The Hurricane's Masterclass: Inside Eric Tulsky's Summer Moves

Eric Tulsky's first full offseason as Hurricanes GM has transformed a team that was expected to take a step back into a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. After reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last season despite significant roster turnover, the Canes have methodically addressed their needs while maintaining impressive cap flexibility.

The draft showcased Carolina's strategic approach, trading down for quantity in a weaker class while identifying hidden gems like Charlie Cerrato, Ivan Ryabkin, and Filip Ekberg. Their eye for talent that meshes with the "Canes way" of playing continues to be their competitive advantage.

Free agency saw Tulsky make calculated moves, allowing veterans Burns and Orlov to depart while retaining valuable role players like Eric Robinson and Tyson Jost. The extension of Logan Stankoven at $6 million annually already looks like a steal for a player whose feisty style and scoring touch perfectly epitomize the Hurricanes' identity.

The biggest splash came through two major acquisitions: K'Andre Miller brings elite skating ability to the blueline, ranking in the 94th percentile for skating speed - a massive upgrade over the departing defensemen. Even more impressive was landing Nikolai Ehlers, who reportedly chose Carolina despite more lucrative offers elsewhere, signaling a franchise transformation into a destination team.

What makes this offseason particularly impressive is not just who the Hurricanes added, but the flexibility they've maintained with $10.6 million in remaining cap space. While fans clamor for a second-line center, Tulsky's patient approach suggests he's waiting for the perfect fit rather than making a move simply to make one.

• Draft strategy focused on trading down for multiple picks in a weaker draft class
• Unexpected selections include potential steals Charlie Cerrato, Ivan Ryabkin, and Filip Ekberg
• Strategic approach to free agency with key role players Robinson and Jost re-signed to team-friendly deals
• Logan Stankoven extended at $6 million annually, likely to prove a bargain as his career progresses
• Goaltending depth addressed through Cayden Primeau trade and Amir Miftakhov signing
• K'Andre Miller acquisition brings elite skating ability (94th percentile in top speed) to the blueline
• Nikolai Ehlers choosing Carolina despite better financial offers elsewhere represents significant franchise validation
• Team maintains flexibility with substantial cap space for potential second-line center addition during the season
• Current roster strong enough to begin season with Kotkaniemi at 2C while waiting for the right opportunity
• Defensive configuration may feature left-shot defensemen playing their off-side rather than forcing a trade

The Hurricanes have positioned themselves as legitimate contenders to challenge the Florida Panthers. With their mix of established stars, exciting newcomers, and financial flexibility, Carolina looks poised for another deep playoff run. How will these new pieces fit into Rod Brind'Amour's system? Join us throughout the season as we track the Canes' pursuit of their second Stanley Cup.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, what a season for the Carolina Hurricanes.
You know the Canes had a toughsummer last year.
A lot of free agents moved onand Eric Tulsky had some serious
work to try to get the lineupset for the Canes heading into
this year.
A lot of folks didn't expectmuch from the Canes, but guess
what?
They hit the Eastern ConferenceFinals and they actually won a

(00:24):
game against the champion,florida Panthers.
But the Canes need to do someserious work this summer If
they're going to compete againstthat Panther team again,
because they're the standard inthe NHL right now.
And of course, the Panthers didgreat work as well this summer,
resigning Sam Bennett, aaronEkblad and Brad Marchand

(00:47):
actually to six years.
That's quite a story.
So they're going to be toughand they are definitely going to
be the favorite.
So Eric Tulsky and crew hadtheir work cut out for them this
summer.
We talked about the fact thatTulsky's got lots to work with
this year.
We mentioned in our lastpodcast that he has $28.4
million to spend and 20 of 23roster spots set.

(01:11):
He was in a situation with 29draft picks over the next four
years, including six firsts.
He had some top prospects.
We talked a little bit aboutScott Morrow and Bradley Nadeau,
who were on the top prospectteam in the AHL.
Quite a feat, because therehasn't been an NHL team that's
had two players on that prospectteam before.

(01:32):
So the Canes in good shape.
And finally, we mentioned that,hey, a lot of the Canes are
signed for future.
Key Canes are signed for futurelong terms, and we talked about
Sveshnikov, aho, jarvis, slavinand even Kokaniemi all of those
guys on long-term deals, solots to work with.
So, as we headed into the draft, a lot of anticipation for the

(01:56):
cane.
I'm wondering what was Ericgoing to do this year?
So the draft, that wasinteresting too.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
And Erin what did you see in the draft?
Well, I had a couple of thoughtsabout the draft.
First of all, I was one of thosepeople who thought it would be
interesting to sit through thedecentralized draft, and so I
actually watched the first day,you know and by watched I mean I
had it on in the backgroundbecause, as everyone who did

(02:23):
watch it knows, it became anagonizing bit of
non-entertainment television.
So, even though a lot of the GMsreally liked it, they liked
being able to sit around anddiscuss the players and
prospects openly, they likedbeing able to have those
conversations without worryingthat the guys at the next table
were listening in, and theyliked not having to do the

(02:44):
travel and then turn around andcome back in time for free
agency.
I think for the viewers there'sgoing to have to be some
changes made to how they do that.
As far as the Canes go, theydid get all the way down to
their first round draft pick and, as most of us anticipated,
they traded it for more picks inthe second round.
To me, the most interesting andsurprising pick, if you want to

(03:09):
go with that, is CharlieSerrato.
I hope I'm saying his namecorrectly.
The young centerman from youknow who is an overager.
He's 20 years old.
He's still in college.
He's going to go back tocollege, probably this year old.
He's still in college.
He's going to go back tocollege, probably this year.
I like the pick because I thinkthat you have a player here that
, if he pans out and this isalways a big if with anybody,

(03:31):
you know, second round or beyondyou could have somebody who
comes in like a Jack Drury, whowas also a second round draft
pick, or even Jake Evans inMontreal, who was a college pick
, who took a long time, you know, to finish school and get into
the league.
But they've become very solidfourth line centermen and that
would be something that I couldsee this pick maybe panning out

(03:53):
to be.
But that was my main impressionis that they definitely need to
fix the broadcast and make itmore entertaining, but that the
Canes did do a lot of good workby trading that draft pick down
and getting more selections,because with a draft like this,
the class was kind of weakoverall.
There weren't a lot of surefireNHLers below about the first,

(04:16):
maybe two-thirds of the firstround.
So why not, you know, increaseyour chances with quantity,
which has been McCain's strategyfor several years.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
The one that sounds like he's really intriguing is
and I don't know how to say hisname because I've just been
reading all the names, but it'sRyabkin- Ivan Ryabkin.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Ivan Ryabkin.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Ryabkin, yes, he just seems like a really interesting
story because it seems like hehas just skill for days.
But there are a lot of questionmarks on the off-ice part of
things and, being a part of theCanes organization, how can they
kind of smooth out some ofthose rough spots for him off

(04:55):
the ice and then take advantageand develop those strong skill
sets on the ice?
So that seemed to me to be themost interesting storyline as
far as the picks were concerned,but lots of Russians of course,
as is the Canes'.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
MO.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
And so now Ryabkin, he's been playing in North
America, if I'm.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yes, he was in the USHL with Muskegon and of course
the Canes love USHL guys, soyes, and he tore it up, by the
way.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
But for the rest of them that means that they can
stay with their clubs in the KHLuntil they're ready to come
over, just like we've seen withNikitin.
or we might have some others,like Kazeev with the goalie,
doing some NHL time, as Kochakovdid as well, before they come
up to the NHL.
But either way, the Canes seemto have a lot of success and a

(05:46):
lot of good plans with theirRussian prospects and they're
not afraid to sign them, while alot of other teams shy away
because of the uncertainty ofwill they come over or won't
they come over.
But lots of good options, itseems like all over from goalie
and the forwards and the D, andI'd be interested to see how

(06:07):
they develop.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
Well, a couple thoughts, first of all on
Ryabkin.
I had mentioned Ryabkin as awild card even at 29, so I was
all over Ryabkin before we gothim.
Actually, corey Promen, whowrites for the Athletic, said
this about Ryabkin he has a tonof skill and ability to
improvise with the puck.
He sees the ice at a high leveland makes difficult passes

(06:30):
consistently.
At times he competes quite hardand looks to use his body to
win pucks.
He's a guy that's 5'11", he's200 pounds, he's stocky as heck.
He had a tough start last year.
A lot of folks had him in thefirst round.
He had a tough start last year.
They had a lot of folks had himin the first round.
In fact some had him in thefirst.
You know, on the top 10 atdifferent points because of his
skill, as you mentioned, it'soff the charts.

