Hockey was indeed alive and well in North Carolina during the lockout, as the Charlotte Checkers got off to one of their best starts in team history and have the second best record in the AHL at 23-11-2-3. Their performance during the lockout was very promising for the Hurricanes organization because most of Charlotte's top players were younger players who the Hurricanes drafted. Developing talent in the minor leagues is always important in running a successful franchise, so it was great to see guys like Zach Boychuk, Drayson Bowman, Zac Dalpe and Bobby Sanguinetti excel in Charlotte during the lockout. 

The Checkers receiving the bulk of their production from guys who are on the cusp of being ready for the NHL is somewhat of a double-edged sword in a way, though. It was good to see these players perform well during the work stoppage, but most people knew that these players were going to get their shot in the NHL once it returned. This would lead to a massive talent purge on the Checkers and put the team in a rough spot depending on how many players the Hurricanes decided to call-up. Charlotte isn't in the same boat as Oklahoma City where virtually all of their best players will be going to the NHL, but they could potentially lose some key pieces once the NHL season begins.

Charlotte had to play two games this weekend without the services of Zach Boychuk, Tim Wallace, Dan Ellis, Drayson Bowman, Jeremy Welsh and Bobby Sanguinetti and they could potentially lose a few more players depending on who else is called up, who makes the Hurricanes and who gets lost on waivers. Add in the injuries to Rasmus Rissanen, Jerome Samson and Marc-Andre Gragnani and there could be some tough times ahead for the Checkers. 

That's the risk you take when you have so many players in their early to mid-20's playing in the minor leagues. The AHL acts as a developmental league but it's easy to forget that the Checkers are an independent franchise just like the Hurricanes and they have their own goals to ice a competitive and successful team. The Canes could potentially take a lot of talent away from the Checkers (9 players in total were called up) depending on what happens over the next week.

Just what are the Checkers going to be left when all is said and done, though? To find out, we will take a closer look at how Charlotte's players have been performing this year and discuss who will have to fill in for some of the pieces they will be losing to the NHL very soon.

This is an exciting time for many junior hockey players, as a select grouping of them just returned from participating in the World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia. If that wasn't enough, the NHL training camps just started up and there were plenty of junior hockey players invited to join the teams who own their NHL rights for a chance at playing in the big leagues. Even if they only stick around for a couple games, the thrill of playing in the best league in the world has to be quite an experience for these players who are lucky enough to get an invite. 

Defenseman Ryan Murphy was the only junior player who Carolina invited to camp, and while I think he is a longshot to make the team, he is going to have the next week to make the best impression he can on the coaching staff so that they may consider giving him a full-time roster spot. I mean, if there is anyway Murphy can erase his lackluster performance at the World Juniors from his mind, it's making the NHL out of camp. I still don't think he is ready yet, but almost anything can happen in such a short training camp period. All he has to do is make the most of this opportunity.

Before he departed for camp, however, Murphy still had a couple games to play with the Kitchener Rangers and after the jump we will talk about how he and the rest of Carolina's junior prospects performed.

Ryan Murphy, Kitchener Rangers - 2 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 Pts, 0 PIM

If these were Murphy's last games with the Rangers, he can at least say that he went out on somewhat of a high note with two solid games. He had a pretty strong performance in their 6-2 win over Guelph where he tallied an assist and was on-ice for three even strength goals. He recorded another assist in their 5-1 win over the Sarnia Sting and was on-ice for two Kitchener goals in addition to that. Again, I think he is better off spending the rest of the year in Kitchener but I'm looking forward to seeing how he plays in camp and possibly the regular season. It just seems doubtful that he is ready for the NHL in this point despite his strong offensive performance as of late.

Brock McGinn, Guelph Storm - 3 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 Pts, 2 PIM

McGinn got his 11th goal of the season in Guelph's 5-1 win over Kingston where he scored the game-tying goal off a rebound chance. He also played a key role in Guelph's third goal of the game where he provided a screen in front of the net which allowed a long slap shot from the point to get past the Kingston goaltender. McGinn's performance in the other two games were not as noteworthy, as he was on-ice for two goals in their 6-2 loss to Kitchener and took two penalties in a 3-2 win over Barrie. Although he did record an assist in the Kitchener game.

Trevor Carrick, Mississauga Steelheads - 0 GP

Carrick was a scratch in all three Mississauga games this past week, all of which were losses I might add. I'm not sure if he was injured of if he was out of the lineup due to performance but it appears that the Steelheads defense needs some help right now regardless. They gave up over 40 shots in two of their three games this week. 

