoffs and up until now,
as we know, rod Rindemore hasbeen very solid about balancing
the four lines, balancing theirice time, balancing, you know,
(51:28):
as much as he can.
Ajo's line does get the most icetime, but only by a little bit.
Stahl's line usually has thesecond most ice time, you know.
And then with both Kokuniemiand Drury, if you look at the
ice time of the centers as asort of shortcut of how much ice
time they're getting, they'vebeen about a minute apart in ice
time, you know.
So what you can't do withsomeone like Rantanen on the
(51:50):
team is do that you have to havea fourth line that comes out
there and plays their eight ornine minutes, and that's good,
because those minutes have to goto Ajo's line with Rantanen on
it.
They have to.
That's where those minutes comefrom, because there's only so
many minutes on the ice in a60-minute game for each line to
play.
You're not going to take icetime away from Jordan Stahl
because he's doing what is oneof the most important jobs on
(52:11):
the team when it comes toshutting down the other team's
top line.
So that ice time has to comefrom the fourth line.
And it goes back to what Tomwas just saying about adding a
true fourth line center, one ofthese big burly guys that you're
not looking to drive offensebut you're looking to.
You know, be that, tire out theother team for a little while,
give everybody on your team abreather, you get that going and
(52:33):
then there's no issue.
Then there's plenty of ice timefor the Rantanen-Anaho
combination to get out there anddo some damage.
Speaker 1 (52:42):
Yeah, I mean a couple of things.
First of all, we know that thestyle of play is materially
different than the avalanche.
We also know that he playedwith two of the best players in
the game regularly in CaleMcCarr and Nathan McKinnon.
So to have an expectation thathe's going to come in and do the
(53:05):
same as he did with the Canesis probably unrealistic.
Now, having said all that, Ithink the Canes are going to
look at this with a little bitof a different eye.
Certainly Rod Brendamore,because he is one of the best
players in the game.
And he has not had that before.
So he's relied on you know,Sebastian, and he's relied on
kind of a committee the rest ofthe way, but he's finally got
(53:28):
someone that's a true superstar.
And you know I'm sure that he'sgoing to have some discussions
with.
You know the powers.
That be to say they're going tobe encouraging.
Use this guy because we want tokeep him he's one of the great
players in the game and takeadvantage of him.
If he's going to get paid 13,14, whatever numbers of millions
(53:49):
next year, he's got to delivera big amount to the team.
So give him the opportunity todo that.
And the other thing I'll justsay is that in the short time we
saw the power play the othernight, I was really excited
about some of the chemistry thatwas forming with he and Shane
Gossespierre.
You know, you remember Shane,of course, had really done a lot
(54:12):
of that with Marty Natchez.
He was really one of the keyguys to get that puck to him for
those big shots.
I saw him doing the same kindof thing quite nicely with Miko
in just the first game.
They don't even know each other.
So I've got a feeling that thisis going to be huge and it
actually plays into one of thekey discussions that I think we
(54:34):
want to be thinking about.
What do the Canes have to do tobe in a position to go all the
way?
Okay, what has to happen?
What do they have to improve?
One of the big things is thepower play.
Speaker 2 (54:49):
Especially in the playoffs, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (54:54):
So if you think about where the Canes are right now
and we know they're going to bebolstering the team a little bit
how do we feel about the Canesgoing into the playoffs?
How do we feel about theirchances of winning the Stanley
Cup as we sit here today?
Speaker 3 (55:09):
They were already one of Muddy Puck's top forecasted
teams before the Rantanen trade.
You know, we were just a littlebit below, I think, vegas and,
if my memory serves, maybeFlorida, in terms of their odds.
So I'd love to see I haven'tbeen able to get back out there,
but I'd love to see wherethey've got them ranked now,
because this is huge, this is abig game changer, you know.
(55:31):
I think that, at the very least, my expectation now is that
they need to make the EasternConference final and they need
to win games.
I would love to see them makeit to the Stanley Cup final.
I think that's doable.
I don't think that's impossibleat this point, but I want to
see them.
You know, at the very leastthey have to break that curse of
(55:53):
not being able to win games inthe Eastern Conference final.
That's, that's the minimum atthis point.
What do you think, katie?
Speaker 2 (55:59):
Yeah, I agree, I think they can go real far.
Again, part of it just dependson how everything gels together
and the kind of identity thatthey play with.
I think they took that loss toFlorida a couple years ago to
heart with the physicality inthe in the Eastern conference
final, and that's part of whythey're adding bigger bodies
(56:22):
that are harder to to pusharound and get off the puck.
And so if they can, if they cantake those players and apply
that identity and if they canfind that, that chemistry on
that top line between Ajo andRantanen and Winger, wow I mean
you can't help but be excited.
I think that Freddie andKochekov will be a solid duo in
(56:46):
net.
They don't have to bespectacular.
