The months and weeks before the trade deadline are both my favorite and least favorite time of the season because while it is exciting to see some key players switch teams, it is unbearable to see the hundreds of articles and trade rumors from fans who think that x team can get a big return for a player with an expiring contract. The Hurricanes are going to be sellers this deadline and have a few players whose contracts run out this summer, so there is no shortage of ridiculous rumors surrounding them, especially with scouts from other teams being at all of their games lately. The constant posts saying that "the Hurricanes can get a first round pick for this player" are getting ridiculous and I know that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Look, we all know where the Canes stand this deadline and that there will be players moved over the next few weeks but those expecting management to clean house this deadline are probably going to be disappointed. The players you want to move at the trade deadline are those who have expiring contracts or ones whose value is at the highest that it likely will be in their career. This is the perfect time to get a team to overpay but that doesn't mean that everyone with an expiring contract will be moved. Remember two years ago when everyone was certain that Ray Whitney will be moved before March? It didn't happen, and while you can say that Rutherford made a mistake by letting him walk away for nothing, it shows that not everyone is going to be traded to make room for younger players. The cap floor is going to make it even more difficult to trade for just draft picks.

Let's face it, the trade deadline might be the most overhyped day in sports and most people seem to have a tough time remembering that. That is why I came up with a few tips for Canes fans so that we can make it through the next few months without going insane.

For whatever reason, overtime and the shootout have been cruel to the Canes this year, especially on the road. Last night's, 2-1 OT loss to the Islanders was the ninth OTL for the Canes this year and they have still yet to win a road overtime game. Frustrating isn't it? This game was definitely up there as one of the more frustrating losses of the season because Carolina had their chances and lost on a very strange goal. It isn't too often that you see a player bat in his own rebound out of mid-air but that's what John Tavares did on the game-winning goal last night. They were also stoned by Islanders goalie Evgeni Nabokov who showed signs of his 2004 form tonight stopping 32 of 33 shots.

The one thing we can take away from these tough losses is that the Hurricanes are staying competitive in all of their games. Five of their six losses this month have been by only one goal and they actually outchanced their opponent in three of those games including last night. The effort is there and the wins should follow once the team gets more skill up front and tightens things down on defense. They weren't outplayed as badly as the shot total indicates, but they still gave up a lot in their own end. For now, we just have to take the results as they come and focus on the positives of each game and there were quite a few in this one.

Carolina Hurricanes (17-24-8) at New York Islanders (18-21-6)
7 p.m. Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
TV: FS-Carolina, MSG Plus

One thing that has been supposedly killing the Hurricanes this year is their performance in back-to-back games, especially in ones where they have to travel. Doing this is tough for any team because it's tough for players to find their legs when they already played a game less than 24 hours ago and have gotten very little sleep on top of that. Tonight's contest against the Islanders will be the Canes 11th back-to-back of the season and the good news is that they only have two left on the schedule after this because this type of setting hasn't been kind to Carolina this year. Their 3-4-1 record in back-to-backs may not seem terrible, but they have been outshot 193-238 in this situation and some of their worst performances of the year have come on back-to-backs. Remeber those big losses against the Flyers and Preds both happened when the Canes played the night before and so did that loss to the Penguins where they made Justin Peters face over 50 shots. That said, the Canes played well against Washington in a back-to-back last week despite the 2-1 loss and are coming off a pretty strong win last night so that should make people feel better about tonight's game. There's also the return of Chad LaRose, which should help.

Lines & more after the jump

Jim Rutherford has been a busy man this week as he made his second trade in four days by dealing winger Alexei Ponikarovsky to the New Jersey Devils for a 2012 4th round pick and defenseman Joe Sova. The timing of this trade may have been a bit weird, but I think it is safe to say that we all saw a move like this coming. Ponikarovsky is a pending unrestricted free agent and signed to a cheap $1.5 mil. contract so he was probably the easiest to move even if his performance in Carolina hasn't been great. My belief was that a team looking for a depth forward would give up a mid-round pick for him and that's pretty much what happened here. It's not a blockbuster trade or anything but it's a deal that works for both teams and should tell us a little bit about the market over the next few weeks. 

My expectations for Ponikarovsky were pretty low when we signed him because of the season he had in Los Angeles but I was slightly optimistic because a lot of his struggles were related to decreased ice-time and weak line-mates. I figured a return to top-six minutes would help him rebound but his 7 goals and 15 points in 49 games indicate that hasn't been the case. With guys like Zac Dalpe, Drayson Bowman, Jerome Samson and even Zach Boychuk looking to earn ice time in the NHL, some players are going to be moved and Ponikarovsky ended up being the first odd man out.

So why would the Devils want someone who can't score? Well, I don't know if you have looked at their roster lately but their bottom-six depth is pretty brutal, especially at left wing. After Zach Parise and Patrik Elias, they don't have any left wingers who can drive possession and/or play against tough competition. That's where Ponikarovsky fits in. They should be able to get an instant upgrade at LW on their third line with him and make their forward corps a little more deep as they push towards the playoffs.