Keegan Lowe, Edmonton Oil Kings - 4 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 Pts, 5 PIM

Lowe had a tough game to start the week as he ended up being on-ice for a goal against after failing to cover a forward in the slot. He was able to rebound with a two-assist game in a 4-0 win over Lethbridge Hurricanes later in the week, though. Lowe showed some of his offensive potential on Edmonton's third goal, too as he made a great pinch down low to set up Trevor Cheek to put the Oil Kings in front 3-0. Lowe would also get involved offensively in Edmonton's next game, scoring the game winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Saskatoon. The next night, Lowe was kept off the scoresheet but he was a +2 in a 3-0 win over Medicine Hat where Curtis Lazar recorded a hat trick. Lowe is someone who could potentially be at Hurricanes camp next season and it's possible that he may creep higher on the team's radar if continues to stay healthy and play well.

Austin Levi, Plymouth Whalers - 3 GP, 0 G, 1 A, 1 Pt, 0 PIM

Levi was on-ice for a total of four goals against in Plymouth's first two games of the week, but he ended the week on a strong note by recording an assist on Plymouth's game winner in overtime against Erie. This was Levi's first point in awhile, so it was good to see him get back on the scoresheet and it's even better that Plymouth won two of their last three games. 

Tyler Stahl, Victoria Royals - 1 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 Pts, 2 PIM

The only game Stahl played in was Victoria's 6-1 loss to the Kelowna Rockets and he took a kneeing penalty in that game. He was inactive for the rest of the week and I'm not sure if it was a coach's decision or for disciplinary reasons. Stahl's gotten into trouble a few times this season, so there is a good chance it may have been the latter.  Victoria was outscored 11-15 on the week, so things could be going better for the Royals either way.

Victor Rask, Calgary Hitmen - 0 GP

Rask didn't play in any of the Hitmen's games this week. My guess is that he is still in Sweden after the World Juniors but I'll defer to someone who knows more about the situation than me. 

Matt Mahalak, Plymouth Whalers - 8 GA on 73 shots, .901 Sv%

I said last week that Mahalak's next start would come after a bad performance by Alex Nedeljkovic and that's exactly what happened in Plymouth's 6-5 loss to Saginaw. Nedeljkovic was pulled a little over five minutes into the game after giving up three goals and Mahalak gave up 3 goals on 24 shots in relief. He got the start in their next game against Brampton and performed very well by stopping 32 of 34 shots en route to a 4-2 win. His performance against Erie was slightly worse despite the Whalers picking up the win in overtime. He appears to have the starting job locked down for now, or at least until his next bad performance.

Daniel Altshuller, Oshawa Generals - 6 GA on 70 shots, .914 Sv%

Altshuller picked up his second shutout of the season with a 22-save performance to help the Generals defeat the Ottawa 67's 2-0. His other two performances last week were not quite as good as he allowed six goals on a combined 48 shots against Peterborough and Windsor respectively. The Generals offense was able to bail him out against Peterborough with four goals in support but they could only score on against Windsor, unfortunately. Altshuller's job should be safe for the rest of the year but it will be interesting to see how many games they win if they lose Boone Jenner to Columbus. Altshuller definitely hasn't been bad, but it's hard to say that goaltending has been Oshawa's prime strength this season.

Hurricanes General Manager Jim Rutherford made his second trade of the morning by acquiring Kevin Westgarth from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for forward Anthony Stewart, a 4th round pick in this year's draft and a 6th rounder next year.  Rutherford stated numerous times over the summer that he wanted to acquire an enforcer for the fourth line to "protect" some of the team's younger players and he got one in Westgarth. 

Calling this trade an overpayment on Carolina's part would be somewhat of an understatement, which sounds kind of silly at first because they didn't give up a lot. Stewart is a fourth liner who can't drive possession even with soft minutes. There was a good chance he could have been waived at the start of the year if one of the call-ups from Charlotte outperformed him in training camp. Late round picks aren't anything to lose sleep over either since they rarely turn into NHL-ers. So, if this is the case, then why is this trade an overpayment? Because the Hurricanes gave up assets for a player who they could have had for next to nothing.