I don't think anyone isexpecting them to come in and be
Shostakhin, but if they face aShostakhin Bobrovsky etc in the
playoffs, they need to be ableto at least hold the fort well
enough to let the that thescoring group, get their
(57:07):
opportunities and do their thingand not have to play from
behind, and I think they'reperfectly capable of of doing
that.
So I'm excited to see whathappens.
A lot of pieces have to kind offall into place, but they don't
have to wow.
If we get lucky, fall intoplace, it's a really good
likelihood that they will,provided good usage and good
planning and good coaching.
Speaker 3 (57:29):
Well, everybody's staying healthy too, and all
those things, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (57:33):
Well, I mean, it's interesting.
You know the team as it wasbuilt this year, again because
of the cap challenges that, uh,that eric faced, um, they have,
you know they've done well.
I mean, the rest of the leaguehas not been nearly as dominant
as it has in recent years, sothat's been good for them and
and even though they have anextended period of 500 hockey
(57:54):
you know, 25 games or so uh,they're still sitting in a very
strong position and I thinkthat's again the coaching that
Bryndamore does.
You know the basic assets thathe has, the guys like Slavin and
, of course, aho and others.
He's got some players that hecan really build around and I
really like your comment aboutgoaltending, katie, because
(58:14):
that's something that ultimately, if we have a healthy Freddie
Anderson and Piotr has lookedgood his last three or four
games.
And I think having Freddie,there is a great kind of an
incentive for Piotr and he's,you know, if he gets into one of
those periods where he can playlike he can, uh, and he did
(58:36):
this last year we're going tohave goaltending.
That's as good as anybody andthat's going to be key, because
one of the things we've seenthis year which is kind of
unusual is the number of odd manbreaks.
Uh, the canes have given up alot, and the other thing they
have to do we've talked aboutthis repeatedly they got to
start the game on time.
Uh, you know, we've seen somuch of this getting behind in
(58:57):
the first period and then it'sone of the best teams in the
league, I guess, to come frombehind victories.
But again, they've got to getthat going.
Again, they've got to startgetting to their game more
frequently and I think that'sbeen an interesting question why
not?
And they've got to fix that forsure if they're going to go
(59:19):
deep in the playoffs.
But anyway, lots to think about.
Any closing remarks, erin, whatdo you got for us?
Speaker 3 (59:27):
Well, I think that this is, you know, one of those
things where you look at all ofthis shaking out over know
friday and friday evening andyou realize that we are in the
eric tulsky hurricanes era.
Now this is eric tulsky, incharge, in the driver's seat.
This is his first major trade.
Um, you know he made this boldmove you can.
(59:48):
It showcases his intelligenceand also the fact that you know
he he didn't lose any prospectsin this trade.
Think about that for a second.
No prospects were moved in thistrade and, beyond that, he
ended up with slightly more capspace than when they started
this trade.
Because of how they did theHall salary retention I mean the
random salary retention andtaking on Hall's salary in full
(01:00:11):
they ended up with more capspace than they had when they
started.
How do you do that?
They ended up with more capspace than they had when they
started.
How do you do that?
Well, I mean, this is a man whohis world, you know, includes
things like, you know, dungeonsand Dragons and Six Sided Dice.
He knows what he's doing.
He knows what he's doing and hedoes it on a level that I think
(01:00:31):
we all need to kind of sit backand say, okay, this is going to
be quite a ride, because evenall the names that you mentioned
, tom, I wouldn't be surprisedif there's somebody he pulls out
of left field that we've noteven thought about.
But he was an absolutelyperfect fit.
That's the fun part, that's theexciting part, because we have
no idea what he's going to donext.
Speaker 2 (01:00:52):
And that's you know.
Welcome to Eric Tulsky'shurricanes.
To piggyback off of the Tulskything, there was one of the
avalanche reports that said thatwhen Chicago agreed to the
salary retention, they didn'tknow whose salary they were
going to be retaining.
It was so smoothly that evenChicago had no idea that this
(01:01:13):
was going to be Rantanen, and soTulsky had this arranged ahead
of time.
Maybe it was going to bePedersen, maybe it was going to
be Rantanen, and so Tulsky hadthis arranged ahead of time.
Maybe it was going to bePettersson, maybe it was going
to be Rantanen, maybe it wasgoing to be like Chicago didn't
even know who they were going tobe retaining on.
So he did a fantastic job.
And then my own personal finalthought is I'd like to highly
encourage Canes fans, at leastfor the rest of this season, to
(01:01:35):
be at least couch ColoradoAvalanche fans Go read our
marketing and Jack Drury,because I mean, they're still
our homegrown guys.
They still have a special skillset and we all as fans really
enjoyed their time with the team.
It's not like they had signed adeal and came in for a year or
two before we traded them, likehappened last year.