(06:51):
But he's a guy that's got towork on consistency, he's got to
work on his 200-foot game andthat's fine and he'll get a
chance to do that and I thinkthat's all good stuff.
So I think Abkin was a steal.
You mentioned Serato Aninteresting thing about Charlie
Serato.
He's another guy that missed twodrafts.
He passed through as a freshman.

(07:11):
He had a big year.
He was the top scorer in theNCAA with Penn State.
He's a guy that is one of thosehardworking guys.
He's got a bit of offense buthe's really a hardworking center
.
He's like a Drury type guy.
I think you mentioned the rightkind of player.
With Serato he was a bit of awild card.
He wasn't anywhere on the listLike he was so far down like it

(07:32):
was almost laughable.
So the Canes saw something inhim that a lot of folks haven't
talked about and I know thatNick Bass, when he saw him at
the recent camp the prospectthing that was going on
development camp he was quiteimpressed with Sorato for sure.
One guy I wanted to mention wasSemyon Frolov.
He's the goalie that the Canestook and Frolov is a guy that

(07:55):
was rated by many as the topgoalie available in the draft
and I know there was Medvedevand some other guys that were
picked higher.
But this guy is reallysomething.
Again, he's 6'3".
He's another big goaltender.
Here's what Corey Promen saidabout Frolov he's a clear NHL
athlete with decent size andexceptional lower body quickness

(08:18):
to make a lot of difficultsaves.
He's never out of a play withhow quickly he recovers and is
able to get across the crease.
So he's a guy that getting someexcellent words from Pradman
and for sure he's got raw talent.
So again, the Canes arestealing these players.
In many cases they were ratedlower down than we know.

(08:38):
The story about the Canes andthe Russians.
One other Russian they tookjust to kind of wrap up the
Russian side, was this guy,kurbin Limitov.
You might have seen him Again6'3", he's a 200-pounder.
He skates like mad.
He's another one of these hugedefensemen and I know the folks
at the development camp said howmany big defensemen do we have?
They're huge.
So he's another one.

(09:00):
And again he's another one.
And again he's a guy that lookslike he's got a potential
future with the Kings.
Now I want to mention one crazy,crazy one, because we picked at
221 a player called PhilipEkberg, a Swede.
He was playing with the Ottawa67s last year.
Ekberg's a smaller player,5'10", 165.

(09:21):
I had been watching through thedraft and people were coming up
in the third round and saidwhere the heck is Ekberg?
Why isn't he drafted?
Like what's going on?
And here we are, we get him at221.
And here's what Kronman saidabout Ekberg.
He was named the MVP of theunder 18 world championships and
was a big reason why Sweden wona silver medal.

(09:43):
He's a superb skilled winger.
He makes highly difficult andcreative plays with the puck.
Often he's a great playmakerwith a good shot who projects to
run a pro power play.
This guy is a heck of a talent.
Okay, and we get him at 221.
Unbelievable.

Speaker 3 (10:04):
I saw some people on X.

Speaker 1 (10:06):
Yeah, yeah, I mean he seriously understand why he
fell so low you know, when youlook at where we started with a
29th pick and then not anythingtill late in the third round,
and eric volleys that into threesecond rounders and a high
third round pick, so you know,it's just, these guys are magic

(10:26):
he and Darren York, I think theyreally do a clinic on this
thing and so I was out of a kindof what I thought was going to
be a boring and disinterestingdraft.
It turned out to be kind of funand of course the cupboard is
jammed as we've talked aboutmany times with the Canes, and
they added some more playerswith some outstanding skill.

(10:48):
So great job done by the Canes.
But you know, that's futuresand we've got a little bit more
interest on what's going tohappen with this coming season.
And here we go into free agencytrades and it didn't take long
before the free agency lusterkind of went away.

(11:09):
You know we had talked a lotabout Mitch Marner.
He was never really a factorfor the Canes.
As it turns out, he wasn'tinterested in Carolina at all,
he was only interested in LasVegas.
So the top dog was gone.
And then very quickly, one ofthe other guys who might have
been of interest, brock Bessersigned with Vancouver.

(11:29):
So all of a sudden you'regetting into a group of free
agents that aren't too exciting.
And on the blue, ekblad wasgone, provorov was gone.
I mean, quite frankly, it was aboring look at free agency.
So there we go into free agencyand the first thing of course
the Canes had to deal with wastheir own.
And what did we think aboutthat, katie?

(11:52):
What did you think about thedecisions made by Eric on the
existing Canes free agents?

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Well, I think most Canes fans will agree that it
was time to move on from Burnsand Orlov.
Canes fans will agree that itwas time to move on from Burns
and Orlov and they went off andsigned their deals with the
Avalanche and the Sharksrespectively.
So it'll be interesting on apersonal level to watch Burns
next season and see what helooks like, because it it'll
probably seem like almost atotally different player.
His role will be different.

(12:19):
There's no way he is going tobe a top line player with the
abs having McCarran tape.
So it will be very interestingto see how that goes.
And you know, congratulationsto Orlov on getting his nice bag
with the Sharks and being amentor to some of those young
guns over there.
But with those two gone, the onethat I was really excited to

(12:42):
see come back as far as the UFAswas Eric Robinson.
He just worked his tail off forthe Canes and he was very solid
for them, no matter what rolethey put him in.
I mean, he started the seasonfor a while up there on that
line with KK and Natchez andthey were the top line for the
Canes for a long time and hereally brought a lot of that

(13:05):
balance and grit to that trio.
And then, when it came time forhim to play a lesser role
whether it was fourth line orwherever he was put he did that
well too, and he just put hishead down and brought his lunch
pail to the rink every night anddid what he needed to do, and I
think the Canes reallyappreciated that and saw the

(13:26):
value in that, and so I'm happythey have extended him and
brought him back, because youneed those types of players to
make a deep run in the playoffsand they needed him this past
season for that and they'll needhim again for future playoff
runs.

Speaker 3 (13:45):
Erin, oh, I agree absolutely.
And you know, one thing thatpeople will want to pay
attention to or bear in mindwith Robinson is he's signed for
four years at $1.7 million andwith the new collective
bargaining agreement, if I'm notmistaken I don't have this in

(14:05):
front of me, but the leaguenumbers are going to kick in and
you're going to see playersmaking more than that to play

(14:30):
fourth line roles.
So that was a good bit of work.
The other free agent that Ireally am happy to see come back
, even though he will probablybe mostly with the Wolves, is
Juha Jaska.
I think that, even though heonly came into a couple of games
with the Canes, that player hasjust an incredible work ethic.
Another one of those that youjust watched him from the get-go

(14:53):
and said, well, this guy's aCanes player, he belongs in this
system.
So somebody again that they canhave as a potential call-up,
somebody that they can bring in.
And then I think they did agood job with another player as
well, and that would be TysonJost.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
I love him, I love him.

Speaker 1 (15:18):
Well, katie, you had and I had mentioned this on X
you were very strong in our lastpodcast about Tyson Jost being
somebody you really wantedbrought back, and I think it was
great that they brought himback too, because I honestly
believe he should have played inthe playoffs.
He should have been brought inat different times and I think
he definitely had earned theright, and at the end of the
season that fourth line wasreally clicking with him on

(15:42):
there and I thought he did agreat job.
So it's good news.
Right on with Robinson Come on,that's a steal.

Speaker 4 (15:49):
This guy.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
I think he's going to get better, don't forget.
I mean, he's had kind of adisjointed career up until now
and he's, you know, this was hisreal chance to kind of find a
home and I think there's moreoffense that he has to give.
I don't know of anyone thatgets more chances than Eric does
get those breakaways and allthose great chances he gets.
So I think if he can maybespend the summer and, you know,

(16:13):
sharpen up his shooting skills,that might be great.
Yoska an interesting thing onYoska.
You might have noticed thesecond year is a one-way deal,
so I thought that was kind ofinteresting that they decided to
do it that way.
And again, he's league minimum750K.
But I was ecstatic when theysigned Juha Jaska because, just

(16:35):
like you said, aaron man, hejust came out and he was a heart
and soul guy and he's not goingto hurt you on the ice and he
can play any position, center orthe wing.
He's just the kind of depth youwant, ice, and he can play any
position, center or the wing.
Uh, he's just the kind of youknow depth you want.
And with he and uh jost, Ithink they've got a couple of
guys that they could just callup anytime and and they're good
to go.
So I think, uh and again uh, ifthey're playing in chicago,

(16:56):
those guys are great mentors aswell for, uh, for some of these
young kids that are coming in.
So it's good stuff, um, and ofcourse, the big news, the big
signing of Logan Stankoven.
How do we feel about that,katie?

Speaker 2 (17:14):
Oh, I'm thrilled I didn't mention him before,
because he's technically an RFAextension, not one of our UFAs.