Think about it. An enforcer is a player who skates less than 10 shifts a night, rarely plays every game in a year and doesn't contribute to any other area other than hitting and fighting opposing players. How much do you think that player should be worth? Better yet, would you give up roster players and draft picks to acquire him? If I were a GM, I probably wouldn't. The role of an enforcer has declined so much in today's NHL that it's hard to consider giving up assets to acquire one but that's exactly what the Hurricanes did here.

Westgarth was apparently big part of the CBA negotiations for the NHLPA, has a family in North Carolina and skated at the Canes' practice facility during the lockout so I guess I can understand why Rutherford wanted him instead of just signing a random goon off the scrap-heap. Still, he should have been able to get Westgarth for maybe 1/3 of the assets he gave up in this trade. I get that he is playing for the present but Westgarth didn't exactly play a big role in the Kings' success last year and I'm not sure how he makes the Hurricanes a better team than they were without him. Adding Westgarth while subtracting Stewart also does not open up any roster spaces for the players coming in from Charlotte, so we could see another move in the near future.

This is far from the worst trade in the world and Rutherford can probably re-acquire one of the picks he traded by dealing another player, but surrendering draft picks for a guy who isn't going to play every night isn't the smartest thing to do if you are trying to build a successful franchise.

The first trade of the new season was made about an hour ago when the Carolina Hurricanes sent goaltender Brian Boucher and defenseman prospect Mark Alt to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forward 23-year-old center Luke Pither. This will be Boucher's third stint with the Flyers, the team who he began his NHL career with.

Boucher was battling a groin injury for most of last season and played in only 10 games as a result. He also suffered a shoulder injury over the summer and had to take some time over the prolonged off-season to heal up from that. There was a lot of speculation that the Canes were going to deal Boucher sometime this week because they had two goalies in their system in Justin Peters and Dan Ellis who were both playing well. Ellis was invited to the Hurricanes training camp and with Boucher now out of the picture, the back-up job to Cam Ward appears to be his to lose.

While Boucher didn't get to play that much last year, he was very poor in most of the games he did play in. His overall save percentage was .881 in 10 games and his even strength save-percentage was only .899, both of which are below replacement level. Boucher was also on a one-way deal, which means that they would be paying him a full NHL salary even if he lost the back-up job to Ellis or Peters, and that isn't something a team like the Hurricanes can afford to do. The Flyers, on the other hand, were in need of a back-up goalie as it appears they don't feel too comfortable with having Michael Leighton as their #2 for now. Boucher has played well in Philadelphia before and the Flyers can probably afford to keep or the other in the minors while paying them their full salaries.

The interesting part of this deal is that the Hurricanes decided to send Mark Alt to Philadelphia along with Boucher. Alt was one of their many second round picks in 2010 and there was a point where the team was pretty high on him as a prospect. His stock fell quite a bit this year, though as he is having a very tough junior season as the University of Minnesota with three points in 21 games. From the Minnesota games I've been able to watch this year, Alt has definitely looked uncomfortable in his own zone and it's pretty easy to see why he was scratched for a couple of games this year. He is still only 21 and isn't costing the Hurricanes anything right now, so I'm a little shocked that they decided to give up on him but there might be a chance that they aren't missing out on anything by trading him.

Luke Pither, the player the Canes received in this trade, was undrafted and has spent all of this season in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers and Trenton Titans. He currently has 11 goals and 25 points in 35 games in the ECHL and will probably spend the rest of this season with the Charlotte Checkers as a depth player. He spent the previous two seasons with the Adirondack Phantoms where he totaled 11 goals and 30 points in 106 games. In other words, they didn't get much in return with this deal and basically had to send Alt to Philadelphia to get the Flyers to take Boucher's contract. 

I'm not sure how I feel about the team giving up on Alt and using him as a throw-in, but this trade probably doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things unless Alt really turns it on after this year. GM Jim Rutherford did mention that there would be a few moves done to clear space for other players, and this looks like one of them. Will there be another one coming up?  We'll just have to wait and see.

The 2013 NHL season is all but ready to get off and running after an extremely long wait. There is just one more business that needs to be taken care of before we get things rolling; training camp. Teams will only have a week to get every player in shape and prepare their rosters for the upcoming season, so things are going to be even more intense than usual. Carolina's training camp will be very critical since this is Kirk Muller's first "full" season as a head coach and a rushed training camp with no pre-season could be very tough on the new players who have yet to learn his system. Training camps should be fun to watch and it will be interesting to see who makes the team because anything can happen in the span of a week with everyone giving it their all.