Poni may have "lost his scoring touch" ever since he left Toronto in 2010, but one thing he is consistently good at is getting the puck moving in the right direction. In fact, he was one of the Hurricanes better forwards at driving possession and is performing slightly above the team average at creating scoring chances. The problem is that none of the pucks have been going in for him or his teammates. Ponikarovsky is getting about two shots on net per game and is on pace for only 12 goals, but his shooting percentage is only 7.1% and the Canes are shooting the puck at only 4.61% at even strength when he is on the ice. So, luck hasn't exactly been on Poni's side this year and it is possible that he may rebound. The Devils made a good low-risk move by trading for him since they had nine picks in this coming draft and Sova doesn't appear to be in their plans.

The biggest concern I had about trading Poni was that the Canes would get little to no value in return and they actually got more back than I thought. A fourth round pick probably means nothing to the Devils with their surplus of draft picks and that alone is worth Ponikarovsky to me. Getting a prospect along with him makes me like this deal a little more from Carolina's perspective.

For those of you who know nothing about Sova, the Devils blog In Lou We Trust has a fantastic write-up about him here where Britton Anderson gives some details on how Sova's game has developed at college. For those of you who want the Cliff Notes version, I will explain it here. Sova is talented offensive defeseman who attended the University of Alaska-Fairbanks for three years before signing with the Albany Devils. While at college, he was well known for his strong two-way game and was excellent at working the powerplay, which is where he accumulated most of his points. He is also known for his hard slapshot, which could make him a nice addition to the Charlotte Checkers lineup but Anderson notes that his decision making in the defensive zone is his biggest issue. He has spent this most recent season with the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL and Albany Devils of the AHL and his offensive productionfrom college has yet to carry over in either. (11 points in 31 games between the two leagues). It doesn't look like he has much of a future in the NHL but there's some potential here and I'm sure we'll find something to do with him.

In short, we got a mid-round pick and a prospect for a rental, which is pretty good in my book. There are going to be more trades coming from the Canes the next month or so and the players we have on the block right now will probably get us a much bigger return than what Ponikarovsky went for, so I would be cautiously optimistic about the trade deadline.

Games like the one we saw at the RBC Center haven't happened much this year. Not only did we witness Cam Ward's second shutout of the season, but we also got to see the Canes put together one of their best team efforts in a 3-0 win over the Washington Capitals. It was their first regulation win against the Caps in over two years, so I'm sure this was a big monkey off their backs. This was also the first time in awhile that the Canes completely dominated their opponent in all three zones which is something I hope to see more of the next couple of months. It doesn't matter whether you go by the final score, shots (33-22) or scoring chances (21-10), everything was heavily tilted in Carolina's favor while nothing seemed to go right for the Caps.

I must say, it is really nice to be on the winning side of one of these games for a change.

Scoring chances & more after the jump

Yesterday it was announced that Zac Dalpe will be called up from Charlotte and that he could be playing on the second line in Alexei Ponikarovsky's spot. This has gotten many fans excited because Dalpe is known as the type of player "who needs top-six minutes to be effective" and a big reason why his point total in the NHL is so underwhelming is because he's usually plugged in on the fourth line for most of his call-ups. What prevents me from being advocate for giving Dalpe top-six minutes is that his possession numbers have been horrible at the NHL level and he hasn't exactly been scoring either. Players like Drayson Bowman and Zach Boychuk were at least making the most of his ice time and creating scoring chances during his time here but I can't say the same for Dalpe. My thought is that he should be in Charlotte to work on his all-around game and have the team call him up when he is ready.

The argument against that is that Dalpe hasn't really been given a chance in Carolina because former head coach Paul Maurice regularly gave him only 4-9 minutes of ice-time. Over his 28 game NHL career, Dalpe has only played more than 10 minutes in eight games, so I consider that argument to be valid. Eight games is an incredibly small sample size, but to play Devil's advocate, I went through those games and looked how Dalpe performed to see if he does play better with top-six minutes. The results were pretty disappointing.

CF/15 = Carolina chances per 15 mins., CA/15 = Chances allowed per 15 mins.

This is Zac Dalpe's scoring chance data over his short career in Carolina and it isn't very promising. It is true that he plays better when given more ice-time but he is still underwater in scoring chances, which isn't good. Although, that is covering only eight games worth of data so making conclusions based off this would be silly. One thing we can say from the 28 total games worth of data is that fourth line minutes haven't done Dalpe much good in terms of development. Putting someone like him in a checking role is pretty much useless and he would likely be better off in Charlotte. It is also worth remembering that Dalpe was playing through an injury at the start of the year and that could have been one of the reasons why his ice-time was cut back earlier in the season. It seems that we won't have to worry about that this time because he's healthy and there aren't that many better options in the top-six. Ponikarovsky is controlling possession but not scoring, Tlusty has been on a huge decline for the past two months, LaRose is injuried and so is Samson. There is definitely room for Dalpe now.