Speaker 4 (17:20):
Sure.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
But I don't think that anybody on Twitter was
unhappy with the Stankhovenextension.
We are thrilled to have him.
He's a perfect Kane.
He's made to be a Kane.
I'm sure last year was tough forhim because he had envisioned
himself to be a star for a very,very long time and kind of had
the rug yanked out fromunderneath him with the trade.

(17:44):
But perhaps looking back on itand it seems like with the
extension he would agree that itwas a rather fortuitous fall
into the Canes' lap, because aswell as he fit the Stars, he
fits the Canes even better andhe is another one of those
versatile wingers that can playup and down the lineup, no
matter where.

(18:05):
He ended the season with Stahland Martinuk.
I would not be surprised to seehim back there again next
season because he has the engineto keep up with those two and
their work ethic and their styleof play.
But if they needed him up on asecond line, he can do that.
If they need a break or need tohave more of a tough checking
line and put Carrier up there,he still has the kind of good

(18:28):
attitude that he'll put in acouple of games on the fourth
line he's just a tell me what todo, coach, and I'm going to go
do it to the best of my ability,and we, as Canes fans,
absolutely love that.
So I am very happy to have himback and can't wait to see all
the different ways that he isgoing to contribute to this team
.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, I mean an interesting thing.
Hockey Forecaster wrote thisabout Stankoven.
I thought it was interesting.
They said the feisty,undersized forward has the
on-ice energy coaches love and ashot that goaltenders dread, I
think with Logan.
To me this was a steal.

(19:08):
Again, three, four, five yearsfrom now, logan Stankoven at $6
million we're going to sit thereand go.
You got to be kidding me.
It's like the deals they'vedone with Slavin and again with
Seth Jarvis.
These deals are going to ageextremely well.
You know, when you look atStanko, I was reading some

(19:30):
interesting things in the Kingslately.
When they were looking at himlast year heading into the
league they saw him as a realcontender for Rookie of the Year
.
They thought this guy is justhis talent is off the charts and
we haven't seen really what hecan do yet.
And you know he starts to showit on the power play.
That's where he's going to geta lot of his points.

(19:50):
Obviously, if he's working withthe dads, that's a little bit
of heavy lifting for him.
But he does see action on thattwo power play and he's very
effective and, as we know, hecan score.
He's got a shot, he can put thepuck in the net.
And the other thing is, youknow, for a guy of his slight
size and I know Eric Tulsky wastalking a lot about this it's
just amazing that he'll go tothose tough areas and hang out

(20:12):
there and comes out with thebruises and the hits and
everything else so great stuff.
So you look at where the Canesstarted and again, I agree with
you.
You know, brent Burns, dimitriOrlov it was time needed some

(20:33):
fresh blood.
The other guy that was notre-signed was Jack Roslevic.
Of course, roslevic right nowis rumored to go to the Maple
Leafs and apparently they'retrying to figure out a way to
get their dollars down on thecap so that they can make that
happen.
But I'm okay with Russell Dick,39.
Okay, so while that was going onobviously you know getting the
house in order on the Kane sidethere were some things happening

(20:56):
on the goaltending side.
We had talked a little bitabout this in our last podcast
as well, kind of previewing thisand saying they've got to get a
third goaltender, spencerMartin, and Tulsky had said some
good things about Martin.
He was heading off to Russia toplay with CSKA I'll get it
right in Russia.
So he was off on a two-yeardeal a good deal for him.

(21:18):
So he definitely wasn't goingto be a factor and I don't think
he was the right guy anyway.
And certainly Dustin Tokarski.
I appreciate his good effortlast year.
He wasn't going to be a factorand I don't think he was the
right guy anyway.
And certainly Dustin Tokarski.
I appreciate his good effortlast year.
He wasn't the guy either and Ithink the Canes realized that.
You know, with the injurychallenges of Freddie and at
times, piotr, they got to havesomebody that can play some
games.

(21:38):
So first up on the agenda,aaron.
They acquired a former MontrealCanadian in Caden Premo.
What can you tell us aboutCaden?

Speaker 3 (21:51):
Well, I haven't seen as much of Premo as some people
have, because I typically justwatch the NHL games and I mean I
did used to watch the Rocket.
They're a fun team to watch.
It's gotten a little bittrickier, more expensive to
watch AL games and if you'rewatching two NHL teams, chances
are you don't have time to watcha lot of games.
So unless you're getting paidbut just put that out there no,

(22:14):
but during his, his fill-ins,when he's been called up from
the rocket to take those timesin the NHL when when one of
their other goaltenders has notbeen available, primo has done
pretty well.
Last season he only played 11NHL games and the save
percentage was not that great.
It was an 836 save percentage.

(22:35):
But again, these are typicalcall-up situations.
You've got people down, you'vegot other people out or
something.
So it's not like you can lookat that and just read everything
into that.
As we know, it's harder tojudge goaltenders strictly from
a stat basis.
But he plays well.
His movements are.
You know, he seems to be movingwell to get the puck and he's
not.
You know he doesn't play with alot of panic, he's a very calm

(22:57):
goaltender, I would say.
Last, the previous season heactually had 23 games in the NHL
and that season he had a 9-10save percentage as an NHL
goaltender.
So his career NHL is an 8-84,which for a backup goaltender
who's going to come up and playsome games for you when your
guys are injured, you can't askfor better than that.

(23:19):
And as far as how he'll do withthe Canes, I can't help but
think that because of the canesway of playing team defense,
that those numbers are going tocome up a little bit, that he's
not going to be fighting quiteas much to.
You know, there's not going tobe as many, um, high danger
chances and so on, you know, andand that we all we've had that

(23:41):
discussion as far as maybethat's not always a good thing,
but, um, I think for agoaltender like Primo that's not
going to be an issue and he'sgoing to be just fine.
So I'm excited to have him jointhe Canes from the Habs.
The Habs really had reached apoint because of their other
young prodigy, jakob Dovish,where they kind of needed to
make a decision one way or theother with Primo, and this is a

(24:04):
great opportunity for himcertainly to come in, and I know
he's going to be great for theWolves, that's not even a
question, because he was aterrific part of the Habs season
this season and the Rocket I'msorry, not the Habs, the Rocket
the Rocket made it quite deepinto the playoffs and it was,
you know, a lot of that was dueto the goaltending they had.

(24:25):
Um, not just promo, but ingeneral, um, they've had a
really good uh round ofgoaltenders in the rocket.
So I, I like the pit, I mean Ilike the acquisition.
You can't, you cannot, complainabout a seventh round draft pick
being the cost, because seventhround draft picks almost never
make it to the nhl in the firstplace.
And age-wise, he is, he's 20,he'll be 26 in August, so he's

(24:50):
going to fit right in with theage of the current younger goal
set tender side, you know,because we have several both in
Chicago and then, of course,kachetkov.
So it's going to be a good ad,I think, and I think it's going
to be fun to have him come inand play some games at some
point, which we know that duringthe course of the season
there's almost 100% chance he'llcome in for at least a game.
So we'll see.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
I would expect.
I mean he could be around afair bit of the season, I think
for sure.
Here's what Hockey Forecastersaid about Primo, and this is
interesting.
Here's what Hockey Forecastersaid about Primo, and this is
interesting.
He says he has the ability toshut the door with a plon, since
he's both technically sound andan athletic netminder who can
make spectacular saves whenrequired.

(25:34):
And here's the good story Hispedigree is off the charts, so
we know that his dad is KeithPrimo and Keith, if you might
recall, was traded for RodGrindemore.
So kind of an interestinghistory here, kind of what goes
around comes around.
I'm excited about Premo.
I think he's got great upsideand I think he's a guy that

(25:56):
again brings size.
He's got athleticism.
I'm really excited to see whathe's going to do.
And he, you know he couldreally kind of move himself into
that number two spot.
He's been given an opportunityhere, because we know that
Freddie's not going to be aroundfor that much longer and, you
know, maybe this is a chance forhim to come in and show what he

(26:18):
can do.
And he's definitely got the youknow, the talent.
He's got the experience in theminors where he's played
extremely well.
So, yeah, good move.
The other guy that they decidedto make a move on was Andrei
Sveshnikov's buddy over inRussia, and of course that's
Amir Miftakov.

(26:38):
Miftakov was drafted by Tampa.
He played a year in NorthAmerica, was not particularly
successful.
He had been playing withAckbars in Russia, came over
then decided to go back, hasbeen tearing it up in the KHL
and again is a guy that comes inwith what the Canes think is a

(27:00):
pretty good upside.
Now he's on a two-way deal thisyear.
My suspicion is, if it doesn'tgo particularly well, he'll head
back to Russia.
So he's a veteran.
He's 26, 27 years old Again,same kind of thing.
And so two guys, some more guysto bring into the mix.
They think they've got upside.