Carolina released their training camp roster last night and there were six players from the Charlotte Checkers invited. The players are; Zach Boychuk, Jeremy Welsh, Drayson Bowman, Tim Wallace, Bobby Sanguinetti and Dan Ellis. Boychuk and Bowman will likely be competing for roles in the top-six with Tuomo Ruutu's injury opening up a spot there. Boychuk leads the Checkers in goals and points with 16 and 32 respectively and Bowman is close behind with 14 goals, although his overall total is boosted from a strong month of October when he was scoring on over 30% of the shots he took. He has cooled down since then. Still, Bowman was technically never "sent down" to the minors before the lockout and Muller used him in a top-nine role with the Canes for most of last season. It seemed like he was going to make the team regardless. Boychuk, on the other hand, has something to prove this year and will hopefully make a lasting impression on the coaching staff in a good way unlike last year.

Welsh is an interesting choice since he has only 13 points in 37 games, but let's remember that the team needs a third line center and Welsh fits the mold for that. The third line doesn't exactly need to be a shutdown unit now that Jordan Staal is on the team, but most teams like to have a bigger body centering their third line and Welsh can potentially give them that. Zac Dalpe was another player who many expected to get an invite but he is staying in Charlotte for now. It's kind of surprising when you consider how well he is playing there and that he is a natural center who can play on the third line. Dalpe will get his shot sometime during the year, I believe. He's playing too well to not at least deserve another look. 

As for Wallace, he will be competing for a fourth line spot with Anthony Stewart, Andreas Nodl and possibly Tim Brent. He was signed to a two-way deal in the off-season and has spent most of his career in the AHL and is more known for his forechecking and physical play at the NHL level. Wallace's 16 points in 37 games with Charlotte aren't terribly impressive, but he likely isn't going to be used in an offensive role if the Hurricanes decide to keep him. I could see him earning a spot on the fourth line out of camp, as that unit wasn't very good for the Hurricanes last year and Wallace's underlying stats aren't that bad (although they aren't good either). Carolina usually doesn't drown their fourth line in defensive zone starts, so it might be interesting to see if Wallace plays better territorially with sheltered minutes.

GM Jim Rutherford stated that he would be surprised if Bobby Sanguinetti doesn't make the team, and I tend to agree with that. He was playing well in Charlotte and can't return there without passing through waivers first, and while I don't think teams will be chomping at the bit to claim him, that's a risk the Canes probably don't want to take. Sanguinetti can be useful as a seventh defenseman and the job is probably his as long as he isn't awful in training camp. Although, things may change if Ryan Murphy is also impressive in camp. It was a bit of a shocker that he was invited after his performance for Team Canada at the World Juniors but the Canes want to get another look at him. He made the team out of camp last season but didn't play in any games, so it's possible that he could see some action this year but I doubt Carolina keeps him past the six-game limit. If Murphy is a third-pairing defenseman, it doesn't make much sense to burn a year of his entry-level contract.

Dan Ellis will likely be the back-up goalie with Justin Peters staying in Charlotte. This is the safe move for now because Ellis has played really well for the Checkers all season while Peters struggled until his last few starts. Peters is also on a two-way deal and can be called up without needing to pass through waivers. Which means that if Ellis plays poorly then the Canes can call-up Peters if needed. The only problem is that they risk losing Ellis to waivers but that doesn't mean much if he isn't performing well in the NHL.

Later, we will talk about some of the position battles and questions the Hurricanes will be facing during training camp.

Now that the lockout is officially over and the NHL is ready to begin an abbreviated 48-game season. As one would expect, the schedule is going to be jam packed this year with lots of back-to-back games and home-and-home series' to help the league get 48 games in before the end of April. Because the season is starting to late, the trade deadline is being pushed back to April 3rd and the season will end on April 27th instead of the beginning of the month per usual. It isn't ideal, but beggers can't be choosers at this point and I'm sure the fans are just happy to have the NHL back in general. Teams finally released their schedules last night, so now we know what lies ahead for the Hurricanes and everyone else.

The most important thing to remember in this shortened year is that every single games means so much more than it does in a full 82-game year. There are always stretches of games where teams go through rough patches and while not much is thought of them during a full season, it could end up being the difference in a team making the playoffs or not this year. This is something the Hurricanes really need to take note of because historically, this team has gotten off to poor starts and they really can't afford to have it happen again this year if they want to make the playoffs. The fact that most of the players on the team are going to be playing their first games in over seven months starting next week isn't going to help matters either, but the good news is that the Hurricanes aren't the only team facing that predicament.

