Join the Celebration with stormTRacker: Unpacking Trades, Lineups, and Prospects!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
With the draft free agency and significant trade
activity behind us, not much ishappening in the Carolina
Hurricanes camp these days, sowe thought we'd take the
opportunity to answer yourquestions in a special
StormTracker podcast anniversaryedition.
But before we get started, Iwanted to give you a quick

(00:23):
review of the past year at StormTracker and what a year it's
been.
You know, in September 23,storm Tracker was launched as a
new podcast covering theCarolina Hurricanes, but things
took a while to get going.
But around this time last yearwe expanded the channel to
include a bunch of new teammembers.

(00:44):
Last year we expanded thechannel to include a bunch of
new team members, includinghockey savants Aaron and Katie
and, of course, our insidersNick Bass from Cane's Prospects
and Andrew Rinaldi from theCalder Times.
Over the last year we'veachieved 25,000 views and added
more than 2,000 subscribers.
We've also seen a strong growthon our audio podcast site,

(01:09):
exceeding 250 downloads for thefirst time in July Great stuff.
Of course, none of this ispossible without you, the
viewers and the listeners.
We can't thank you enough fortaking the time to join us and
support us during this journey,and I want to give a special

(01:30):
shout out to the Storm Trackerteam.
Aaron and Katie you guys havebeen amazing and to Nick and
Andrew for their awesomecontributions, making Storm
Tracker a preferred destinationfor Canes fans.
Now let's move on to the mailbagsegment.

(01:51):
Thanks so much to all of youwho have sent in questions and
be sure to stick around to theend when we announce the three
winners of Storm Trackermerchandise packs.
As expected, there's lots ofinterest in lineup decisions,
possible deals and what's itgoing to take for the Canes to

(02:14):
go ahead and win the cup thisyear.
Okay, so let's get started.
Our first question comes fromTucker Blackenship and Tucker
says is there a surprisewildcard race Metro team this
year in line with the 24-25Columbus Blue Jackets?

(02:38):
Katie, katie.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Well, the Blue Jackets definitely were a
surprise last year when it cameto the wild card and them
missing it by, I think, just onegame.
It was a race down to the wireuntil Aaron's Montreal Canadiens
stole that last spot and snuckinto the playoffs.
For this coming year, Idefinitely think the Blue

(03:03):
Jackets will be in the raceagain in the talk, but they
won't be a surprise anymore,because they were the surprise
last year.
The only teams that I would saywould be a surprise if they
make a playoff berth, would bePhiladelphia and Pittsburgh, and

(03:28):
with where those teams are atright now, I'm just not seeing
them really being in theconversation for very long this
season.
Pittsburgh has openly admittedthat they are in a rebuild and
that they are trying to dobusiness with other teams.
They seem like they're prettyintent on being in that race for
a top seed in next year's drafta top seed in next year's draft
and Philadelphia.
While they have made some movesand they have some young,

(03:49):
exciting, fun stars, I think theonly thing that they are going
to be providing next season isvibes as they try and rebuild
their team with players likeMichkov and Zgris leading the
way.
So you know, come back in acouple of seasons, and maybe
Philly will be back in theconversation, but not this year.

(04:09):
I think, though, they're justworking on building that strong
young core to make a push againfor the near future.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
Well, I think that they're not really a surprise
either, in the sense that youknow the Islanders have made the
playoffs a lot of years.
But the Islanders are goingthrough an interesting kind of
retool.
I think they could kind of bethis year's version of the
Washington Capitals, in that youknow they are finally making
some strides forward in theirfuture.
They have had an aging core fora long time Now.

(04:43):
Some of those players haveactually moved on.
There may be more moves thatthey're going to be making
during the course of the season.
They're under new management.
Everything is a little bitdifferent for the New York
Islanders this year.
So I know that that's not goingto.
You know, the Canes fans outthere that have seen the Canes
take on the Islanders in thefirst round year after year

(05:05):
after year are probably notexcited by the prospect of that
happening again.
But I do think that theIslanders are going to make a
solid push and I would not be atall surprised to see them be,
if not one of the teams that'sjust going to make it in, but at
least make that wildcard spotand get in there, even if
they're not right at the top.
So we'll see what happens.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
It's going to be an interesting year for them.
Well, one of the interestingthings we've discussed in the
past is that most of these teamshave done little to improve
during the offseason.
There hasn't been a lot ofmovement.
The free agent class, as weknow, was pretty skimpy, so
trying to get to the next leveland get into the playoffs or get
into that wildcard berth isgoing to be really tough for the

(05:49):
teams that were out.
I just don't see them improvethat much.
And I know you mentioned TrevorZegers with the Flyers.
I don't have great expectationsfor Zegers, so I'm not sure
that's going to help the Flyersa whole lot this year.
And, of course, yeah, as yousay, with the Islanders, they've
got Matthew Dersh running theship now, so he's got some work
to do, I think, to get thoseguys back in too.

(06:11):
But you're right, those are theteams that are on the bubble.
They're the ones that folkstalk about the most, and I
certainly don't see Pittsburghthis year, and I fully expect
we're going to see some moremoves with the pens.
Kyle Dubas will continue to tryto build his opportunity for
the future with prospects anddraft picks.
So, yeah, I think it's going tobe status quo pretty well this

(06:34):
year and we'll see how thatplays out as well.
Good stuff, okay.
Second question was from Ericunderscore K8.
And Eric asked the questionwhich top prospect are you most
excited about from the 25 draftand who is someone you hope to
see get a call up sometime thisseason?
So what have we got, erin?

Speaker 3 (06:57):
Well, from this draft .
I mean, let's be honest, thiswas not the most vibrant draft
class in terms of, you know,having really great players all
the way down into the second andthird round draft class, in
terms of, you know, havingreally great players all the way
down into the second and thirdround and the Canes, as usual,
traded their first round draftpick.
So but, having said that, thereare some really intriguing
prospects, and I think I'veprobably mentioned this before,
but I think the one that I'm themost intrigued by is the

(07:17):
overager, charlie Serrato, who'splaying in Maine this year.
The intriguing thing for Seratois he's going to be playing
with Gavin McKenna, who iswidely expected to be the first
overall draft pick next year,and then he's also probably
going to be playing with BradleyNadeau's brother, josh, who is
in Maine as well.
So that's going to give, Ithink, serato some opportunity

(07:40):
to really, you know, put up somegood numbers and, you know,
kind of be involved in a lot ofthat offense that that team is
going to create.
And that kind of thingdefinitely helps players to not
just to build that you knowpost-draft resume, so to speak,
but also to gain the confidencethat they need coming into.
You know the professional ranksand so I think that's just

(08:03):
going to help Serato's chancesof, you know, maybe coming into
the Wolves and then from therepossibly even eventually making
the Kings roster.
We're talking, you know, downthe line, but that's what I see.
As far as call-ups for theseason, I think we're all very
hopeful that Bradley Nadeau willget a chance to come in and
play.
But leaving that aside becausethat's the obvious answer I

(08:25):
really personally enjoyed seeingJuha Jaska play last year when
he came in.
He is so much of a Brenda Mooreplayer.
It's just work, work, work,every shift.
He's an exciting and fun guy towatch in that sense, and even
though he's not the biggest guyin the world, he doesn't back
down, he's very physical.
I would have absolutely noproblems with a Yaska call-up if

(08:46):
it happens, and I'm pretty sureit probably will at some point
along the way.
So that's me.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
Katie Of this year's draft class.
I'm very intrigued by Ryabkin.
It sounds like he has a lot oftools but he's still somewhat
raw.
But if you have the tools andyou have a system that's willing
to work with you and willing tohelp develop those tools, then
being part of the Canes could bereally beneficial for him, and

(09:17):
the fact that he is already overin North America is helpful as
well.
So I think he's the one thatI'm kind of intrigued by as far
as how the Canes can work withhim and help him get back on
track with the areas where he'sstruggled a little bit and then
develop those tools that he hasand possibly find some offense

(09:38):
and other contributions that hecould make to the team.
As far as the call-up for thisseason, there were a lot of
call-ups last year at the endwhen we had, when we were
arresting some players and we'dalready established what our
seating was going to be in theplayoffs.
But one guy that wasn't part ofthat that I would like to see

(09:58):
is Legault.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Ah, true, I'd like to see.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
Legault, yes, with his size and with his reach and
with being more in the style ofa defensive defenseman, that is
something that perhaps otherthan Slavin and Chatfield they
don't have so much.
It'll be interesting to see howMiller develops and Nikitian
develops and what kind of stylethey end up providing for the
Canes.