(27:20):
They think they can competeCertainly to be a third
goaltender for the Canes andmaybe do something in the future
.
So kind of exciting.
And again, a little bit off thecharts, right, miftikoff is 25,
and he's a six-footer, so he'snot a really big goaltender.
So that's a little bitdifferent for the Canes, okay
Now.

(27:40):
So here we go.
We've got our goaltendingsorted out, we've sorted out the
players that they wanted tosign with the Canes, but we
still had some positions that weneeded to get busy on with the
Canes.
2c, of course, has been theAchilles heel for the Canes and
that was a big thing they weregoing to try to solve.
They wanted a scoring wingerand we talked a little bit about

(28:01):
this and we had talked aboutsome of the candidates not much
available.
And then they wanted anotherD-man.
They needed another D-man thatcould play in the top four.
So again, we knew we had lostBurns, we had lost Ortoloff, but
we had Alexander Nikitin comingin.
So that's good news, but westill needed another D-man to

(28:21):
kind of round out the course.
So what were we going to do?
So free agency didn't leave usa lot and so with, with Aaron
Ekblad moving on and Probrovsigned, you know, pretty quickly
, and he wasn't the guy we'regoing to look at.
Anyway, there wasn't reallymuch there.
I mean, who do you want to putin your top four?
So they had to get busy.

(28:43):
And Erin, what did they do?

Speaker 3 (28:48):
Well, they did something.
I think that surprised a lot ofus.
They went and looked.
They targeted some youngdefensemen.
We've heard the rumblings aboutthem targeting, you know,
Bouchard, possibly with an offersheet.
We heard that they were amongthe groups in on Noah Dobson,
who went to my other team, theHabs, and they ended up signing

(29:10):
the young defenseman from theNew York Rangers, Keandre Miller
, and he is a fantastic youngdefenseman.
This was a great decision.
I think it's exciting when yourgeneral manager doesn't just
look at the veteran options andsays you know, what have we got
out here?
That maybe a player that has alot more potential than he's

(29:30):
been able to show so far but isalready really, really good, and
so I was really surprised andvery excited to see Miller added
to the team.
I think he's going to be great.
It's going to be interesting tofigure out just exactly how
that deployment's going to work.
I know we'll probably betalking about that closer to the
season when things get a littlebit more, you know, solidified,

(29:51):
but I think it's really reallyexciting.
And based on just when you cameinto the offseason, a lot of us
still thought that, gee, maybethey're going to resign Burns
for a year or gee, maybe they'regoing to do this other thing.
So this is much moreinteresting, and I think it's
going to be incredible to watchhow this all works.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
Katie, what were your thoughts on the deal for
Keandre Miller?

Speaker 2 (30:20):
Well, the thing that of course stands out when it
comes to Keandre Miller.
Well, the thing that of coursestands out when it comes to
Keandre Miller is the fact thathe is a left shot defenseman
because, with the arrival ofNikitian, it seemed like the
Canes were set on the left side.
Slavin Nikitian Ghost, good togo.
So it shows that the Canes areprioritizing talent over just

(30:42):
some sort of stat like righthand, left hand, making sure
that that balance quote unquoteis there.
And so the question thenbecomes who plays on their left
side?
If this is the finalcomposition of the defense, it
might not be, there might besomething still going on, who

(31:03):
knows.
But, uh, that you don't go outand sign a player like miller to
put him on your third pairdefensively you don't pay that
kind of money for them.
So I would not be surprised ifhe actually ends up on the top
pair with slaven and we've beentalking about a long time about
how slaven needs a better Dpartner.
He needs to be with somebodywhere he's not all just having

(31:25):
to babysit out there while playis going on, and I think that
Miller offers a reallyinteresting opportunity for him
to be kind of like Slavin'sapprentice I guess is how I
would put it In that he has goodstick work, just like Slavin.
He does positioning pretty wellnot at Slavin's level, but if

(31:49):
he can learn from Slavin, thenhe can take what he does well
and make it better.
So I'm excited to see what hecan do and, plus with Slavin
behind him, it will allow him toopen up his offensive game a
little bit more.
When you look at who he waspaired with last season, he
started off the season with AdamFox, who is known for his
offensive skill, and so Millerdid not have a whole lot of

(32:12):
production when he was pairedwith Fox, and then there were a
period of games that he missedand he came back, and the
majority of those games he waspaired with Borgen and his
offensive game rose quite a bit.
He scored quite a few morepoints in those games that he
played with Borgen than heplayed with Fox, and I think a
lot of that has to do with thefact that he got to be the one

(32:33):
who drove play from the blueline, more so than his partner
did, and so he will get asimilar opportunity with Slavin.
Slavin will get his chances.
He's a smart cookie and we knowwe know how he works when he's
in the ozone, but his, hispresence will allow Miller to
really pinch in when, when hesees an opportunity, or join in

(32:54):
on the rush.
There are a lot of good clips ofhow Miller is smart about
joining, jumping in and joiningon the rush and creating those
odd man opportunities for histeam.
So it's definitely going to besomething to keep an eye on.
The Canes really believe in him.
They would not have negotiatedthat eighth year, that trade, if
they didn't believe that he wasnot only going to be a

(33:18):
long-term solution, but a good,solid, long-term solution.
But a good, solid, uh,long-term solution, whether top
pair or third defenseman thatthe play driver on that second
pair, regardless.
So I'm I'm really going to keepmy eye on him because I find
him very fascinating and I'mlooking forward to seeing how
the the canes go about uh, Iguess rehabilitating a little

(33:43):
bit of the regression that hashappened for him the past couple
of seasons, because there is astar player in there and just
let Brenda Moore and company gettheir hands on him and it's
going to be fun to see how hedevelops.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
Well, I know you had taken a look at some hockey viz
charts and some other charts aswell, katie.
Did you see anything that kindof jumped out at you in terms of
you know, miller, was thereanything that, hey, that's
interesting or that's kind ofcool or whatever?
Did you see anything on thecharts that you thought was
interesting?

Speaker 2 (34:20):
Well, yeah, like I mentioned, when he's paired with
somebody who's a little bitmore defensive-minded, he really
does have a good opportunityand eye for creating offense.
There's the season summary chartfor him that shows who he was
paired with more frequently andwhere his goals and stuff were,
and so that was really cool.

(34:41):
And then when you look at hisoffense, where his shots come
from, the shot chart looks a lotlike Brent Burns shot chart,
but from the left-hand side.
It's just so concentrated backat the blue line and in that, in
that corner, top corner of thezone.
But unlike Burns, he has a lotof shots also where he goes to
the net and he pinches andthat's where most of his goals

(35:03):
come from.
He doesn't score a lot of goalsback from the blue line, as you
would expect.
Those are lower, you know lowerdanger shots.
But when he does go towards thenet and drive the net, he is
able to get some more finishingin on those chances and he had I
think it was six goals, 23points or 23 assists and 29

(35:24):
points for the Rangers lastseason.
I wouldn't be surprised if heexceeds that with the Canes this
year because of the ice timeand the opportunities he's going
to be getting if he ends upplaying next to Slavin.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
Well, you know, a couple of years ago 22-23, you
know he was really on the righttrajectory.
He was starting to see his gamereally take off and of course
that's before Peter Laviolettecame in and ultimately the
wheels came on for the Rangers.
But he had nine goals and 34assists for 43 points.
So definitely a guy that canput up some numbers.
He played almost 22 minutes agame.

(35:58):
You know 22 in the playoffs heplayed almost 25 minutes a game.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
This guy's a horse.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
So you know you got to like it when you've got he
and Alexander Nikitian, who aretwo guys that are going to eat
minutes and both of them kind ofbring a lot of size.
So this is exciting.
Mckean's had an interestingthing to say at the start of the
season when they did theirreview of the teams and they
said a rangy six foot fivedefender who is an exceptional

(36:23):
skater, miller excels at usinghis speed and massive reach to
shut down opposing forwards, toshut down the attack, often
eliminating any threat againstthe rangers net.
So again, as we've talked alittle bit about, he's very good
with a stick.
He's very good in getting back.
You know he looked like.
You know I've seen a lot bitabout.
He's very good with a stick.
He's very good in getting back.

(36:43):
You know he looked like.
You know I've seen a lot ofhighlights where he actually
looks a little bit like JalenChatfield.
He's one of these guys that hasthis enormous speed.
There was some information fromNHL Edge on his skating speed
and he's in the 94th percentilein top skating speed and 89th in
bursts over 20 miles an hourtop skating speed and 89th in
bursts over 20 miles an hour.

(37:04):
Now, by comparison, burns was53rd in skating speed, top
skating speed, and 61st inbursts over 20th, 61st
percentile.