There are a few places on the Hurricanes schedule that fans should keep in mind, because the team could potentially get an upper-hand or fall behind the rest of the division depending on how they perform. The Canes are going to be thrown into the fire early on in the season with a six-game, 10-day road trip which includes two games against the Philadelphia Flyers, who beat the Canes in three of four meetings last year. They will also play the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders in this road trip. The good news is that there is only one back-to-back set of games in the road trip and they won't have to do that much traveling between cities. Still, playing on the road is tough and the Canes will have to make sure they come out of this relatively unscathed.

March is going to be a very important month for Carolina. The Canes will have two home-and-home series' against divisional opponents on the 2nd and 3rd (Florida) and the 12th & 14th (Washington) as well as a few back-to-back divisional games during the month. A good chunk of this team's schedule will be played within the Southeast Division and getting these wins will go a long way if they want to clinch a playoff spot and home-ice advantage in the playoffs. I already talked about how Carolina needs to be better in divisional play and it appears that they are really going to be put to the test during March.

A couple other games of note on the schedule is the team's first showdown with the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 28th, which will be Brandon Sutter's return to Carolina and Jordan Staal's first game against his former team. I expect Sutter to get a good reaction from the crowd at PNC Arena. I'm not sure how the reaction will be for Staal when the Canes go to Pittsburgh on April 27th, which will be the last game of the regular season for Carolina. Let's hope that won't be the last game of the season for the Hurricanes because there are higher expectations for them than usual this year.  Whether or not they make it in will likely depend on how many points they gain during the stretches of games noted above.

It all begins this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. when the Hurricanes take on the Florida Panthers on the road. Carolina's first home game is the following Tuesday at 7 p.m. against the Tampa Bay Lightning. I'm sure that both of those dates can not come soon enough for Carolina fans as the season is finally just around the corner.

The general consensus among those who follow the NHL is that while the Hurricanes appear to be a better team than they were last year, they still have some holes on defense. I've discussed this a few times over the prolonged off-season and came to the conclusion that it's probably going to take more than a season for the Canes to have a "great team." We're talking about a team who gave up more shots than any other club in the league last year and currently has only one player who most would consider a solid shutdown defenseman. It's going to take time for things to improve and that's especially true with the Hurricanes having so many defensive prospects in their system. They also lost two of their better defensive players over the summer in Brandon Sutter and Bryan Allen, so this could be another tough transition year for the Canes defense unless a few players outperform their expectations or their forwards make up for their problems on the blue-line. 

Calling this a "transition year" for the Hurricanes defense might sound a little odd because the only moves they made over the off-season was signing Joe Corvo to a one-year deal while losing Bryan Allen to free agency and Jaroslav Spacek to retirement. Corvo should be able to take over Spacek's role as a soft-minute/third pairing defenseman but the loss of Allen changes the look of this defense quite a bit. Along with Tim Gleason, Allen did the bulk of the heavy lifting on the Carolina blue-line, being given the toughest assignments at even strength and on the penalty kill. No one was signed to replace Allen, which poses a problem for the Hurricanes defense. 

A lack of bodies isn't the Hurricanes problem, as they have enough NHL-caliber players. The bigger issue is whether or not they have the right players for their system and if they fill their team's needs. If you're running a team, you would want your defense corps to consist of at least 3-4 players who are capable of playing at least 20 minutes a game and being matched up against other team's top lines. In addition to that, you want a minimum of four players who can be used on the powerplay and penalty kill to fill out both special teams units. Do the Hurricanes have these pieces?

The answer to that question depends on how you feel about the players on the roster right now. Obviously we know that Tim Gleason is capable of playing in the top four and handling tough minutes but everyone after that is an uncertainty. Both Justin Faulk and Jay Harrison played tough minutes last year but that was the first season either of them had playing such minutes, and Faulk is still only 20 years old. Joe Corvo played the toughs for Carolina in 2010-11 but was used as a third-pairing defenseman in Boston last season, Joni Pitkanen can play big minutes but his territorial play against opposing team's first lines has never been the best and Jamie McBain has spent most of his NHL career in more of a sheltered role. Then there is Bobby Sanguinetti and Ryan Murphy who probably aren't going to be playing top-four minutes unless they really impress the coaching staff in training camp.