(01:01:57):
These are our guys, and whilethe fit might not have been
perfect especially for Natchezin the system, we still want
them to do well, we want them tobe successful, we want them to
have really great careers.
Speaker 3 (01:02:13):
And man Natchez next to McKinnon is fun to watch.
Speaker 2 (01:02:14):
Oh my gosh to McKinnon is fun to watch.
I highly recommend you guys,y'all out there in Kane's land,
watch some of the Avalanchegames coming up, because the two
of them, with their speedtogether and the way that they
process and think the game plusif you have Makar jumping in
from the backside, it is, andthat's just after two games I
can't wait to see what kind ofchemistry they develop together.
(01:02:35):
And, not to be forgotten, druryis providing something the Avs
really really need to, and aface-off guy and someone who can
be a third-line center for them.
That is how he is being playedand how they want to be
utilizing him once they figureout who his wingers are going to
be on that line.
And a lot of the Avscommentators have talked about
(01:02:59):
how he just has a grindersmentality despite his size, and
that he goes in, he fights forpucks and he's good at cutting
down angles, and how wonderfulhis defensive game is.
So, you know our guys.
You know I still I'm alwaysgoing to think of nature's and
Drury as our guys, as Canesfirst, avs second, even though
they're on the Avs now.
(01:03:20):
So go watch them, appreciatetheir game and what they're
doing too, and if the starsalign and everything goes
beautifully, here's to anAvs-Canes Stanley Cup final.
Speaker 3 (01:03:31):
Wouldn't that be something, wouldn't that?
Speaker 2 (01:03:32):
be fun.
That would be amazing, wouldn'tthat be something.
Speaker 1 (01:03:34):
Wouldn't that be fun?
That would be amazing.
Well, you know, the interestingthing about Drury and you
mentioned this is you know Jackdid a lot of the five-on-three
defensive responsibilities.
He was great in the face-offdot on the fourth line or even
when he was up on the secondline.
Those are things they've got toreplace and you know that's
going to be part of what I'msure Eric is going to be up on
(01:03:56):
the whiteboard as he likes to do, and having option A, b, c and
D as they head towards the tradedeadline.
Speaker 2 (01:04:02):
You guys will be amused, though.
One of the things a lot of theABS commentators have talked
about is how impressiveNatchez's work is in the
defensive zone.
Speaker 3 (01:04:13):
That's great to hear.
Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
Nathan McKenna made me this.
That is great to hear NathanMcKinnon maybe it is that is
great to hear yeah, the otherthing I was going to mention,
though and you said thisrightfully so not just Nathan
McKinnon.
There's a lot of other greatplayers on the on the Avalanche
team, and particularly I saw himteaming up nicely with Kael
McCart so yeah, hey, we wish, wewish, marty the best, and he
(01:04:37):
certainly did a great cane andso much fun.
And and one of the things thatwe saw instantly was that, on
the on the three on three, uh,the canes are going to have to
do some, uh, some juggling,because of course he and and
Sebastian Ajo were among thebest combinations in the circuit
.
So that's something.
We're going to have to wait andsee how that plays out, because
(01:04:57):
obviously, whoever goes inthere is not going to be the
same kind of player that Martywas.
So, anyway, things are going tochange.
Change is good and in thisparticular case, I think change
is going to be fantastic.
So, lots to look forward to.
We've got lots coming up.
We're going to be having somefun.
Lots to look forward to We'vegot lots coming up.
We're going to be having somefun when the Four Nations
(01:05:20):
Tournament comes up.
Of course, we now have threeplayers, so we've gone up 50% in
representation with the Canes,now that Miko's on board, and
during that period, we're goingto have a nice round table and
we'll talk about a lot ofdifferent things and we'll
certainly reach out to our allof our viewers and listeners for
any questions that they mayhave.
(01:05:41):
That we can tackle as well andwe'll have some fun with that.
But but as always, ladies, it'suh.
It's been great to talk aboutthis and I can't think of
anything that's more fun thantalking about picking up a
player like miko rem and also,of course, david.
So lots of excitement with theCanes.
There's never a dull moment andI'm sure that we've got lots
coming up in the weeks ahead.
(01:06:02):
So again, thanks so much forjoining and having some fun
talking hockey.
For those of you listening andwatching, of course, we really
appreciate that you're spendingtime with us.
We'd really love to hear fromyou as well.
If you have questions orcomments, please leave those
down below and we'll jump onthem just as quick as we can.
If you like this episode,please subscribe, and if you
(01:06:25):
wanna be alerted to futureepisodes of StormTracker and get
a chance to listen to more ofthese great ladies talking about
the hurricanes and sometimesthe Colorado avalanche as well,
by all means, press thesubscribe button and the bell
and you'll be alerted of anyfuture episodes when they're
available.
As always, we thank you so muchfor joining us and we'll get
(01:06:47):
together real soon right here onStormTracker.
Thank you.
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