Speaker 3 (37:12):
So way way down.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
Orlov was 50th in both, so I think we're getting a
guy that's going to bring a lotmore speed to the mix here, and
again.
I mean there's questions aboutMiller.
You know some folks arewondering about his ability to
see the ice.
You know his ability to getthose breakout passes from his

(37:35):
own zone, some other thingsabout.
You know how he kind of readsthe game and so on.
We'll see how that plays out,but I think with the Kane style
and if he's working with a guylike Jacob Slavin, he can make
some mistakes.
That's no problem.
So I think, like you, I'm veryexcited.
Interestingly enough, when thedeal was done, uh, the NHL

(37:56):
network had a couple of guystalking about the deal uh, Stu
Grimson, former hurricane, andof course also Tony Granato who
coached Miller at Wisconsin.
Let's listen to what they hadto say.

Speaker 4 (38:10):
I think we'll see better hockey from Keiondre
Miller and the net benefit thathas to these Canes on the blue
line Absolutely, and I had thepleasure of coaching him at
Wisconsin.
Extremely talented athleticismcan skate.
The thing that is remarkableabout him is he's got such a
great reach first of all, soit's hard enough to get by him

(38:30):
and if you do and you beat him,his recovery and his ability to
adjust to with his skatingability is really at an elite
level.
So a great defender.
I think the one thing for himoffensively he's going to have
an opportunity in Carolina toget some more important
offensive minutes.
I think Brendan Moore will tellhim hey, I want you in the play
more, I want you moreaggressive in the offensive zone

(38:51):
and he has got a good shot andvery talented offensively.
So his numbers should go up.

Speaker 1 (38:56):
Okay.
So the Canes good start onsolving the D and they had a
good start with this.
So of course you know theyactually went about and made
another move on the defense,kind of quietly, and they signed
Mike Riley to a one-year deal,a $1.1 million deal, in free

(39:18):
agency.
This was all going on at thesame time so you had to kind of
navigate between trades and freeagent signings.
Riley's an interesting one,riley again, he had done some
good work with the Islanders acouple of years ago.
You might remember they hadtheir defense was completely
decimated and they brought Rileyin to kind of shore it up.

(39:42):
And I remember a lot of goodthings were said about Riley and
you know he's a guy that folksdon't know much about.
And what was said about Rileyby the hockey forecaster I think
was interesting.
They said he's a college starwhose game is finally starting
to come together at the NHLlevel.
So he's a guy that took a whileto kind of find his way.

(40:04):
Excellent complementarydefenseman who could be a
valuable contributor with theright partners.
So I think the idea with Rileywas again, a veteran, low cost,
he can be that seventhdefenseman, he can come in and
fit in with anybody Solidgetting out of his own zone.
He's a good skater, so I think,again, a good complementary

(40:26):
move by the Canes to get Rileylocked up.
So now they had the D done.
What are they going to do aboutcenter and the scoring forward?
So where did they go with thescoring forward?
There wasn't much out there,katie.
Any thoughts on that one?

Speaker 2 (40:46):
I think we all know exactly where they went when it
came to the scoring forwards.
We're still waiting on a 2C andsee how that goes, whether or
not KK sticks around for anotherseason, but we got our scoring
winger.
Nikolai Ehers was the top freeagent that actually made it to
market and everyone was sittingon pins and needles wondering

(41:08):
will he, won't he?
Where will he?
Does he stay in Winnipeg?
Does he go somewhere else?
Who's offering this?
Is it the Capitals?
Is it the Avs came up, where'she going to go?
But he's a good fit forCarolina and the longer the
conversation went on, it seemedmore and more of the good fit in
Carolina line was indicatingwell, even if he's a good fit,

(41:30):
he's not signing with us.
But surprise, surprise, heactually did sign with us, and I
think Aaron even doomed it intoexistence.

Speaker 1 (41:43):
Yes, if I recall.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
But with Ehlers signing, it was very interesting
and it's cool because it'sobvious that he wants to be a
Carolina Hurricane.
The Jets sounds like,especially with that eighth year
, that they could have usedwould have been able to offer
him a similar or better deal,and it also sounds like that
there were more lucrative offersout there from other teams.

(42:11):
But I think that Ehlers wanteda good contract.
But he didn't just want anycontract.
He wanted to go to a place thathe felt that he could
contribute but also getopportunity.
That he wanted that.
Go to a place that he felt thathe could contribute but also
get opportunity.
That he wanted that top linerole, that he wanted a chance to
really be the key cog in theoffense for a team but still be

(42:34):
on a path to playoff success.
And Carolina was the team thatfit that bill and I think that's
eventually what convinced himto sign here.
And it sounds like Brindamoremade a big pitch that was very
meaningful to him.
Wouldn't be surprised ifFrederick Anderson also helped
with being a right name, butvery excited to see him on the

(42:56):
canes and to see what he is ableto do.
There's no reason to assumehe's going to be anywhere else
in the lineup other than stapledright next to Sebastian Ajo.
So what the two of them cancreate together, hopefully, will
be very special, starting thisseason and for many seasons to
come.

Speaker 1 (43:14):
Erin thoughts on Nikolai Ehlers.

Speaker 3 (43:19):
Well, I said it on X that I really hope, after all of
the glowing things Ehlers saidabout really wanting to come to
Carolina, really wanting to playfor the Canes and play for
these fans, that I hope he neverhas to pay for an adult
beverage in Raleigh, northCarolina, because the fans have
been waiting a long time for aplayer who didn't just end up in

(43:42):
Carolina but who chose Carolina, and when I say a player, I
don't mean you know, obviouslythey've signed people long term
that are very happy to be here.
They have homegrown prospectsthat have come all the way
through the system.
But for one of the well,literally, like Katie said, the
top free agent left by the timefree agency opened to choose
Carolina.
That is a big deal for a teamthat has had this lingering

(44:04):
reputation that nobody wants tosign here.
And that that was.
You know it's almost like theantidote to what happened with
Miko Rantanen, because you knowthat was another opportunity for
the national media to complainand say nobody wants to sign in
Carolina, nobody wants to gothere, you're not going to get a
top star or a top free agent.

(44:26):
And so Nikolai Ehlers may not beright at that tier of the
Rantanen and those types ofplayers, but he's not very far
below it and that is a playerthat I think that the Canes
should be absolutely thrilledand excited to get for this team
.
And then just his character,his work ethic, the type of

(44:46):
player that he is, all of thoseare qualities that are going to
fit just great in Carolina,because it's just not.
You don't see players too oftenthat have the kinds of impact
on their, you know, with thegoal scoring and everything else
, who are also, you know,willing to do all the hard work.
And no one has ever complainedat all about Ehlers' work ethic

(45:11):
or his ability to not focusexclusively on scoring but to be
a real team player.
So it's a great move.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
Well, you know Ehlers , eight of his last nine seasons
has scored more than 20 goalsand he's had you know, he
usually gets around 60 points.
This is a guy that's going todeliver and, again, you know he
had some of those seasons wherehe missed action and he was on
definitely a trajectory to scorea lot more than 29 goals or 30

(45:41):
goals in the year.
I'm excited about Ehlers.
One of the things that wasdiscussed recently about Ehlers
and that we see is he has anability to carry the puck into
the zone effectively and makeplays on his own.
He's one of those guys that cancreate a goal out of nothing
and I've seen a number ofhighlights showing that guys

(46:01):
that can create a goal out ofnothing and I've seen a number
of highlights showing that.
I think the Canes have missedvery, very desperately the
ability to get into theopposition zone on the power
play.
When Natchez left, he was thetrigger of that.
He was the catalyst that reallymade it happen and I think one
of the reasons that they reallywanted to go after Ehlers is
because he does that well and sohe brings that capability on

(46:23):
the power play to really bringthe puck up the ice quickly and
to get in there and makesomething happen, and I think
that's going to be exciting.
You know, you mentioned thequality of Guy.
I mean I was very interestedwatching the interview with him
and the discussions with Ehlers.
When he talked about, look, hecalled so many people as he was

(46:43):
kind of preparing to make hisdecision right.
So he was talking to players.
He was talking to, you know,friends.
He was talking to whoever wouldtalk to him to say, hey, you
know, I'm looking at these teams, what can you tell me?
What do you think?
And you know, fortunately forCanes fans, a lot of those folks

(47:04):
spoke glowingly about the Canesand, of course, coach Brendan
Moore.
So clearly, you know he did hishomework, he made the decision
to come.
It's kind of the antithesis ofour man Rantanen.
So all of a sudden you got aguy that definitely wants to be
here and he's going through theeffort to be here.
So thank you very much and Ithink that's great.