(10:21):
But having somebody likeLegault, who would be most
likely a third pairingdefenseman, but someone who
would be there to be a shutdown,to eat minutes, to take up
space on the ice, I'd love to beable to see what he is able to
do at the NHL level, even if itis those last couple of games at
the end of the season wherehe's just munching some minutes
so that somebody else can sitand relax and take a breather

(10:46):
before the playoffs start.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yeah, well, I mean you mentioned some great players
.
I mean Charlie Serrato was thetop rookie scorer in the Big Ten
last year, so he's a guy thatcan put up points, but he's no
more for his 200-foot game, sohe's a guy that I think would
fit the Brendamore style Reapkininteresting thing on Reapkin he

(11:08):
was rated so highly.
It's incredible.
Bob McKenzie had him at 19,.
Mckean's had him at 26, dauberhad him at 11, smotscouting had
him at five.
I mean he was at one point, wasdefinitely a first rounder, and
he kind of struggled the firsthalf of the season and then he

(11:28):
ended up going to Muskegon, asyou mentioned.
Kd went to the USHL and he toreit up.
He had 19 goals in 27 games.
The deal on Ryabkin is he's anincredible offensive talent, no
question.
But he's got to get his gamerounded out.
And he's got to get his gamerounded out and he's got to get
his attitude right.
So he's got to come in and, asyou said rightfully, he's got to

(11:50):
get, uh, get some of that kindof hurricanes style and form and
and uh, and you know theattention that he'll get north
america is brilliant.
I mean he's going to be righthere where you know he can spend
time with a lot of the folksthat get out and and do that
with the prospects.
So I'm excited about reapkin.
You know he can spend time witha lot of the folks that get out
and do that with the prospects,so I'm excited about Ryabkin.
You know, for me Semyon Prolovis another guy that I thought in

(12:13):
the draft was a bit of a steal.
He was rated second by CentralScouting, nhl Central Scouting
for international goaltenders,and there were several good ones
.
But he's a guy again.
He's 6'3", he's just about 200pounds.
He's a good-sized guy.
He's got tremendous lateralmovement.
He's quick.
He's a player that you know alot of folks think very, very

(12:38):
highly of him.
I remember we talked aboutCorey Promen talking about him
last time and he was extremelypositive about the talent that
this young man has and where heis in his career.
So he's another guy that wewant to keep an eye on and we
know we've got Ruslan Kazeev inChicago as well.
That's going to be fun thisyear and he'll get some more
playing time.
So great young Russiangoaltenders, certainly in the

(13:00):
mix Players coming up hey forsure Bradleyley.
You know I feel great aboutbradley nadeau.
Uh, you know when you talkabout uh.
One thing I'll mention aboutcharles alexis the goal he's a
right shot defender and that ishuge, because, again, you know
that, uh, with the canes we're alittle bit skimpy on the right
side right now.
So, uh, he's a guy that coulddefinitely, you know, find a way

(13:24):
into the lineup at some pointand he brings, as you say, size
and tough.
So he's a guy that coulddefinitely, you know, find a way
into the lineup at some pointand he brings, as you say, size
and toughness, and he's roundingout his offensive game.
But the other guy that I reallylike is Dominic Fensori.
Okay, so I'm a big fan of Dom.
He signed on again this year toplay in Chicago.
Not a big player, but boy, Ithought when he was up with the
Canes and you talked about thistoo, erin when he was up with

(13:47):
the Canes he distinguishedhimself, he looked great, and so
I hope Dom gets up this yearbecause I'd like to see him
again.
He really moves the puckbeautifully out of his zone and
he sees the ice extremely well.
So lots of good players to talkabout, and I'm sure there's
more Yaska.
We love Yaska, and we'll evensee Tyson Joseph from time to
time as well if he's down inChicago.

(14:08):
So, yeah, lots, lots to beexcited about with the prospect
crew for sure.
So now we move on to an areathat a lot of folks really were
interested in, which was talkingabout trade.
You know we've this.
We've had so many discussionsgoing on, as you know.
How do we, how do we spend therest of our money?

(14:28):
And you know what's happeningon the 2C and are we getting a
right shot defense?
Well, we've actually talkedabout all these things in the
past, but we did have a numberof questions, and let's get
started with one from Brian Ford.
And Brian says realistically,if a trade happens, who is it,
what are the pieces and bestguess?
Okay, and I'll bring in anotherone at the same time, and I

(14:51):
think we can probably touch bothof these, and it's from Canes
and Dogs.
He says with nearly 10 millionin cap space, do you think
there's another trade out therethat folks are going to be
talking about, like a largerscoring forward that can finish,
or maybe a right-handdefenseman?
Okay, so we've got some moneyWe've got questions about are

(15:12):
there more deals with Eric thissummer?
Who wants to kick it off?

Speaker 3 (15:17):
I will Okay, because I think that the answer to this
question for right now is verydifferent from the answer.
If they hold on to that moneyand spend it later and to me
there's probably about a 75 to90 percent chance that they're
going to hold on and spend itlater and that they're not going
to make another big trade thissummer because that would
require somebody to becomeavailable that's really worth

(15:39):
going all in on.
Yes, the one exception to thisbecause it's been around and the
conversations have beenswirling.
We've heard the discussions onX, we've heard the discussions
from analysts about what thisteam is up against, and that is
if the Dallas Stars decide thatthey absolutely cannot afford to
re-sign Jason Robertson Ibelieve it's next season when

(16:01):
he's coming due and if theydecide that they're going to go
ahead and make that deal now,then I think that the Carolina
Hurricanes are uniquely suitedto obtain Robertson because we
have Dallas' two draft picks forthe next two drafts.
We have their two first-rounddraft picks.
If they want those firsts backand it's going to be a big draft

(16:25):
class, even if they're lowpicks, sometimes that can be
leveraged a couple of lower onesfor a higher one.
You might hang on to the lowerones because there's probably
going to be value throughoutthat first round, the way that
the draft class is shaping up.
So, or they might want thosepicks in order to make a deal
for a player that they reallyneed in their lineup, because
Dallas needs defense.
So if they decide that they'regoing to trade Jason Robertson,

(16:49):
I think the Canes would be theirpartner in that trade.
I think that what they would belooking for would be primarily
the draft capital.
I think that they would perhapsexpect a prospect to be thrown
in along with that.
I don't see them wanting aroster player, which is another
reason right now why that tradewould make sense for the Canes,

(17:10):
because, even though the Caneswould have then a few too many
wingers and might have to make asubsequent move, the Canes are
not looking to get rid ofsomebody who's slotted to start
in the lineup right now.
That's not something they haveto do.
We don't need to shed cap.
We don't need to shed cap.
We don't need to get rid ofsomebody.
We don't need to move somebody.
Other teams would be asking theStars to take on a contract,

(17:32):
and that's the whole reason theywould want to move Robertson is
because of their cap spacesituation.
So to me, that's the no-brainer.
That's the trade.
If there was going to be a youknow knock your socks off trade
before opening night, it wouldbe something involving Jason
Roberts.
If it doesn't happen, there's alot of other stuff that could
happen during the season yeah,and we'll talk about.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
We'll talk about that , yeah yep, I would agree.

Speaker 2 (17:57):
Um, I don't think the canes can send both picks back
because with the deal withmiller, it was whichever is the
better of the two between.
So that's tied up, yep but thething that you have to keep in
mind is dallas also made theirstop 10 protected and so their
their top picks.
They cannot trade for 2026,2027, 2028, or 2029.

(18:20):
All four of those picks arecurrently tied up because of
that deal with Carolina.
So I don't know if there's anagreement they can make with New
York that says, yeah, we'llaccept Carolina's pick
regardless of what happens, sothat Dallas can get their pick
back, but they definitely havethe 2028 pick that they could
use.
I'm also going I'm going todisagree with you a little bit.
I think that, because of thecap situation and because of

(18:44):
having too many wingers,carolina would send Jackson
Blake back in the deal, becauseBlake is on and he is on an ELC.
It's a low cap hit right now.
And so it would not hurt theircap issues too much.
So it opened up that rosterspace to slide Robertson in and
it would send somebody back,which you know I know a lot of

(19:05):
people don't like talking aboutMika Rantanen these days, but if
there was one player that MikaRantanen got along with well and
was about to get physical overwhen he was mistreated, it was
Jackson Blake.
And so there's.
It just makes a lot of sensethat blake would have some, some
opportunities to be impactfulfor the stars not too impactful,

(19:27):
because you know I don't needthe stars to win but at the same
time it makes sense that hecould, he could work over there.
So I agree.
But I do agree with you andthat the hurricanes are situated
in a position to where theycould really help out the stars
with with the cap.
If the stars decide to moverobertson and of course the
stars would want to send robert,just like the abs wanted to