After reviewing this a little, it can be determined that the Canes have plenty of guys with experience playing in the top-four but they haven't exactly performed at a level that would put them in that class on a contending team. That being said, a healthy season from Pitkanen and progressions from the likes of Faulk and McBain could definitely change things for the better. Faulk's terrific performance with the Charlotte Checkers during the lockout could be an indication of great things to come for him, but we will have to see how his NHL development goes once the season resumes. McBain, on the other hand, is a borderline top-four guy right now who hasn't shown the ability to play against tough competition aside from a couple of occasions. McBain's performance in the NHL has been good for a third-pairing defenseman and he is capable of playing 20+ minutes a game thanks to his time with Pitkanen but those two were one of the worst Carolina defense pairings last year in terms of creating and preventing scoring chances. A new defense partner could be in order for McBain to determine if he is suitable for a top-four role full-time. Until then, Harrison showed last year that he is good enough to hold the fort down but I am personally not sold on him being a long-term solution just yet.

With the team having only one assured shutdown defenseman, it's very likely that we could see the defense pairings used much differently than what fans were used to seeing last year. Since there is no Gleason/Allen pairing who will automatically get the tough assignments every night, things are going to be much more spread out than they were last year. This means that the defense pairings could end up being shifted around a few times before the coaching staff settles on a few that they like. It could be even more with training camp being even shorter than usual. Predictions don't really mean much right now, but if I were running the Hurricanes defense, this is how I would roll the defense corps to start the year.

First Pairing:

Tim Gleason - Joni Pitkanen

Assignments: Opposing team's top lines, 20+ minutes a game, <50% offensive zone starts

The success of this pairing is all going to depend on whether or not Pitkanen can stay healthy and if his play doesn't drop off too dramatically from where it was last year. This is a bit of an interesting pairing because Gleason isn't going to be with a pure defensive defenseman like he was for most of last year and I think that might actually work out well. Pitkanen provides a good compliment to Gleason and can really help him when it comes to leading breakouts and getting the puck moving in the right direction. The one flaw with the Gleason/Allen pairing last year was Allen's struggles with advancing the puck out of the defensive zone, leading to these two getting pinned in their own end more times than not. Having a more offensive-minded partner will help out Gleason, who is more mobile than some give him credit for. The one question mark that comes with this pairing is whether or not Pitkanen can handle playing against tough competition. He plays enough minutes every night to be on the first pairing but everyone knows Pitkanen has trouble when it comes to coverage in the defensive zone. Gleason may be able to help him out here moreso than McBain, so I think this pairing is worth a shot.

Second Pairing

Justin Faulk - Jay Harrison

Assignments: Second and third lines, at least 20 minutes per game, 50% offensive zone starts

Faulk will probably be elevated to the first pairing sometime this year, but starting him with Harrison again isn't a bad idea. These two were the Hurricanes best defense pairing last year at creating and preventing scoring chances and showed some great chemistry when playing together. They also compliment each other well with Harrison's more responsible game covering up some of Faulk's aggressive plays. Faulk's defensive game is also very impressive considering his age, so it wouldn't surprise me if he is bumped up with Gleason in due time but starting him with Harrison should be fine for now. The two of them know how to work together and the Hurricanes might be better off not messing with a good thing.

Third Pairing

Jamie McBain - Joe Corvo/Bobby Sanguinetti

Assignments: Depth lines, 12-15 minutes a game, >50% offensive zone starts

I'm a little higher on McBain than most people and I think he can play in the top-four if needed, but starting him off on the third pairing is probably the right move for now because he has been able to succeed there in the past. He will likely get a shot in the top-four sometime later in the year, though. Pairing him with a skilled offensive-defenseman like Corvo in a sheltered role could turn out to be a very good plan after how well McBain played with Jaroslav Spacek last year. The other two pairings are going to eat up most of the tough minutes, so this allows the Canes to have a sheltered third unit and it also helps that the Canes have two players who can thrive in this playing situation. I know GM Jim Rutherford signed Corvo to play with Gleason as he did in the past, but I have my doubts about him being able to play in a tough-minute role. A third-pairing defenseman (and a solid one at that) is what he was in Boston and it's probably what he is at this point in his career. Bobby Sanguinetti will probably make the team as a seventh defenseman and play in a similar role.