(47:25):
And you know the other, you lookat him and you also look at K
Andrew Miller.
And Miller's a great guy too.
You know, I've seen a lot ofthings on him.
He's extremely well-liked.
He's kind of a soft-spoken guyand one of the things he said
that really caught my attentionwas he said you know, I was
really excited about signingthis long-term deal because
that's going to set up my mom aswell for her future.

(47:48):
And you know, he said she gaveup so much for me to be an NHL
player and I just want to repayher.
And I thought that was.
You know, to me that'soutstanding.
And again, what are the Canesdoing?
They're filling that rosterwith people that you know
they're just quality people inthe room and they're going to

(48:09):
fight.
And you know they talked a lotabout.
You know, all those guys in theroom have one thing on their
mind how the heck are we goingto beat the Panthers?
So now these new folks aregoing to come in and they're
going to start drinking theKool-Aid as well.
So the Canes did all this.
They did lose a player alongthe road.
We didn't really talk aboutthis, but they did lose Scott

(48:31):
Morrow in that Kandre Millerdeal.
You know, I think in the end Ithink you look at the body of
work of Eric Tulsky, signing allthese players on the Canes
roster, signing some new folkand then, of course, trading for
Miller I think it's a prettygood job done so far.

(48:51):
Erin thoughts.

Speaker 3 (48:55):
I think there's really no complaints about
Tulsky's first full offseason asa general manager.
I mean, we know that his handswere really full last year to
come in, you know, from theposition of having been the
assistant GM and then suddenlyhe's the GM and he had to handle
, you know, the draft and thetrade deadline and especially

(49:16):
all of those departing UFAs,because you know we really
didn't lose that many this yearcompared to last season the
number of players, you know, andall of the juggling that was
going on while he was alsotrying to negotiate with Jake
Gensel.
I know he got a lot ofcriticism for that, but this is
the first offseason where he'sreally been fully in the
driver's seat from the get-go.
There was no transition, nohandover, nothing like that.

(49:38):
I look at this and say you knowyou really can't give this any
lower of a rating than an A,because you know he's done a
stellar job and he's done itthinking outside the box a
little bit, not doing the kindsof things that most general
managers would do sort of as astandard operating procedure.

(49:58):
He didn't look to fill theroster with the same types of
players that were leaving.
He didn't, you know.
And so everything that he's done, I think, has upgraded the
Canes and improved their chancesof getting farther in the
playoffs.
And that's what you want to seewith an offseason of this
importance, because we know thatthe Canes really want to keep
pushing and you know it's notgood enough to make it to the

(50:20):
Eastern Conference Final andjust win one game, and we know
what their competition is.
Barring anything reallyunforeseen happening, the
Florida Panthers are going to bethe biggest obstacle standing
between the Canes and theStanley Cup, until they reach
the point where they can getpast them.
These are the kind of moves youwant to see.
Until they reach the pointwhere they can get past them.
These are the kind of moves youwant to see.

(50:40):
You want to see the kind ofmoves that are going to give
them the scoring, the defenseand just shoring up all of those
areas that need to be fixed.

Speaker 1 (50:47):
So I love what's been done so far.
Yeah, and just to add to thatand I'll give you a shot at this
too, katie I think one of thethings that Eric does and you
know we always have to rememberthat any moves that Eric and his
crew make are analyticallybased in a huge fashion, right?
So I mean, they go through alot of analysis, they do a lot

(51:12):
of kind of investigation aboutthe players.
You know what they're like, youknow what they can expect from
these players as people and soon, like you know what they can
expect from these players aspeople and so on.
But if we look at what theCanes did in the offseason last
year, they brought a lot ofplayers in and most of them
stuck.
I mean it's incredible, right.
They re-upped most of them andthey contributed extremely well

(51:32):
and in a very fast fashion tothe Hurricanes.
So you know that if Eric's gothis eye on somebody, it's very
likely other than theopportunistic deal for Ranteman,
I think it's very likely thathe's got his signature on it.
And I think you're right withwhat you're saying, aaron.
This is his first chance toreally do it.
And again, long-term contractsgetting folks I mean, look at

(51:56):
the number of folks who are onseveral-year deals.
I mean it's incredible.
His work over the next fewseasons is going to be pretty
easy.
He's got so many folks lockedup right and it's quite a story.
So, katie, what did you thinkabout Eric's work?
I mean, obviously, aaron and Iare pleased.
What are you thinking?

Speaker 2 (52:18):
Oh yeah, I think he has definitely done very well,
him and the entire group,because you know that it's a
team effort.
He might be the captain of theteam when it comes to this sort
of thing, but there's a lot ofinput from Dundon, from
Brendamore, from Gleason, fromthe whole crew, the scouting
department.
So it just shows what a reallyunique team that they have, that

(52:41):
they work together hand in handso seamlessly when, whether
it's the scouting for the at thedifferent minor league levels
or it's looking into currentplayers and seeing who would fit
the system.
Because that's what's so keyright now is finding players who
fit the system.
And the one thing that I know Ipersonally have gotten caught up

(53:03):
in before is worrying aboutplayers being too samey-samey
for the Canes, and I thinkthere's some validity to that.
But at the same time, stankovenis a perfect fit for the Canes.
But you can't say that he'ssuper samey-samey in the way he
plays.
You can make the jokes about ohyeah, he's another short King
or whatever, but the way heplays is not the same way that

(53:25):
Jarvis plays, is not the sameway that Jackson Blake plays.
He is his own, his own playerwith his own particular style
that is a Canes hockey player.
And I think that Ehlers we'regoing to be saying the same
thing about him.
He is a Canes hockey player,but what Ehlers is going to
bring I forgot to mention thehockey viz charts with Ehlers

(53:47):
what Ehlers is going to bring isthat he will go to whatever
part of the ice in front of thenet to create chances.
His shot spread is across theboard, it is not concentrated in
any one given spot and hissuccess.
He has good finishing.
Wait, yeah, a canes player withgood finishing?

(54:07):
Perish the thought.
But that's the sort of thingthat toski is looking for, is
he's?
yes he's not looking for.
Oh, I want somebody who is aclone of sebastian ajo, just a
winger.
This is somebody who is goingto come in and bring that little
extra something.
He still fits the system, buthe brings that little extra
touch that not only is going tomake the Canes as a whole better

(54:29):
, but is going to elevate theother players that play with him
and make them better.
I wouldn't be surprised if wesee Ajo having a career year on
the score sheet, because he hassomeone like Ehlers to play with
, who will help motivate Ajo toshoot more and motivate Ajo to
finish better, and Jarvis orSvetcher, whoever else is on the
line with him.
So that's part of the genius ofTulsky, and that entire crew is

(54:53):
bringing in people that aregoing to to be good fits, but
not just be good individual fits, but good fits on their line,
good fits on their pair, goodfits for but not just be good
individual fits, but good fitson their line, good fits on
their pair, good fits for theteam overall.
And so at this point I'm justgoing to say I'm going to give
him an A just because I thinkhe's got other stuff cooking and
I want to have room to bumpthat grade up even higher when

(55:15):
he pulls another rabbit or twoout of his hat, whether it's
before the start of the regularseason or before the tread down
vine or whatever.
So I'm doing that just for myown needs of being able to, to,
to boost him up a little bitmore as the season goes along.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
And Katie.
That's a great segue because ifwe look at where the canes are
right now and putting together akind of an analysis of the
lineup with Puckpedia, 23players under contract, $84.8
million, okay, which means we'vegot $10.6 million still in the

(55:52):
coffers, and that, you know,doesn't include any players that
might get traded, which wouldadd to that.
So you know, you take a look atthe roster, the roster's deep
Gosh.
The roster as I had it togetherWilliam Carrier is the 13th
forward, for goodness sakes,because you've got Jackson Blake
who's got to go down to thatfourth line.

(56:14):
So it's kind of crowded.
And the D seven men on the Dand three goaltenders and you're
still sitting there with lotsof room to go.
So what takes Eric and puts himup to that A-plus side?
We know that the discussionthat has been raging for so long
is gosh, what are we going todo with that two-center spot?
So Eric's done great workgetting the scoring forward.