(19:49):
send miko away from them to theeastern conference the stars
would want to do the same thingsend robertson over to the
eastern conference, get him outof the way, and the canes would
be.
He'd probably more be moreagreeable to spending long term
with the canes than miko was.
So, um, that would definitelybe there.
As far as in the season, I dosee if they don't get someone

(20:12):
like robertson, they'll bewaiting around to see which
teams have fallen out of theplayoff race early.
Who has become available afterthat.
The rumors are going to swirlover Patterson with Vancouver.
Again.
They're going to swirl allaround five different players on
the Sabres, because that'salways what happens with the
Sabres, we're going to pick thisup in a minute because I think

(20:34):
we have a couple of questionsrelated specifically to the
trade deadline as well, katie,so we can yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:40):
And I want to just jump in here really quick and
thank you, katie, for correctingme on that I have in my notes
that we would give them, thatthe Canes would give them one of
their firsts plus Dallas firsts, because they have two firsts
to work with.
There is rumors about those twofirsts being offered and I just
forgot that it was not bothDallas's, it was one of ours and
one of Dallas's.
But yeah, very few teams couldoffer two first-round draft

(21:05):
picks for Robertson right now orwould be in a position that
they would want to.
And that's especially with thedraft.
A lot of the teams that wouldwant Robertson would be some of
your teams that are rebuilding.
Well, those teams are going tohave pretty high draft picks in
the first round.
They're not going to want togive those up.
So the Canes can give up a 25th, 26th round, whatever pick,
with no problem at all.

(21:26):
So thanks for correcting me.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yeah and for sure, yeah, we'll definitely get into
some interesting discussionabout what happens towards the
deadline.
And you know I think you've setit up right too, aaron on that
side, saying that it's unlikelythey're going to spend much
money now and they could be in aposition to take advantage of
that.
A couple of quick points.
I mean, robertson is a guy thatthe Canes have been rumored

(21:52):
interested in for a long time,so it wouldn't be surprising if
they're in the conversation.
And one of the things we'velearned is, in the last three
years I mean, or two and a halfyears the Canes have really been
involved in every significantdeal and, in fact, have won a
number of them.
So it wouldn't be a shock ifthey went in and were able to

(22:12):
put a deal together.
And, having done a dealpreviously with Dallas, there's
a comfort with the two teams asto you know what's going to
happen, and I think both of themare comfortable with a win-win
situation.
I mean, dallas is happy becausethey've got Rantanen, and the
Canes are pretty happy aboutwhat they ended up with as well.
So I think they're definitelythe kind of partners you want.

(22:33):
And boy would Robertson be anincredible add.
I mean, here's a guy that's had240 goal season and a 35 goal

(22:55):
season.
Would you like to add that toyour roster Along with Ehlers
this year?
It would be insane.
So yeah, that's one.
We'll just hang on and see howit goes.
But I don't think much is goingto happen before training camp.
And you know a lot of folkshave talked about this defensive
side.
You know, we've heard aboutCarlson, we've heard about
Rasmus Andersen as two guys thatare out there and boy, they'd
be great right-hand shots andthey could play with Slavin and
he can help anybody perform.
Well, I guess that's the word.
I just don't see it.
And I think that's another movethat could happen later on.

(23:16):
If it's going to happen mostlybecause of injury or because of,
you know, maybe Nikitian needsa little bit longer to kind of
find his way or whatever, andthey want to get another veteran
out there and so they couldlook at those guys.
They could look at Adim andSeverson, you know, who might be
available at some point as well.
So there's players out therethat they could look at
right-hand shot guys, that theycould look at right-hand shot
guys that they could bring in.

(23:37):
But I don't like you guys.
I don't see a lot happeningright now and I think Eric's on
vacation.
He's probably I don't knowwhere he is, but he's probably
resting somewhere and thinking.
The last thing I want to talkabout is hockey and trades right
now.
So now to move on, katie, toyour part, and I'll hand it over
to you quickly because you'reoff on a good start with it.

(23:57):
Um is a couple of questions.
One from x cody.
I think we see a healthyportion of teams finally abandon
their attempts to get betterand see a surge in players
become available at the tradedeadline.
So he's kind of talking aboutwhere we were thinking there'll
be some teams slipping outavailable and he says what
players would the podcast liketo see Tulsky go after, if any?

(24:19):
Okay, and then let's add Canesand Dog's comment, and his
question was who do you thinkwill be the Canes 2C come trade
deadline?
If a new acquisition?
Who would top candidates underand over 28, 29 years of age be
of interest?
So again, talking about thedeadline, who might we go after?

(24:44):
Would we fix the 2C?
What might be on the agenda?
And, katie, you can kick thisone off.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
Well, I'm going to break a lot of Canes fans'
hearts, even if they're terrible.
Buffalo is not trading TageThompson.
It's not happening.
He is their their franchiseplayer.
He is the cornerstone towhatever plans they have moving
forward.
They might trade the other 19players on the team, but they
are not trading tage thompson.

(25:13):
The one player there, though,that I would be interested in,
perhaps, is whether or not he ishaving a good season.
There have been reports thathe's been less than happy with
how the things not justgenerally have been run.
He is big, he's physical, butnot in a way that suits the
Canes play style.
He can score goals.

(25:48):
He would make a lot of sense onthe team for whatever package
of picks or players or prospectsthat they put together.
I guess he's the one that kindof comes to mind.
I have my dream scenario, ofcourse, of Dylan Larkin as the
2C, because I think he fits thecanes, but, as Aaron has pointed

(26:10):
out multiple times, and verycorrectly, they are celebrating
their 100th anniversary, and sothe last thing they are going to
do is to trade their captainand star player in such a big
and important year.
So we might have to hold off onthe Larkin wish casting for a
while now, as I don't know aboutthe over under on age for the

(26:32):
2C, but over for sure for acouple of years as a bridge.
What can I say?
I, like my former Avs players,I'm a big Cadre proponent.
If he were to agree most of thereports say that he wants to
stay in Canada, go to Montrealor Toronto or someplace like
that but if he can be convincedof the vision of what we have

(26:54):
going on in Carolina and theopportunities and how close
we've gotten before and the waythat he can help push the Canes
over the finish line, as it were, I think he brings the right
amount of grit, the right amountof leadership.
He has enough defense in hisgame to make Rod happy.
He's a veteran, which wouldalso mean that Rod would be more

(27:14):
likely to trust him over ayoung gun.
So, kadri, it would be my choicefor a trade target for 2C.
We'll see how the Flames do.
They were kind of like the BlueJackets and they were in the
hunt for a very long time in theWestern Conference and so as
long as they stay in the hunt,they're not going to be partying
with any of their key players,like Kadri, but if they hit a

(27:36):
run of bad luck and it lookslike they're not going to be
making it, they might move onfrom his contract and start
focusing on their young guns.
Agreed.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
Erin.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
I think that you know , like you said, we've discussed
this plenty of times on thepodcast as far as, like, who
candidates would be if they'regoing to go after a 2C.
Now one position that wehaven't talked about, that they
could be keeping their eye and Ithink they're going to be
keeping their eye on all year,but especially if the trade
deadline is goaltending ifsomebody was to come up.
So you know that's a differentdiscussion.

(28:11):
We'll get into that right thisminute.
But looking at the 2Cs, I knowthat we've talked about some of
these guys out there and I knowthat you've talked specifically
about people like Zaka orMonahan Sean Monahan the
question is the availability.
Kadri is always an interestingone.
We've talked about Kadri beforea few times too.
I don't know that he wouldwaive his no trade clause to

(28:35):
come to Carolina.
It will expire after this yearand after, you know, by, I guess
, the July 1st date next year.
So that is a time when Carolinamight, if they're still looking
for.
But then, of course, he will be35 years old by that point.
So that's another question.
Would they want to make a trade?
Because he would still be undercontract?
They would have to be a trade.