While the Southeast is going to be far from the strongest division in the NHL this year, there is a good chance that it might be the most competitive. The Florida Panthers managed to dethrone the Washington Capitals as the incumbent champs last season and both of these teams appear to be weaker on paper heading into this year. Meanwhile, the other three teams in the Southeast made improvements last year and the race for the top spot could be much more entertaining than people are expecting. The 48-game season will also play a role in that because every game is going to mean much more than it does in a normal year.

I feel like the Southeast Division is arguably the hardest to predict in the NHL this season with every team being relatively close talent-wise, but something that will go a long way to determining who wins it will be how these teams play against each other. All teams will be playing within their conferences this year and 18 of those games will be intra-division. Divisional play is going to take up over 37% of the schedule which means that those wins (or points) will be even more important than usual. This could be a problem for the Hurricanes, who won only 9 of 24 divisional games last season, but this is shaping up to be a different team and a different division than it was in 2011-12.

Carolina should be better than they were a season ago and that could help them pick up some more wins against divisional foes, but let's keep in mind that they aren't the only team that improved this off-season. I mentioned earlier that both the Winnipeg Jets and Tampa Bay Lightning also have stronger rosters and while the Florida Panthers and Washington Captials are weaker, the Hurricanes won only one game against the Panthers last year and the Caps are always a dangerous team. In other words, the Southeast could go in just about any direction. 

Just how bad was Carolina's divisional play last year, though? Find out after the jump.

On Monday, I went over some of the players from within the Carolina Hurricanes organization who may receive an invite to training camp next week and there are more than a few who are worthy of an invite. As if things weren't going to be crowded enough, GM Jim Rutherford has also stated his intention to add another player to the mix as soon as possible. At this point of the off-season, the free agent pool is full of players who were passed over because they are too old, had a bad season or just don't offer much potential upside. Therefore, it's likely that Rutherford will sign one of these players to a tryout deal or trade for someone else. 

There are always a lot of interesting players signed to tryout deals every year and most of them are guys who make you say, "I didn't know he was still in the league." Not much is expected out of guys who come in on tryout contracts and most of them end up being cut before the season started but there are always some who manage to stick around. Take Petr Sykora for example. He was invited to the New Jersey Devils training camp on a tryout deal, ended up making the team and had a very successful year. The odds of that happening again are slim but bringing in a veteran player on a tryout contract is a low-risk way to bolster your roster.

Is there anyone worth taking from the remaining free agent pool, though? If you remember correctly, Rutherford also said this off-season that he was looking to add "grit" to the third and fourth lines or possibly sign an enforcer to "protect" the younger players like Jeff Skinner. I have my own views on whether or not the Hurricanes "need" to add grit, but if all JR is looking for is a third or fourth liner, then he may be in luck with this free agent pool because there are more than a few out there.

After the jump, we will take a look at what options are out there and whether or not they would be a good fit for Carolina.

Anybody who has been following the Charlotte Checkers during the lockout knows that the team has more than a few guys on the roster who could possibly be in the NHL as soon as the new CBA is ratified. The Checkers currently have five players with at least 10 goals and the same amount with at least 20 points in less than 40 games. The best part of it is that most of these players are guys who are on the cusp of being "NHL ready" and we are going to find out whether or not they have a future with the Carolina Hurricanes in a matter of months. The lockout is obviously going to cause this process to be rushed and the competition between forwards in training camp is going to be a fracas with at least three players gunning for one roster spot.

According to News & Observer reporter Chip Alexander, Hurricanes head coach Kirk Muller says that he plans to have 15 forwards and 8 defensemen in training camp and plans for the roster to be relatively small since camp will last only a few days thanks to the lockout. Who might those 23 players be? We know that Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, Jordan Staal, Alex Semin, Jiri Tlusty, Chad LaRose, Andreas Nodl, Jussi Jokinen, Tim Brent, Patrick Dwyer, Anthony Stewart, Drayson Bowman, Joni Pitkanen, Tim Gleason, Jamie McBain, Joe Corvo, Jay Harrison, Cam Ward and Justin Peters are going to be there since they are on the roster. There's twelve forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders right there. You can probably make that seven defensemen since it was reported by Bob McKenzie that Ryan Murphy will be joining the team. That leaves room for three forwards, one defenseman and any goaltender Muller feels like bringing in.

After the jump, we will go through some of the possible candidates for the remaining four spots and discuss why they may or may not qualify for it.