(56:38):
He's brought in, I think, avery exciting defenseman and
given up very little, if youthink about it.
I mean, he gave up some draftpicks which we had picked up
from Dallas, more or less, andhe gave up Scott Morrow who
really, frankly, did not looklike he was going to have a
future with the Hurricanes and Iknow that sounds kind of
challenging, but he just lookedlike he was going to be a future

(56:59):
with the Hurricanes and I knowthat sounds kind of, you know,
challenging, but he just lookedlike he was going to be
struggling to be a Kane orcertainly this year didn't have
a spot.
So there you are and you've gotthat lineup ready to go.
A lot of folks have been talkingabout.
You know here's the move theyshould make and this is the guy
they should get.
And you know we talked aboutLarkin and Thompson and McTavish

(57:22):
and all kinds of guys.
These folks aren't available.
Don't even think about it.
They're not leaving their teamsbecause all those teams are.
You know they're going to bepressing to do stuff and if you
were going to trade for them,you'd give away, you know, a
huge, huge amount.
So where does that leave theCanes?
It's kind of a tough place andI know kind of following it on X

(57:43):
, people are tripping andfalling all over the place.
They're really struggling totry to find something that makes
sense.
What are we thinking about?

Speaker 3 (57:56):
this, aaron.
Well, you bring up thediscussions on X and I know I've
been kind of pulling my hairout a little bit here and there
with some of them, becausethere's a lot of fans that seem
to think that Eric Cholski canjust drive over to the 2C store
and load up the back of thetruck.
You know there's no such thing.
I'm sorry to tell you, itdoesn't exist.
But the other thing is, likeyou say, tom, a lot of these

(58:17):
players are not available,especially not right now.
The key for the Canes is goingto be patience, because they're
going to need to wait until,like Katie was talking about,
how important is it to have aplayer that fits the Canes?

Speaker 4 (58:33):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (58:33):
Not just fits the spot on the roster but fits the
Canes.
You know, and I've gone throughsome of these players with you
know, back and forth in thediscussions, and I've said, you
know, yeah, Tage Thompson, surehe's a great player, he's
absolutely a great player.
He spent half of his games lastseason at wing because his
defensive capacity is kind ofnot there.

(58:54):
I mean, it's it.
Is he a disaster on defense?
No, but does he play Kane-styledefense?
No, I think the answer to thatis very clear to anybody who's
ever watched Buffalo play ahockey game.
So those are the kinds ofthings where you're like you're
not going to give up here.
Let's fill a giant box with allof our best prospects and draft
picks and throw in a couple ofroster players.

(59:14):
You're not going to do that fora player like Thompson, who
isn't the perfect fit.
Yes, you're not going to dothat for a player like Thompson
who isn't the perfect fit.
As the season wears on, you havea lot of teams right now that
want to replicate what theCapitals did in terms of a
rebuild and they think they'reclose enough to do that.
So they didn't sell this summer.
They're not selling theirplayers because they really

(59:36):
believe they're this close tomaking the playoffs and they
want to get there.
And you know there's too manyteams in that list right now
because statistically they can'tall make it.
So what's going to happen isyou get between American
Thanksgiving and the tradedeadline and don't forget we
have the Olympics in there too,which is going to change some
things in terms of injuries andplayers maybe not being able to

(59:59):
come back and play.
So once we get through some ofthat chaos of the season, you're
going to have some teams thatlook at their roster and look at
where they are in the standingsand say, okay, we're not going
to make it.
And now is the time to movesome of these pending UFAs or
make a deal for a pending RFAwho isn't planning to sign

(01:00:19):
long-term.
You know we got maybe toughnegotiations with a young player
here and there.
That's when the Canes are goingto strike, because you know
Tolsky's got his eye on sometargets for the Canes that
probably aren't even on any ofour lists and he'll make those
moves when it makes sense tomake them.
He's not going to make themahead of time.

Speaker 1 (01:00:40):
Katie.

Speaker 2 (01:00:42):
I couldn't have said it any better.
It's just a lot of patience, Ithink.
And you know, if we start theseason with Kokunyemi as 2C,
then we start the season withKokunyemi as 2C.
We got to the EasternConference Finals last season
with arguably not as talented aroster as we are going to start

(01:01:03):
this season with KK as the 2C.
So if KK is the 2C, then great.
I just hope that Brenda Mooreleaves him as the 2C and perhaps
gives him a little bit more ice, if not for him as much as for
the other wingers, because wehave so many talented wingers.
Only two wingers can play withAjo.
That's how the math works,Right Three forwards on the

(01:01:26):
eight, Unless they want to playa 4-1 system, which, even with
Slavin back there as the one, Idon't think they are going to do
.
Only two wingers can play withAjo, which means that two other
wingers have to play with KK andthat still leaves in excess of
really talented wingers, becausewe are blessed with good
wingers, especially youngwingers.

(01:01:46):
Just to give those guys, togive Svetch or Stankoven or
Blake or Hall, whoever Robinsoneven has shown that he can play
up there, Whoever it is givethem more time, give them
opportunity to score, then evenbetter.
We'll be fine with KKs at 2Cand we'll evaluate where the
team's at, as Aaron said, alongthe road of the season, along

(01:02:12):
the journey, and then sometimebetween American Thanksgiving
and trade deadline, if somethinghas to change, then we'll have
a clearer picture not only ofwhere the Canes are at but where
the rest of the NHL is at.

Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
Yeah, I mean I totally agree, and you know you
look at a Boston.
I mean a lot of folks havelooked at the Bruins.
You're looking at Boston Bruinssquad.
They've got Pavel Zaka, whowould be an interesting ad.
They've got Elias Lindholm.
Could we bring him back toCarolina?
You know, depending on how hisgame kind of tracks, he's been

(01:02:44):
sliding a little bit in recentyears but maybe he'll get back
on track.
But those kind of guys could bethe kind of players that could
help.
I know your target, dylanLarkin, is always on the radar
for us.
If the Wings have another oneof their lame duck seasons,
maybe he'll want out and maybehe'll be a guy we could pick up
as well, and I think he'd fitthe Canes' style quite nicely.

(01:03:05):
These guys, I think, could allplay for the Canes.
But I think to your point,aaron, talking about a lot of
these players is foolish becausethey aren't Carolina
Hurricanes-type players and theyare not going to be brought in.
If Eric doesn't think they fitto a tee, then they won't be

(01:03:27):
part of the Canes mix.
Will the Canes sit around with$10 million until trade deadline
, which would be worth millions?
I mean a massive amount at thatstage?
I'm not sure.
I think Eric will do somethingelse this summer.
I'm not sure it's going to besome kind of huge move.
He might make a move forsomeone like maybe a Lucas
Reichel I've talked about himbefore that kind of player,

(01:03:48):
somebody that could come in andcompete for a spot.
Who knows?
He's going to be out there.
He's going to be trying to findsomebody else he can bring in
and we'll see how it goes.
But in any case he's in a goodsituation.
Once things start to turn forsome of these teams, he'll be
there, he'll be ready and he'sgoing to have the assets, he's

(01:04:09):
going to have the cap room andhe's going to have the prospects
and, of course, the draft picksto work with.
So so far, I mean a greatsituation and I think the team
could very well start withKokunemi.
And I know, aaron, you've talkeda lot about KK and his good
work five on five.
I think a lot of folksmisinterpret him because of the

(01:04:30):
eye test, but you know he stacksup pretty good against a lot of
the centers in the league inhis role and you know, if he had
a little bit more offense, thisconversation wouldn't even be
happening.
So if he could get up to 45, 50points even.
I think we'd see a completelydifferent story with Kokuniemi.

(01:04:51):
And you know what?
Sure, maybe he'll have a summerwhere he works hard and says
you know, I'm going to provethese folks wrong.
He's still on a good, friendlydeal for the Canes.
Of course, each year it getsbetter.
And the other thing that withKokaniemi, we have to consider
is that his future as athird-line center could be a

(01:05:11):
good one with the Canes, andwe've talked about this before.
Is that okay?
He may not be the 2C because ofhis offensive shortcomings, but
he definitely has the acumen tobe a 3C, and at $4.8 million in
three or four years that's nota problem.
So I'm kind of with you guys.
I'm not in a hurry to moveKokaniemi.

(01:05:32):
A lot of folks just want himout for the purpose of getting
him out, and I'm not one ofthose guys, for sure.
And it's not just because youare a big fan of Zarin.
I think he's a valuable playeras well and I think you know the
frustration with me, and Ithink with a lot of us, is that

(01:05:54):
you know he's had periods wherehe's really looked the part.
You know he's really looked thepart.
You know he's been great.
So you know you think of thestart of last year.
He and you mentioned Robinson,katie, moving up the lineup.
He and Robinson and they, justthey were solid, they played
well and they were deliveringoffense and gosh, all of them

(01:06:18):
were contributing.
So so again, you know it's it'skind of just finding that
confidence in that space andgetting them going and I believe
the Canes may just decide tostart with him.
You know that might be thedecision and I don't one thing
for sure we know that Eric andhis, his, his team, is not going

(01:06:39):
to be making moves just for thepurpose of making moves.
So exciting stuff.
The other discussion that comesup occasionally on X is should
the Canes get a right shot D andyou mentioned this as well,
katie Should they be getting aright shot D Because of course
they like righties and leftiestogether and all this kind of
stuff?
Any thoughts on?