(28:55):
They're not going to be signinga free agent Because he would
still be under contract, theywould have to be a trade.
They're not going to be signinga free agent.
So I don't know if I see thatbeing their move, given some of
the other moves they've made interms of players that are
reaching that age level.
Now, I know this is going tocome out of left field and
nowhere.
But one team that I think isnot necessarily on our radar
because it's not an East Coastteam and East Coast team, but a

(29:21):
team that may be facing therealities of a rebuild sooner
than they think they will, orsooner than many fans think they
will, is the LA Kings.
The Kings are in a positionwhere they have an aging center
core.
They do have Quentin Byfield.
He's their young guy and he'scertainly very promising.
But with that they have Kopitar, they have Deneau.
You know, I could see aninteresting kind of situation if

(29:42):
the Canes decided that theywanted to do this.
I could see them perhaps makingan offer for Philippe Deneau
because he fits the style ofcenterman that the Canes have
had for so long in Jordan Stahl.
It would be an unusualsituation.
I don't know, I have no idea ifthe Kings would be willing to
move Deneau for a younger center, but it's possible that they

(30:04):
would.
So that's a weird out of leftfield.
But I was trying to think ofplayers that fit, because that's
something Eric Tulsky has beenvery vocal about is they want
players who fit Rod's style ofplay and who can play the right
way.
I can't think of a center inthe league of that, in that age
group, in the veteran center agegroup, who plays the right way,

(30:25):
rod Brindamore's way more thanPhilippe Deneau does.
So that's a target we haven'ttalked about.
I don't know that they wouldconsider him a target and, like
I said, I have no idea if theKings are at that point yet
where they're willing to say,like I said, I have no idea if
the Kings are at that point yetwhere they're willing to say you
know what we're going to haveto.
But, depending on where theyare, by Thanksgiving they may be
looking at those realities.
So it would be very interestingto see if any players from the

(30:46):
Kings were to shake loose.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
Well, of course, when you talk about you know,
veteran players being available.
I mean, obviously you know I'mnot so sure they're going to
want to do that, but you mighthave players like Gino Malkin
and Sidney Crosby coming out ofPittsburgh.
I know that sounds insane, butwhat if that happened?

(31:10):
Would the Canes get in the mix?
For Sidney Crosby, that'd besomething to really get excited
about and certainly would be anunusual situation at the least
and I know we keep hearing hewants to finish his career there
.
But who knows, as the seasongoes on, it might change.
A couple of things I want tothrow out.
I've talked about them beforeElias Lindholm and Pavel Zaka.

(31:32):
If the Bruins are out of theplayoffs, which I think they
will be this year, I fullyexpect those guys will be
available.
We know what we're getting in.
Lindholm, of course he had beenhere before.
He struggled the last couple ofyears he's had a 47-44 point
season.
But he's a defensivelyresponsible guy.
He's outstanding in the faceoff.
He's been greater than 55% thelast three years.

(31:55):
Here's a guy that right shot.
He would fit like a glove, noquestion.
So I think he's going to be onthe radar.
Zaka's a bigger player.
He's a little bit younger.
He's at 28.
Lindholm was 30.
Zaka's a.
He's a solid player at 6'3 and205, so he's a guy that's going

(32:16):
to come in and he can play asolid, heavy game for you.
And he's very solid in the faceoff dot as well and he's had
some 50 point seasons.
Both of these guys I thinkeither one would be a nice
addition to the Hurricanes.
So let's keep an eye on theBruins as, as those things come
together.
You mentioned Sean Monahan.
You know he's struggled withinjuries for a lot of his career

(32:36):
but the last few seasons he'sbeen really solid and he's again
, a guy that's great in theface-off dot.
He's a veteran that brings itall.
He's great on the power play.
I'd be happy to get Monahan.
So he's a guy that again,depending on what happens with
Columbus, he might be availablefor sure and rounding it out.
And that's back to the Islanders.
And rounding it out and that'sback to the Islanders from my

(32:58):
side is Bo Horvat.
We haven't talked a lot aboutBo, but you know, if the
Islanders get in a situationwhere they really have to retool
, he's a guy they can move out.
He's a 30-year-old guy.
Seven seasons over 50 points.
He's great in the face-off dot.
He's been over 56% the lastfour years.
This is a heck of a player andboy, he'd fit the Canes well.

(33:21):
So there's players out therefor sure.
We know they're out there andit's very likely that whoever
Eric acquires is not going to beon the radar.
So we might be wrong, unlessit's to them, unless it's to
them.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
There you go, so we might be wrong.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
And you know how Eric is with his moves and catching
us off guard for sure, but yeah,but those are some names and I
think we've covered some goodones that could certainly come
in and would definitelystrengthen the Canes at that
center spot, because whatevermove they make, if it's one of
these players, they could moveinto that two or three C

(33:58):
whatever you want to call it,and that would allow them to
move Kokenyemi down to that fourC spot.
So, again, strengthening up theoverall context of the hockey
team.
So good stuff.
Okay Now you mentioned thegoaltending side, which is nice.
A good segue as well, aaron.
You mentioned the goaltendingside, which is nice.
A good segue as well, aaron.
Caleb Herrera had a question.

(34:19):
He said what are the realisticexpectations for Kochenkov this
season, with Freddie's contractexpiring after this year?
Is this the season for Piotr toprove he can be the starter?
And if not, what does theorganization do if he isn't able
to take the next step?
So why don't you kick that oneoff, katie?

(34:42):
You've got some thoughts onKochenkov, I know, so I'll hand
this one off to you.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, technically, I think last season was the season
that Kochenkov should haveshown that he was ready to take
the starter's role, and it justdidn't quite happen.
You felt like he'd have acouple of games and then it'd
fall off, and then he'd havethree more games and it wasn't
quite there.
He had another concussion thathe had to battle through.

(35:08):
So this season is going to bereally big.
It's going to be the seasonwhere he has to step up and show
out.
I think that Brendan Moore isgoing to start up the season
like he has before with theplatoon.
It'll be Freddie for the firstgame and then Piotr, and then
back and forth, back and forth,as long as they can both stay
healthy.
And then that's the bigquestion is if they stay healthy

(35:29):
and they're both playing well,do you change anything?
If you don't change anything,he's not really going to have an
opportunity to say yes, I'm thestarter.
But he does need to show thatconsistency.
He does need to have a savepercentage that is above 900.
He needs to have a goalsagainst's good on the high

(35:50):
danger stuff.
He's athletic, he has goodreflexes, but he needs to have
the positioning and the needs tobe dialed in enough for those
soft goals that he,unfortunately, has become known
for, those medium danger shotsthat he should be stopping on a

(36:14):
consistent basis.
So I think it's there.
I think he's there.
I think he's going to have theopportunity.
It all depends also on how longFreddie lasts.
Can Freddie get through anentire season?
If he can't, was Piotr going tobe there to pick up the mantle
of responsibility?
I certainly hope that thatdoesn't happen with Freddie, but

(36:35):
if it does, that Piotr's alittle bit more prepared this
time to take the burden onhimself and run with it.

Speaker 3 (36:44):
I agree with you, katie, and I think that one of
the things that is really goingto help us to see Kochetkov at
his best is the improvementsthat the Canes have made on
defense.
Just in, you know, I'm not thebiggest for looking at defensive
statistics but I dooccasionally, you know, listen

(37:06):
to people who do.
Yeah, I don't think peoplerealized how much of a
detrimental effect some of thesoftness and weakness in the
Canes team defense, andespecially coming from the
defensive core, had.
Last season.
It was not Canes defense, itwas still better than the
average because, you know, wehave a great defensive coach and

(37:28):
we have great players, you know.
But there were a lot of weakspots and there were a lot of
the situations where you knowyou've got, you're trying to get
the puck out of the zone andsomebody you know I'm not going
to name names they've moved on.
There's more than one.

(37:49):
Let's just say Somebody wouldgive up a really weak giveaway,
you know, and those are.
I think those are the kinds ofshots that Piotr has had an
unfortunate tendency to let goby, because when you're used to
your defenseman being able tosmother those opportunities all
the time and then all of asudden, they just don't.

(38:09):
That's a different way that thegame is suddenly being played
in front of you.
Now I'm not taking thatresponsibility away from
Kuchekov.
He still has to make thosesaves when they happen, when
those turnovers happen within afew feet of the net, and you
have to be on your toes and beable to get that.
But I think that improving thedefensive core is going to make
it easier for Kuchetkov to riseto the occasion and shine and

(38:32):
make those saves, because he'snot going to be seeing them so
frequently.
Those kinds of opportunitiesgiven up so frequently.
The Canes not going to beseeing them so frequently.
Those kinds of opportunitiesgiven up so frequently.
The Canes are going to be doinga better job this year.
I really believe that of notallowing those chances to
develop like that in the firstplace.
So that, I think, is going tohelp.
And then I think the other thingwith Kachekov is just, you know
, I love that he's putting a lotof things out there on

(38:59):
Instagram about his gear and thestuff that he's doing.
I don't know if you've seensome of that, katie, it's been
really cute.
But this is a player who isvery much dialed into what he
needs to do his job well andwhat he wants to improve on and
how he's going to improve.
So I think when you have thatmindset and that attitude, you
know good things are going tohappen.
He's going to, he's going toput in the work and he's going
to.
He's going to do it to, and andto me the bigger question is

(39:20):
just, you know, because we allknow that, uh, freddie is a
great, great goalie when he'shealthy.
So the all the question is thesame when it's been for the last
several years is can he stayhealthy for the season and
especially, can he stay healthyfor the playoffs, when he's most
needed?
So that will be where we'll hitthe trade deadline and we may
be going in for a goaltendermore than we care about to see

(39:41):
by that point.
We don't know.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
So for sure.
And don't forget, the Caneshave two number three goalies
under contract.
We have Caden Cremo, who youknow.
Here's a guy that a lot offolks think he can be a player,
so we're not sure what's goingto happen with Caden.
He could step up and be afactor.
We've got Amir Miptakav.

