The Carolina Hurricanes General Manager Ron Francis made a flurry of deals before the March 2nd trade deadline and the Hurricanes netted several draft picks and only one NHL player. They traded three veteran players in moves that seemed designed to dump salary and stock pile draft picks. It also signified that the Hurricanes are throwing in the towel on this season and getting some playing time for some of the younger players and see if they are going to fit into the Carolina Hurricanes future plans.
The Hurricanes traded Defenseman Tim Gleason to the Washington Capitals first. Gleason provided an element of toughness for the Hurricanes this season and led the team with 133 hits at the time of the trade. In return the Hurricanes got Defenseman Jack Hillen and a 2015 Fourth Round Draft Pick. In Hillen, the Hurricanes got a younger version of Gleason with the same skill set but not quite as tough. He has not shown the same willingness to drop the gloves when he has to as Gleason has. According to hockeyfights.com, Gleason has dropped the gloves 50 times in his career compared to once for Hillen.
The Hurricanes also traded Defenseman Andrej Sekera to the Los Angeles Kings for a prospect Defenseman Roland McKeown and a conditional First Round draft pick in 2015 or 2016. McKeown was the 50th overall pick by the Kings in 2014 and currently Captains the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League.
The last trade the Hurricanes made was trading Left Wing Jiri Tlusty to the Winnipeg Jets for two draft picks- A conditional Fifth or Sixth Round Pick in 2015 and a Third Round Pick in 2016.
The Hurricanes lost an element of physicality with the trade of Gleason and the Hurricanes are not a physical hockey team. Sekera was coming off a career year in 2013-14 when he scored a career high 44 points but he had struggled to find his game this season, scoring only 19 points in 57 games. Tlusty had appeared in parts of six seasons with the Hurricanes but was also having a tougher time fitting into Head Coach Bill Peters system.
The end result is that the Hurricanes traded three NHL veterans for one veteran, a prospect, and four draft picks. The plus/minus to these trades may not be known for several seasons as the Hurricanes are destines to miss the playoffs once again.
Showing posts with label Jiri Tlusty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jiri Tlusty. Show all posts
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Friday, December 19, 2014
Where Is The Offense?
The Carolina Hurricanes are only ahead the Edmonton Oilers by one point when it comes to having the worst record in the National Hockey League. The Hurricanes are 9-19-3 for 21 points and have a solid hold on last place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Hurricanes are only averaging 2.1 Goals Per Game, good for 28th place in the NHL. Injuries have hit the Hurricanes hard as they lost Jordan Staal before the regular season and Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, and Jiri Tlusty have all missed extended time and the offense has had a hard time jelling under new Head Coach Bill Peters.
Defenseman Justin Faulk leads the team in scoring with 19 points in 31 games and Jiri Tlusty leads the team in Goals with 10. Only three players that have played in games for the Hurricanes have a + rating and that is Andrej Nestrasil with a +3 in 8 games played.
I do not know if an element of toughness would help the Hurricanes or not but they traded away team tough guy, Defenseman Jay Harrison, to the Winnipeg Jets yesterday for a 6th round draft choice. Harrison had two of the Hurricanes five fighting majors this season. The Hurricanes last fighting major the Hurricanes logged was a month ago when Brad Malone went against Brayden McNabb of the Los Angeles Kings. The Hurricanes need someone to protect the top scorers.
The big question is how do the Hurricanes open up their scoring? I would love to see the Hurricanes develop "Fast Break" hockey like the NHL had in the 1980's with almost every team having a scorer that topped 100 points. I don't see that happening anytime soon especially with the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes are only averaging 2.1 Goals Per Game, good for 28th place in the NHL. Injuries have hit the Hurricanes hard as they lost Jordan Staal before the regular season and Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, and Jiri Tlusty have all missed extended time and the offense has had a hard time jelling under new Head Coach Bill Peters.
Defenseman Justin Faulk leads the team in scoring with 19 points in 31 games and Jiri Tlusty leads the team in Goals with 10. Only three players that have played in games for the Hurricanes have a + rating and that is Andrej Nestrasil with a +3 in 8 games played.
I do not know if an element of toughness would help the Hurricanes or not but they traded away team tough guy, Defenseman Jay Harrison, to the Winnipeg Jets yesterday for a 6th round draft choice. Harrison had two of the Hurricanes five fighting majors this season. The Hurricanes last fighting major the Hurricanes logged was a month ago when Brad Malone went against Brayden McNabb of the Los Angeles Kings. The Hurricanes need someone to protect the top scorers.
The big question is how do the Hurricanes open up their scoring? I would love to see the Hurricanes develop "Fast Break" hockey like the NHL had in the 1980's with almost every team having a scorer that topped 100 points. I don't see that happening anytime soon especially with the Hurricanes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)