Speaker 2 (01:07:03):
that it's just a matter again of the price is
right.
You don't get rid of KK for a2C just to get rid of KK and
have a change.
You don't bring in aright-handed D just because you
want to have three lefties andthree righties.
It's got to be the right personwho fits the system and it will
also be a good balance forwhoever that that um, whoever
their D partner is, whether it'ssomebody for Slavin, somebody

(01:07:25):
for Miller, somebody forNikitian I guess that would mean
Ghost would be the odd man out,um, but that's, that's just
kind of the question there.
So I find that less likely,unless the Canes move on from
Ghost, because you don't sitGhost.
He's not the type of player tohang around as a seventh D just

(01:07:46):
waiting for somebody to getinjured.
He has a role.
That's very valuable that ifyou're not going to play him,
there is a team who will.
And I just I'm doubtful thatthat happens.
But again, for the rightright-handed D, I'm doubtful
that that happens.
But again for the right, forthe right right-handed knee, I,
I'm sure they would.
They would probably go aheadand do that, but I don't.

Speaker 3 (01:08:09):
I find it doubtful that that particular move is
going to happen anytime soon.
I would agree with that.
I'd agree with that because Ithink that that's kind of what
what we're we're hearing in thediscussions about miller.
You know um they were talkingabout.
Well, uh, would miller play hisum off wink, because he said he
was up for the challenge.
On the other hand, they knowthat slavin can play um on the

(01:08:31):
right, and when you talk aboutghost, he's another player that
can also play on the right andhas done so.
So it's it's not like theydon't have defensemen that can
do this.
I think that that's again,that's one of those areas where
it hasn't been Rod Brindamore'scomfort zone to play a
defenseman on his off wing, butit doesn't mean it can't be done

(01:08:51):
, and so you know that's that'ssomething that the team might be
looking at and saying you knowwhat that's, it's OK, we're
going to, we're going to do thisand it's going to be just fine,
because some of these guys havesome experience playing on the
right, and I believe I don'tremember I'd have to ask some of

(01:09:12):
our Russian friends but Ibelieve that Nikitin has also
played on the right at timesbefore too, and it's very common
in Russia for a player to playon the offside from his shot.
So who knows what they'reexactly planning to do?
They may try everybody and justsee who fits best.
So but I don't see them.
Like Katie said, unless therewas the perfect RHD fit for the
Canes, that was too good of anopportunity to pass up, and

(01:09:34):
right now I'm looking out thereat who's available.
I don't see anyone like that.
So I don't think that they'regoing to be making a move in
that area.
They could surprise us.

Speaker 1 (01:09:46):
You know the names.
I mean it's Rasmus Anderson andEric Carlson are the two names
that come up the most.
Anderson's not coming toCarolina, number one.

Speaker 3 (01:09:54):
No.

Speaker 4 (01:09:54):
Anderson wants Vegas.

Speaker 1 (01:09:56):
We don't need Carlson .
So, frankly, those two guys inmy mind don't make any sense.
Not for the Canes, no, no, notfor the Canes.
Two quick points.
One of them is that I don'tknow if you remember, but Brett
Pesci played left side withJustin Falk.
You know, probably four or fiveyears ago, before Falk was

(01:10:20):
traded to St Louis, and Iremember watching those guys and
they were tremendous.
Pesci was outstanding on theleft side as a right shot guy
and, again, a lot of teams dothat.
So it's not like you know, it'snot like the Canes are asking
folks to do something which iscompletely and totally unnatural
.
One thing it does and this isinteresting is that you know

(01:10:41):
that that left shot guy is goingto have a better opportunity
offensively because they canslide into the center of the ice
very, very easily from thatright side and get a great shot.
So there's great opportunity onthe offensive side, because
that's normally how it's done onthe power play anyway.
So it's good.
So I think there's a realinteresting opportunity here.

(01:11:06):
Yeah, a lot of those guys canplay on the opposite side.
And one thing the other thing Iwas going to mention is that
Shane Gossespierre interestinglyenough, his analytics for last
year defensively were his best.
That was his best defensiveyear in the National Hockey
League and so you know he's beenworking on closing his gaps.

(01:11:28):
He's working on being moreeffective defensively.
He even killed penalties atdifferent points when we had
injuries.

Speaker 3 (01:11:33):
You made me laugh there, tom, when you were
talking about increased offensefrom you know, a defenseman
playing on his off wing.
I had a sudden thought and itmade me laugh.
Maybe this is how Jacob Slavinfinally gets an Oris.
There you go, nice.
If he plays on his off wing andsuddenly gets all these great

(01:11:54):
scoring opportunities, he's gota decent shot, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:11:59):
Well, you know, Well, we've covered a ton of ground
here, you know, and I think it'sbeen a lot of fun, of course,
to go through this.
You know more to be done byEric.
I think it's going to be quietfor a while.
I think a lot of the folks areheading off to maybe get a break
after the madness of finishingthe season.
And then, of course, the draftand free agency and trades and

(01:12:21):
so on.
Any closing thoughts before wewrap it up, Erin, closing
thoughts.

Speaker 3 (01:12:29):
I think that the Canes have given us, you know,
reason to look forward to nextseason.
I think it's going to beexciting to see how all these
pieces fit together.
I can't wait to see Nick Ehlersin a Canes uniform, and the
same thing for Keandre Miller.
I think that he's going to be agreat fit with the boys and
he's, you know, especially giventhat he's right at the age with

(01:12:50):
some of our youngertroublemakers, it should be a
lot of fun to see him fitting inin the locker room, and I just
it feels like an injection ofenergy that they needed.
I think that, you know, lastseason's team was very good.
There's no question that theyoutperformed expectations, but,
like you said, some of theplayers that have moved on, it
was kind of time for that sortof change to be made.

(01:13:12):
Thing I'm still looking at isthat, you know, given how much
everyone who was with the teamlast year contributed, I do hope
that Jack Roslevic will find agood landing spot.
He's a good guy too, and I hopehe ends up somewhere good.
So that's it for me.

Speaker 1 (01:13:31):
Katie.

Speaker 2 (01:13:33):
That pretty much sums it up from my point of view as
well.
I'm definitely going to bepassing the time throwing out
some data or some stats aboutdifferent players or asking you
know, who do you think herethere?
Just, it's fun to interact withother Canes fans and I really
appreciate that community thatwe have over on X and all of the

(01:13:53):
crazy ideas we like to pass offof each other and react to news
and that sort of thing, and so,um, that will definitely help
pass the time as we wait for thedays to tick by and for the
next piece of news to come to us.
But other than that, justexcited for what's to come every
little bit, whether it's thetraining camp or that sort of

(01:14:17):
thing, it'll be here before weknow it.

Speaker 1 (01:14:20):
So it's going to enjoy the process along the way
yeah, and of course, uh,prospect showcase training camp
and and then of course, theseason starts.
You know, I look at, you knowsome of the changes that have
happened as the as the kind ofseason went along, and you know
the ranting and trade andeverything that happened there
and I think so much about youknow the ranting and trade and

(01:14:43):
everything that happened thereand I think so much about you
know the fortune we have ingetting Logan Stankoven I got to
tell you I think he kind oftypifies the Hurricanes in every
way.
And you know a guy that says Iwanted to sign a long-term deal
right from the get-go.
I mean they asked him as he washeading off for his summer, and
they said, said, would you liketo get a contract done?
He said absolutely, I want tobe here forever.
I mean that's quite a statement.

(01:15:04):
And now Nikolai Ehlers making along-term deal and signing on
to the Canes.
And you know Kandri Miller,eight-year deal with the Canes
and looking forward to a newopportunity.
And it's like this is all goodstuff, folks, and in a world
that's noisy and a lot of thingsthat you don't want to hear

(01:15:27):
going on every day, this is thegood stuff we want to hear Good
people joining the canes andcontinuing to build what I think
is a first-class organization.
So great summer so far.
I mean.
We'll be chatting again throughthe summer, for sure, as things
unfold, but things will quietdown for a little while.
We've had a hectic periodthroughout the season and

(01:15:47):
certainly into the playoffs, butwe'll be back, I'm sure, in the
not-too-distant future.
And again, for all the folkswho've been watching or
listening, of course we're sodelighted you would spend time
with us and, as Katie said, ofcourse we're so delighted you
would spend time with us.
And, as Katie said rightfully,we'd love to connect with those
of you on X as well.
Please, please, reach out to us.
If you have any comments,anything you'd like to say to

(01:16:10):
the folks, to any of us today,please leave those in the
comments section down below.
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(01:16:30):
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So so again, thanks so much forjoining us and we'll look
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