(40:05):
Maybe he's going to get afriendship with Piotr and that's
going to help Piotr as well.
In any case, you know there'soptions for the Canes, but I
kind of agree with you on thistoo, aaron, that as they get to
the deadline, and certainlyheading into next year, they're
going to have to bolstergoaltending.
I think they're going to haveto pick up another guy, because

(40:29):
Freddie's very likely going tomove on in any case, and you
know they've got to startlooking at what's available.
And you know, if you look atthe unrestricted free agents,
you've got some interesting ones.
And you know, if you look atthe unrestricted free agents,
you've got some interesting ones.
I mean Philip Gustafson withthe Wild.
He's a guy you could try topick up.
He's 29 years old.
He's got a career 9-2-3 savepercentage.
He's a good goaltender.
He would be a great one toacquire Ilya Sorokin.

(40:52):
If the Islanders decide they'regoing to fall on their sword
and change things up a littlebit.
Maybe we get Sorokin and Horvat, but Sorokin is another one.
He's got an excellent 9, 17, 8%for his career and he's a guy
that again just 29 years old.
So if the Canes decide thatthey're going to shore up the

(41:13):
goaltending, my feeling is itcould very well happen at the
deadline and again, depending onwhere Freddie is and what's
happening with Piotr.
But I don't see them going intothe playoffs this year with
concerns about goaltending.
I'd be very, very surprised.
So, yeah, a lot can happenthere.
Like both of you, I'm lookingforward to Piotr kind of taking

(41:35):
the mantle and running with it.
He's shown Remember that periodI think it was four or five
games he was absolutely lightsout like ridiculous numbers and
he had a stretch where he wasone of the top goaltenders in
the National Hockey League.
And I think what he needs to donow is he's got to find that
consistency.
But he's definitely got thetalent.

(41:57):
He's one of the best at makinghigh-danger saves, so we know
all that and sometimes he losesfocus before he comes out and
tries to make a play that heshouldn't be making at the blue
line.
But anyway, yeah, lots toconsider with the goaltending
and again, we'll follow and seehow it plays out.
Now, the interesting thing thisyear too.

(42:18):
Of course, freddie will be atthe Olympics with Nikolaj Ehlers
, both representing Denmark, sowe'll see how that plays out.
We'll hope that, you know, ifhe goes over there he has a good
run and comes back ready to runthrough the playoffs.
So good stuff.
Okay, let's move on to our nextquestion, this one from X Cody

(42:42):
again, and he sent in a numberof questions which I think are
great.
An extremely concerningsituation is looming soon, with
stall about to age out.
We all remember the horror ofseeing Rod's body fail on them
all within one season.
So he's talking about RodBrindamore.
Well, I'm sure GMAT is givingit thought it would be the

(43:04):
biggest, if not bigger, losssince Gensel by far.
Are there any players out therethat the pod could see
semi-filling Jordan's role?
Okay, who wants to take thisone?

Speaker 3 (43:19):
I can.
I can start if you want.
I love this question actually,because one of the things I have
continued to talk about onTwitter and with fans is the
concept of age-relatedregression and how it impacts
players.
We discussed it a lot in termsof Brett Burns last year.
We've discussed it in, you know, context of other players.

(43:41):
Maybe that when we look at aplayer who's a target for the
Canes, well, are they really?
Because, after all, they'realready reaching this age?
But so I love that the thinkingis there.
They're thinking proactivelyabout what do we do as players
hit that point, because allplayers sooner or later will and
you know it can happen anytime,as early as the age 32 season

(44:01):
all the way up into guys likeStahl that keep going past, you
know, 35, 36, 37.
Jordan Stahl will be 38 at thebeginning of this season.
I think that there's a goodchance that he has another good
year.
Burns certainly did and we haveanother guy that is just as
committed to putting in the workand having that, you know,
especially in the gym.
I don't think there's any majorconcerns about Stahl having an

(44:25):
issue this season.
Anything can happen, but Idon't think it would.
But down the line age 39 season, age 40 season.
Somewhere in there you're goingto see a Jordan Stahl who
cannot continue to play as heavya style in the number of
minutes that he plays, and hisminutes have actually already
been reduced over the last threeseasons.
He went from 18 minutes fourseasons ago to 16 three seasons

(44:50):
ago and then these last twoseasons have been around 15 and
a half.
So they're aware that this ishappening.
This is not something that'sgoing to catch them by surprise.
So they're aware that this ishappening.

(45:20):
This is not something that'sgoing to catch them by surprise.
For me, I think that the mostlikely candidate to step into
Jordan Stahl's role if not hisshoes, because a member of the
Carolina Hurricanes If theytrade Kokuniemi, they will be
bringing in a 2C, but then theywill also have that looming hole
at 3C that they will know thatthey will have to deal with.
So there's going to have to bemore than one move made if they
decide to do that.
So to me, there's no questionthat Kokuniemi can play a 3C
role.
He may not do it the exact sameway that Jordan Stahl does.

(45:43):
I think that, like Tom saidearlier you said this that the
pure shutdown centers arebecoming a rare bird in the NHL.
You don't have them as much,just as you don't have as many
pure shutdown defensemen in topfour roles.
You have pure shutdowndefensemen in top four roles.
You have pure shutdowndefensemen down there in the

(46:04):
bottom pairing, but you don'tsee very many Jacob Slavins
coming along who are just sogood at shutting down the
opponents but not necessarilyalso generating a lot of offense
.
So I think that that's going tobe the way they're going to go.
I don't see a reason why theywould change that now.
In fact, I think the wholepoint of signing Cook-Kaniemi as
early as they did was to beginto groom him for that role with
the hope that maybe he couldalso play Toosey instead.

(46:27):
But if it didn't work out, thiswas plan B and I think it'll be
plan B.
So that's my thought.

Speaker 2 (46:34):
In a straightforward way.
I agree with you, but I'm goingto take a slightly less
straightforward path and saythat I also think that the heir
apparent to jordan stall isgoing to be an in-house heir
apparent, because, if we allrecall, when jordan stall joined
the hurricanes, what role didhe play?
What role did he play?

(46:56):
He was the first he play, hewas the first line center.

Speaker 1 (46:59):
Yeah, he was the top center.

Speaker 2 (47:01):
He was the number one and, as Brindamore likes to say
many a time and that we have torepeat, he does not number his
lines.
He has certain roles for peopleas they come through, and so
it's more about filling Stahl'srole as who is going to be the
center that he puts out andtrusts to take those top

(47:22):
matchups To go against otherteams' best players.
And just as Jordan Stahl wasthe 1C and evolved into his
current role, I wouldn't besurprised if Brindamore would
look to Sebastian Ajo To dosomething similar.
It would be a little bit of aadjustment, for sure, because
you're asking for your topoffensive producer to take a

(47:46):
more defensive role, but we knowthat rod's already comfortable
with ajo doing that.
There are a lot of times whenwe're playing the maple leafs
that it's ajo's line that's outagainst Matthews, not Stahl's
line.
So when we're playing theDevils, it's Ajo's line out
there against Hugh's line inorder to negate the speed and
the quick transitions.

(48:07):
So I think the heir apparent toJordan Stahl in role perhaps
not in title as far as 3C, butin role will be Sebastian Ajo,
and that would also translateinto, once Jordan Stahl retires,
the captaincy also most likelytransferring to Ajo as well.
So exactly how the lines arenumbered one, two, three, that's

(48:31):
anybody's guess.
Two, three, four seasons fromnow, whenever Stahl retires.
But I do believe that it'll beAjo that takes over that
responsibility and that role,because he's already a penalty
killer, he already does shutdown work, he already has a
200-foot game.
So it will be Ajo that takesover for Stahl.

Speaker 1 (48:51):
Well, that's interesting.
Of course, he would have likelySeth Jarvis, who was one of the
guys with the dads on thattough checking line, so he's a
guy that definitely can, can getit done for you.
It's very possible.
I think the challenge the Canesare going to have if they want
to do that, I think that's goingto affect the offensive output

(49:13):
from that line for sure.
But the bigger challenge is canthey find some centers to fill
those other spots, to kind ofpick up the offense and kind of
you know, if that's going to beyour heavy lifting line, what
lines are going to do theserious scoring for you?
So I think it all depends oncan they craft a deal to get
some of these players we talkedabout?