I know that Dalpe is at the age where most high-ceiling players break into the league but it's not like this HAS to be the year for him or he'll be a bust. There is still plenty of time for him and I am excited to see how he performs during this next call-up. Bowman and Samson have all gotten their chances under Muller, now I guess it's time for Dalpe to get a "non-emergency call-up" audition.

Most of us have been waiting for Jim Rutherford to make a few trades and he did so last night by dealing forwards Jon Matsumoto and Mattias Lindstrom to the Florida Panthers in exchange for forwards Evgeny Dadonov and AJ Jenks. This trade likely won't much in the grand scheme of things but it does make sense for both teams. Florida needs forward depth for their AHL team in San Antonio and Matsumoto is the Charlotte Checkers leading point-getter. Carolina, on the other hand, needs more forward prospects that are close to being NHL ready and Dadonov fits the bill there. You can never have too many good prospects or players under 25, so I do like this trade for the Hurricanes even if Dadonov never pans out in the NHL, which is very possible.

The other two prospects in this deal could also have an impact but Dadonov appears to be the centerpiece because he has prior NHL experience and has the highest ceiling. He is a very skilled and talented player who possesses a solid two-way game but hasn't been a top-point producer at the KHL or AHL level, which does show some cause for concern but he was a very useful player for the Florida Panthers last year and could serve the Hurricanes well, too. We'll explore Dadonov and what he can do for the Hurricanes after the jump.

Only eight months removed from their Eastern Conference final appearance, the Tampa Bay Lightning have fell way short of the expectations that people had for them this year. They are currently in a three-way tie for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders with only 40 points and have the second worst goal differential in the league with a -33, only bested by the Columbus Blue Jackets -39. Many bloggers, pundits and hockey fans had this team making another playoff appearance this year and rightfully so. The Bolts didn't lose much of their core from last season and were a terrific possession team with a 54.4% Fenwick rate with the score tied.

Most are pointing at goaltender Dwayne Roloson's sub <.900 save percentage as the root of their problems and while he has been atrocious, there's a lot more wrong with this team than just goaltending. Even if we were to adjust their team save percentage to the league average (.912), their goal differential would still be in the negative range and the Bolts would be a bubble playoff team going by Pythagorean expectations. Their goaltending is clearly an issue (and has been for as long as I can remember), but Tampa Bay has also gone from being one of the top possession teams in the league to one of the worst. Their Fenwick rate when the score is closed is a horrible 48.45%, which is bottom-10 in the league so their goal differential and place in the standings accurately describes their play this season. What's the cause for such a huge drop-off? Most of it stems from injuries and under-performance from nearly all of their depth players.

We'll explore this more closely after the jump

The main thing I talked about in the preview was how Cam Ward is showing signs of his usual self and that the Canes should see more wins as a result even if they continue to be outshot night in and night out. Tonight's game seemed to fit that prediction well as the Canes were outshot 37-22 at even strength and outchanced 20-13, but were able to pick up a point in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Penguins thanks to a marvelous 40 save performance by Ward. He may have actually needed to do more if it wasn't for the 24 blocked shots and 21 misses. It is safe to say that the Pens controlled this game after the first period but it was good to see the Canes steal a point and continue to work their way out of the cellar.

However, the result of the game isn't terribly important to Canes fans at the moment as we are all wondering about the status of Jeff Skinner, who took a huge hit in the neutral zone from Brooks Orpik and had to leave the game with what looked like another head injury. He returned later in the third period but he could have suffered another concussion for all we know since he was clearly woozy after taking that hit. One would hope that the team doctors wouldn't let him back into the game if he had a head injury so we are all hoping for the best right now.

Scoring chances & more after the jump

Carolina Hurricanes (16-24-7) at Pittsburgh Penguins (23-17-4)
7 p.m. Consol Energy Center
TV: FS-Carolinas, ROOT Sports

Tonight's game marks the final meeting this season between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins and only the second time  that one of the team's will not be playing as part of a back-to-back when they play each other. Although, the back-to-back games didn't seem to hurt Carolina on Sunday as they outshot the Washington Capitals 45-24 in a 2-1 loss, which came a day before they defeated the Boston Bruins 4-2 despite being outshot 33-21 at even strength. In my post where I looked at the team's possession rates this season, I said that the Canes should win more games in the second half of the year becuase while the team's "true talent" appears to be below average in just about every possession metric (think 48-49%), one of the main reasons why got off to such a horrible start is due to the less than stellar play of goaltender Cam Ward. It was the perfect storm where the team was playing poorly and getting horribly unlucky on top of that. We all know that Ward is better than he's been this year and he actually has shown signs of his usual self this past month (quality performances in all six of his starts), so more wins should come along with Ward's improved play. Will it be enough to make a playoff push? Highly unlikely, but the Canes could get themselves out of the bottom of the Southeast with Tampa Bay struggling so badly.

As for our game with the Pens tonight, I am not sure what to expect because Carolina just played two of the league's better possession teams in Boston and Washington. They were convincingly outshot in one game and won but lost the game where they outshot Washington by 20, so what is in store for them tonight when they take on another one of the league's best possession teams? With Ward starting his fifth straight start, hopefully good things.

Lines & more after the jump