(49:34):
Look, if they bring in a jasonrobertson and and they can bring
in one of these centers we'vetalked about.
Look, if they bring in a JasonRobertson and they can bring in
one of these centers we'vetalked about, sure they can
definitely make that work.
And an interesting thought I'vehad and I know I've talked to
you about this before and hadsome queries about it is what
about Skyler Brindamore in allof this?
Is he a guy that could come inand play the fourth line for you

(49:54):
and play some tough minutes anddo some heavy lifting
defensively as well, as he'svery strong in the faceoff dots.
So you know he's got his dad'spedigree and Rod knows what he's
going to get when he throwsSkyler over the boards.
Is he a guy that might have afuture with the Canes?
So there's a lot of movingparts here, obviously, as Jordan

(50:17):
goes out, I mean, he's clearlythe number two seed right now
and he's playing big and hardand heavy minutes.
Somebody's got to pick that up.
And you know, as you said,rightfully too, katie Ajo plays
equally as much in that toughzone and he's you know he's
throwing out against the othertop lines.
So those two guys get all thetough work in terms of defensive

(50:40):
work and for sure they're goingto need to come up with a top
centerman somewhere in the mixto either support Ajo or to take
another role.
But yeah, going to be excitingto see that.
I'm absolutely pleased with theway that Jordan's been playing,

(51:01):
but he can't, he's not going tocontinue to do this.
Okay, we're going to move on tosome more generic questions and
have a little bit of fun withthese.
Now, for a minute, mark Pugiasays how does Rod Brendamore and
his coaching staff get measuredfor the 25-26 season?
There's two paths that I'd likeyou all to take.

(51:22):
Okay.
So here's the first one,measured against Tom Dundon's
business strategy.
Okay, or measured against cupcompetitiveness.
To date, rod Brindamore is 0-3in the Eastern Conference Final
Series and 1-12 with a totalwin-loss record.

(51:42):
So, yeah, what are we thinkingwith this?
Is it about Dundon's businessor is it about competitiveness?
Who's got this one?

Speaker 2 (51:54):
Okay, I'll take a stab at it.
As far as Dundon's concerned, Ithink as long as the Canes are
putting out a competitive rosterthat is working hard, he
understands that there's only somuch you can control.
It's not like if he spends Xnumber of dollars that's going
to guarantee them a cup.
It just gives them higherprobabilities and opportunities

(52:16):
to win a cup.
Does he want one Absolutely?
Would he like more than one?
Most assuredly it makes thebusiness model work even better
if that's the case.
But I do think that he isenough of a realist that he's
not just going to throw hishands up and say I give up on
this hockey thing if the caneskeep going deep in the playoffs
but never win the cup.

(52:38):
Um, as far as brendamore andhis record again, it it really
kind of depends.
Each one of those losses in theEastern Conference Finals was a
different set of circumstancesthat both he and the Canes were
looking at, especially thatfirst one.
They just made it into theplayoffs recently and so going

(52:58):
that deep was considered a hugesuccess.
The first time against thePanthers, they were missing
Svetch.
They were beat up in other ways.
All of those games were reallyclose.
And then this last year.
We all know what happened thislast year, so they're individual
circumstances.
I do think that brindamore doesneed to find another level in

(53:21):
his coaching, especially as faras it comes to offense, that you
can't just earn a stanley cupby throwing it in and hoping to
forecheck and get the reboundand create offense that way that
there does need to be a higherskill aspect to the Canes
approach to offense and I hopethat his partnership with Tulsky

(53:42):
is starting to craft that, withthe acquisition of Ehlers and
Miller being the starting pointthis season for that particular
philosophy and move forward.
But again, circumstances arewhat they are.
What if we get to the Easternconference final and a major
player gets hurt?
Again, you don't put that onRod, but if they get there and

(54:03):
they're still trying to do this,they try to play the same way
against whoever they're facingoff against as they would
against, you know, the, thesharks or the ducks.
Then you got to kind of wonderwhat's going on there.
So are there some circumstancesin which it would be a concern
or a move forward?
Yes, but uh, those would haveto be some pretty exceptional

(54:27):
circumstances for anything tochange.

Speaker 3 (54:32):
And I think that most GMs and most business owners
would be thrilled to have had acoach like Rod Brindamore.
Get them not just into theplayoffs but going at least two
rounds in just about every oneof their playoff appearances.
Having three um conferencefinal appearances over this what
is it?
Seven, eight year stretch, youknow it's an incredible

(54:54):
accomplishment because all ofthat is, you know, ticket sales
and revenue.
That goes pretty far.
You're not just talking aboutthey've made the playoffs once
in this time period.
There are teams right now thatwould die to have had the
playoff success that the Caneshave had, even if we're at the
level now where we're saying,well, it's not success until
they win the cup and that'snatural for fans to make that
adjustment.
So, from the business model, Ithink it's doing great.

(55:17):
I would agree with Katie thatI'd like to see some evolution
for the next step.
I do think that, yeah, thecircumstances, players getting
injured, the defense core I meanwe had two rookies in on
defense this year.
There was just a lot but thenyou also have to look at Florida
and how they're managing to winand what they do.
I think that the biggest changeor the biggest advancement I'd

(55:38):
like to see from Rod Rindemoreis I really do believe that the
Panthers in general, and PaulMaurice in particular, just kind
of has his number a little bit,you know, and that he needs to
find the ability to stay calmand consistent and not start
scrambling lines and throwingdifferent pairings out there

(56:00):
just randomly because they'relosing against the Panthers
again.
I think we saw a little bit ofthat panic in the third round
this year, and I think it wasone of the TV analysts pointed
out that in the in game five,when the Panthers started out
down two to nothing, the playersand the coach were all
completely relaxed on the bench,laughing, chatting with each

(56:22):
other, and the Canes were theones gripping their sticks and
looking, you know, panicstricken, even though they were
ahead, and that really tells youkind of the mindset that where
they're at with this particularrivalry.
So they need to find a way tocome out from underneath the
weight of that mental game andjust play their game and we'll

(56:42):
help.
If everybody's healthy, though,I mean, there's no question.
So I think that we're ready forthem to take the next step.
I think we all want to see moreaggression in the offensive
zone, like Katie was saying.
I think we're going to see thatbecause they acquired Nick
Ehlers, who is very, very goodat transition offense, and they
acquired Keiondre Miller, who,honestly, is extremely good at

(57:05):
exiting the zone with possessionwhich is something the Canes
are surprisingly bad at doing,so I'm really looking forward to
seeing the difference thatthose two are going to make.

Speaker 1 (57:16):
No for sure.
And a couple of quick thoughts.
Look, the Carolina Hurricanesvalue has increased
exponentially under Tom Dundon,so he's a pretty happy camper
right now.
He's seen his investment growsubstantially and that's an
understatement.
He's making a massiveinvestment around the, you know,

(57:39):
the Lenovo Center and you knowwith this new project he's got
going.
So he's going to want to cut.
There's no question.
At some point he's going to say, hey, something's going to have
to change here, and I'm of theopinion that it's probably not
that far out.
I think.
If Rod comes up short again thisyear, I think there's going to

(57:59):
be some very hard discussionsgoing on in the Canes management
group, because he's giving themthe money, he's giving them the
opportunity to go do it andthese guys have got to step up
and they got to make it happen.
So I think that's the otherside of this whole discussion is
, at some point Mr Dundon isgoing to say I think, I think we

(58:21):
need to do something here, so,so let's see how that plays out.
Okay, let's do another one.
Whaler Kane says if a line ofEhlers-Aho Jarvis has success
during the regular season, doyou see Rod keeping them
together once the playoffs start?
In the past he's been reluctantto have three smaller forwards

(58:43):
together in the playoffs.
And then there's Florida and,with a similar question, x Cody
says we saw chemistry betweenSveshnikov and Ajo building
steadily towards the end of theseason and playoffs.
Does the podcast think we willsee him with Ajo and Ehlers

(59:03):
instead of Jarvis?
So what do we think about that,erin?

Speaker 3 (59:10):
I think that it's a good point, because, yes,
ehlers-aho and Jarvis is not abig line, right?
I think that you can say youknow.
You can look at the Tampa BayLightning's line with Point,
though, and say, you know, therewas a line there that was not
too much bigger, and they wereinvolved in a couple of cup wins

(59:31):
.
So it's all going to depend onhow they gel and what kind of
chemistry they have, and whetheror not, you know, we see just a
huge leap forward in scoring,and you know, without giving up
too much, going the other way,or if maybe there's some
defensive stuff that needs to bedealt with and addressed, or
some physicality issues.
You know, If they're strugglingin the regular season against

(59:51):
heavier teams, that's going tobe the kind of thing that
they're going to look at for theplayoffs.
But I did like Svec with Ajoduring the playoffs this last
time around.
I thought that he did very well.
I think that the key to AndreiSvechnikov is simply allowing
him to play the power forwardgame wherever line he's on is
simply allowing him to play thepower forward game wherever line
he's on, and you know, if hedoes that and he becomes

(01:00:13):
comfortable in that role, thenthat gives them a great option
to move him up there when he'sneeded.

Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
I would agree with that and I would just piggyback
on that.
If Rob thinks at any point thathe will need to have Svetch on
the top, I hope he gives himsome opportunities to play with
Ajo and Ehlers in the regularseason.
So it's not a brand newarrangement come playoffs,
because I think that's been partof the problem is that, if I
recall correctly, when Genselcame over, I don't think Svetch

(01:00:44):
hardly played with him at allduring the regular season.
It wasn't until the postseasonthat that swap was made.
So I would like to see sfetchhave that opportunity.
The other thing, while whilethe initial reaction to who
should play on the other wingwith ehlers and ajo is jarvis
because jarvis has been the mostconsistently successful winger

(01:01:07):
that the Canes have had SinceEhlers is a left winger.
That means if Svetch were toplay on that line, svetch would
play as a right winger and hewould have three lefties all on
that same line.
But to Aaron's point withallowing Svetch to play that
power forward again, I knowCanes fans don't like hearing
his name, but I will bring upMiko Rantanen again.

(01:01:29):
Miko Rantanen is a naturallefty who plays right wing and
part of what makes his game soeffective is the fact that when
he gets down into the faceoffcircle he is able to open up and
get that shot off or find aseam and get a pass across.
I think Svec has very similartypes of skills, albeit not to

(01:01:51):
Rantanen's level, but similartypes of skills to what Rantanen
is able to offer, because hewould have those opportunities
for bringing his big heavy shotor using his passing skills and

(01:02:13):
his vision in a way that he'sjust a little more handcuffed
when he's playing on the leftside.
So that's what I would like tosee.
Oh, erin, you have somethingthat you want to?

Speaker 3 (01:02:23):
I want to jump in on this because a lot of people say
, well gosh, you don't want awinger to play on their off wing
because you know.
But that's not necessarily thecase.
Like you're saying, a wingercan play on their off wing.
It's not the same as defensivepairs, and every single time
that Andrei Svechnikov hasplayed on the dad line with
Martinuk- and Stahl.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
He's played on the right.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
Stahl and Martinuk both went from around a 30-point
pace to getting to finishingthe season with 36 points,
because Andrei Sveshnikov wasdirectly involved in at least
five, if not all six of thoseextra points when he played with
them.
If he can produce like that onhis right with Jordan Stahl and
Jordan Martin, there is noquestion in my mind that he

(01:03:06):
could produce well with Ehlersand Ajo on that line.
So that could be a reallyintriguing thing to see.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
Well, I'm glad you brought that up, because I was
going to mention just that thathe played some of his best
hockey on the right side withthe Devs, and it was really
effective and actually turnedthe season around at that time.
One other thing, though theinteresting other side of this
is that I think it would begreat if Seth Jarvis could be
the trigger man on the secondline.

(01:03:34):
Ok, so again you've got twoguys who aren't scorers, who are
probably going to be manningthose spots.
You know Taylor Hall and andand Kokaniemi, and it'd be great
to have you know Jarvis, whocan really score.
He's a guy that should beputting up 35-40 goals.
Get him out there and give himthe chance to really shine

(01:03:55):
offensively.
I think that's going to be keyfor him.

Speaker 2 (01:03:59):
You know, kk and Jarvis are best friends, so the
antics and the fun would existif they were actually up on the
ice together would be fantastic.
We would have content for daysif the two of them were on the
same line together.
So I highly approve of thatidea.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
And the other and the other part of it, as we know,
is that Svetch is a great setupguy as well, and we know that
what we're expecting fromhealers is to be a trigger man.
So you know, I think againthere's some interesting,
there's some interestingopportunities here.
I'm one of those rare birdsthat really wants Svetch on the
top line, absolutely want himthere, and I want, you know,

(01:04:37):
seth Jarvis on the line.
What would be the secondscoring line, whatever number
that is.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
Or he could do what all the Canes fans want and play
center.

Speaker 1 (01:04:50):
He's definitely not going to be playing center.

Speaker 2 (01:04:54):
No, but everybody is claiming for it.
It's not going to happen, butit's out there.

Speaker 1 (01:04:59):
He is not playing center and Logan Stankhoven is
not playing center this year, soplease take that off the docket
.
We aren't going to talk aboutthat again.

Speaker 3 (01:05:06):
Okay, one last question.

Speaker 1 (01:05:11):
One last question.
One last question, and this isfrom Don Miles, and it's an easy
one what is your realisticexpectation for points for
Alexander Nikitian this year?

Speaker 2 (01:05:23):
That's such a hard one because we don't know yet
how Rod is planning on deployinghim.
We don't know yet how Rod isplanning on deploying him
Because depending on who isplaying with Slavin will kind of
domino effect.
The rest of the pairings A lotof I mean this has been

(01:05:49):
everywhere, from next to slaven,because he's had so much
experience playing his offsidein the khl, down to the second
pair, down to suggestions of himbeing with ghost on the third
pair, so the minutes that hegets is really going to depend.
So on the low end, if he'spaired with ghost he's probably
in the 20 to 25 point range andthe more minutes he gets and the

(01:06:11):
farther up he goes in theladder.
You're looking at more and morepoints For a rookie year.
To be realistic I would say hecaps out at somewhere between 30
and 40 points, Again dependingon his usage and also does he
get any power play time we knowwe have Ghost as the power play
one for right now, but Walker'sdone some power play time.

(01:06:34):
Is Miller going to get somepower play time?
There's no guarantee thatNikitian is going to get
significant minutes on the powerplay, especially initially, and
that would limit his ability toget a lot of points as well.
Ability to get a lot of pointsas well.

Speaker 3 (01:06:50):
Well, I would agree with you, katie.
I actually had him.
You know, with optimaldeployment I think I would see
him being in the 40 to 45 pointrange.
So kind of very similar to whatyou're saying.
But I did see.
You know, I got to watch LaneHudson last year with the Habs.
Hudson had 66 points in hisrookie season.
That was when he won the Calder.
He was able to do that becauseof absolutely prime deployment.

(01:07:17):
He got first pair minutes, hegot first power play unit.
He was involved in everyoffensive situation, including
three-on-three overtime.
Those are the kinds of thingsthat we will see.
If Nikitian is given thoseopportunities, if he earns those
opportunities, he could boostit above even my optimistic

(01:07:38):
expectations.
But you're going to have to seewhere he fits first of all, and
I think that we know thatBrindamore is more conservative
and the team is in a differentposition than the Habs are in,
so he's going to be moreconservative about where
Alexander Nikitian is deployedat first at least, because he's
not going to take either.
He's just not going to put arookie into those situations

(01:07:59):
right off the bat, even thoughto me Nikitian is an unusual
rookie given his age and hislevel of pro experience.
We're not talking about a kidcoming out of college.
We're talking about somebodywho can really play the game.
So it's going to be reallyexciting to see actually where
he ends up, especially throughtraining camp.
I think training camp is goingto be the real eye opener for us
as far as how Rod is seeingthese guys and where he wants

(01:08:22):
them to be.
So can't wait.

Speaker 1 (01:08:24):
And I think I mean I'm feeling very strongly that
he's going to be the number twopower play point guy.
Let's face it, he's anoffensive juggernaut.
He was a 50, 60 point guy inthe KHL and, yeah, it's a
different league.
But he's a guy that can put uppoints and if you watch the
highlights you see just the kindof moves he can make.
He's very slick out there, he'svery smart with the puck.

(01:08:46):
So I think he's going to drivesome points on the two power
play unit, I think too, withNikitian.
Back to your point, aaron, Ithink, as the season goes on, if
he starts to really find hisgame and you know it's going to
take him a little while, buthe's a guy with a high ceiling
he's a guy that once he reallystarts to get it, he's going to

(01:09:07):
want more minutes and deservemore minutes.
So you know, then Timmy Gleasonis going to have some
challenges saying you know, whatdo I do here and where do I
play?
So it's going to be exciting.
As you say, it's going to be alot of fun and you know we're
really anxious to see, once he'sgot a chance to kind of spend
some time here, get a little bitbetter with the language, you

(01:09:28):
know, get more comfortable withall the barbecue spots around
the arena and so on, that we'regoing to see some great stuff
out of Sasha, as he's called,alex, you know, and Akishan.
So lots of fun there and, again, exciting stuff this year.
There's so many cool things, somany stories, undercurrents
that we're going to have funwith through the year, and

(01:09:49):
that's definitely one of them.
So that wraps up the mailbagsegment.
And, boy, lots of very, veryexcellent questions.
And, to the folks who sentthose in, thank you so much.
We've had a great amount of funanswering them and I hope that
some of them the answers, werekind of what you're looking for.
So, katie, we've got a chanceto announce some winners for

(01:10:13):
some Storm Tracker merchandisekits We've got.
They'll be receiving a StormTracker T-shirt, as well as a
Storm Tracker mug and some otherstuff, and become part of the
Storm Tracker army as we goforward, and we really look
forward to that.
So let's see who our winners aregoing to be Number one, and
there goes the wheel.

(01:10:34):
It's spinning and the winner isgoing to be.
It's going to hey, we were Wow,nice, that's great.
Okay.
So we've got the first winner.
We've got two more to go.
Let's spin that bad boy.

(01:10:54):
Well, there you go, tucker,blinkenship Tucker, thanks for
your question and congr,congrats.
We'll get this out to youshortly.
And the final winner, well,it's going to be Cody.

(01:11:21):
And that's great because, cody,thanks for your questions and
congratulations to all the folkswho have won today.
And that's great because,totally, thanks for your
questions and congratulations Toall the folks who have won
today.
Please text me directly, oreither Katie or Aaron, if you've
been communicating with them,and we'll get your address and

(01:11:42):
some information where we canship that out to you right away.
But again, congrats toeverybody and I hope you'll
enjoy the Storm storm trackerkit and wear it with pride.
So, ok, as we wrap up, Ithought in our closing comments
today we'd maybe look back atthe last year and and maybe what

(01:12:04):
we thought about it, what weliked, what, what we learned and
what we might look forward toin the coming year.
And I thought I'd give you,ladies, a chance to wax lyrical
on this.
And why don't you kick it off?

Speaker 3 (01:12:19):
Well, you know, for me the funny thing looking back
on last year is just how muchyou had to twist my arm to get
me to do this.
I was not sure at all that Iwould do be able.
I mean, people had asked me acouple of times before if I
would, you know, come up, comeon as a guest on a podcast, and
I just I had a less than greatexperience with trying to do

(01:12:39):
some broadcast stuff in college,way back when I was not at all
good at it, so I was really shyabout trying this and not sure
that I would enjoy it or thatanybody would want to watch it,
you know, if I was on it.
So it's been really great to beable to get over that and to
enjoy this process with you guysand get to be comfortable
talking not just to you but toour fans and, just you know,
finding this to be just assatisfying a form of

(01:13:02):
communication as writtencommunication, because written
is always my go-to.
So it's been a great experience.
I think I've learned a lot fromit and I've learned just how
connected Canes fans really are,how much they want these kinds
of things.
They want to learn more aboutwhat's going on.
They're interested in thesetopics of conversation.
You know it's an unusual fanbase for a small market because,

(01:13:25):
you know, in a big market youhave a lot of these kinds of
things, you have a lot of mediaoutreach, you have a lot of
small podcasts and big ones.
You have, you know, plenty ofopportunities to engage and
interact and I think in thesmaller markets there's not that
many that have this much going.
So it's been great to see, it'sbeen great to connect with fans
and with other podcasts andjust to see all the different

(01:13:48):
options that are out there forCanes fans to connect and to
learn more about the team andget beyond the you know, like
Tom likes to say, peel back theonion, you know, to find out
what's going on in the world ofCanes and Canes fandom.
So I've enjoyed it a lot.
I've loved being with you twoand it's been just so much fun.

Speaker 1 (01:14:06):
And just to finish up , what are your wishes for the
coming year with StormTracker?

Speaker 3 (01:14:13):
I just want us to keep being able to engage fans
in conversation.
I hope that some fans will.
You know, don't be shy, youknow.
Come out there in the commentboxes, challenge us, tell us,
you know, you want to see moreof this or less of that, or you
don't agree with something?
We're happy to discuss it withyou, and so I hope that we can
organically grow a little bitmore that way and just have, you

(01:14:33):
know, some good ideas comingfrom the fan base about what
they'd like to see from us,because we're happy to I mean,
as this mailbag episode shows,we're really happy to engage
with you guys and find out whatyou're interested in and talk
about what you want to hear.
So that would be my hope, greatKatie talk about what you want
to hear.

Speaker 2 (01:14:51):
So that would be my hope, great Katie.
Yeah, I still kind of have topinch myself sometimes that this
is real.
I've been a hockey fan in theyou know, on the sidelines for
the most part for my entire life, and just getting into and
starting to engage on Twitterled to this and it's been so

(01:15:13):
much fun to be able to talk,especially with the more that I
learn.
I love being able to share itand get other people's opinions
and feedback and that sort ofthing.
The stats have really been alot of fun to grow my interest
in that sort of thing and thisplatform has given me motivation
to dig into that some more,whereas before it was easy to

(01:15:34):
say I don't know what's thepoint, why do I do this?
Well, now I have somebody toshare it with and be interested
in it with me, and that's beenwhat's been so amazing about
this past year.
The second thing I would saythat's been amazing has been
that this digital world has comeinto the real world for me.

(01:15:55):
On multiple occasions I havegotten to meet a bunch of the
people that watch the podcastand have interacted with us on
Twitter in person at a couple ofthe Canes games, and that has
been really really cool andspecial to put faces and voices
and names to the online persona,even if it's just been for a

(01:16:17):
couple of minutes.
And, of course, on my summerroad trip I actually got to meet
Tom and Aaron in person on twoseparate different occasions and
have dinner and get to talkhockey live with them outside of
the podcast, and that has beenparticularly cool.
So, as far as moving forwardfor the next year, I hope I'm

(01:16:40):
able to bring stats in in a waythat is perhaps a little bit
more stats forward and reallyhelp tell the story of the Canes
and what's going on with them,with more than just a chart here
there, but come up withsomething a little bit deeper,
more meaningful, more, um, more,I guess, special to

(01:17:01):
understanding who the you knowwhat the players are doing, what
the team is doing as a wholeand understanding where they're
at through numbers.
I also hope that I will be ableto make it to more games and be
able to meet more people andmake those connections and just
kind of grow the Storm Trackerfamily in that way.

Speaker 1 (01:17:24):
That's fantastic and, again, I think you know, for
all of us who have been kind ofworking behind the scenes and
trying to create product thatCanes fans and others can enjoy
and learn from, I think it'sbeen great and certainly the
response that we've had hascertainly again said that very

(01:17:46):
clearly.
So, thanks to both of you andyou're both different in your uh
, in your thoughts andapproaches and and the way you
view the game, which I think isfantastic and gives us something
that that uh is really uniquefor our podcast and and I think
that's one of the reasons thatwe're having so much success but
it's been a great year.
It's just been sensational uh.

(01:18:07):
For me, of course, being ableto talk hockey anytime is a
thrill.
So, as you know, I don'tusually give up too quickly.
I'm usually continuing on andcontinuing to talk hockey well,
after you're getting off, butthat's okay.
It's a passion for me, as it isfor you.
So thanks again to both of youfor what I think has been just

(01:18:28):
an incredible year and when Ilook ahead to the next year, I
think we're just going tocontinue to push the envelope.
We're going to have some funwith some different things.
We're going to do some liveshows this coming year.
That will be kind of fun, alittle bit interesting.
I'm sure we're going to do, asyou mentioned, more connection
with our fans.
We definitely want tocommunicate with folks directly,
and thanks, we definitely wantto communicate with folks

(01:18:48):
directly and thanks, aaron, forsuggesting that.
I think we'd love to hear fromeverybody.
Just say hi or, if you havequestions, comments, thoughts,
anything, just fire away andwe'll get right back with you.
We'll make sure that wecommunicate with you directly
and we love that because that'swhat we're really here for.
And again, the other thingwe'll try to do this year is

(01:19:10):
we'll add some more interestingguests.
We were fortunate to have somefolks on last year Shane Willis
joined us and some other folksand we definitely want to
continue that process andcontinue to bring some different
voices as well to the mix.
So, great year.
Yeah, now we're ready for thenext one and we look forward to

(01:19:33):
it.
As always.
For those of you who've beenwatching or listening, we really
appreciate it and we lookforward to continuing to tell
you the story about thehurricanes in the coming days.
If you like this episode,please press the like button.
That's always great news for usbecause it shows that you
appreciate what we're saying.

(01:19:54):
Of course, if you have comments, as I mentioned, or anything
you want to say, just do that inthe comment section down below.
And finally, if you want to bealerted of future episodes of
Storm Tracker, please press thesubscribe button and the bell
and you'll be made aware just assoon as those are available, as
always.
Aaron Katie and I thank you somuch for joining us and we look

(01:20:17):
forward to getting together withyou real soon on the next
edition of StormTrack.

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