Anyone who has been following the Hurricanes this season knows that Kirk Muller's forward line combinations are prone to change on almost a daily basis. Injuries have caused him to try a lot of different things with his lineup and we've seen just about every combination possible in only 33 games. It reached a new high during the recent losing streak when Muller changed the lines a couple times per game and even tweaked the team's first line of Eric Staal, Jiri Tlusty and Alexander Semin, which has been the only unit to remain untouched for most of the season. The line juggling is likely going to continue over the next few games since the Hurricanes have a few players whose injury status is currently unknown, namely Tuomo Ruutu and Chad LaRose.

For most of the year, Muller has kept his first line the same with Tlusty, E. Staal and Semin being utilized in a power-vs.-power type of role while his second line has been primarily focused around Jordan Staal & Jeff Skinner handling the tough minutes. This strategy has changed a bit as of late, though as Muller has moved Skinner to the third line with Riley Nash & Jussi Jokinen for two of their last three road games. My suspicions is that this is to free Skinner up to to some easier matchups on the road since the opposing team won't be able to load up their best shutdown players against Carolina's top-two lines. He also seems to trust Nash enough to assume that he can keep up with Skinner and do enough to drive the bus on this line.

Muller has done some pretty interesting things this year in regards to how he runs his forward lines and the decision to move Skinner to the third line for road games is an especially curious one. On one hand, Skinner has been the team's best territorial forward this season and could do some significant damage against a weak matchup. However, Skinner has also managed to post great underlying numbers while playing tough minutes, so is there any need to protect him and place him with weaker linemates on top of that? This move could be only temporary, but it's still worth discussing since it's a pretty important time of the season right now. 

Then there are the defense pairing, which have also been changed up a lot thanks to injuries but they've remained the same as of late. The team is in a bit of a bind right now with Justin Faulk and Bobby Sanguinetti out of the lineup and Muller has kept things relatively the same for the past week. Not having Faulk available obviously limits what Muller can do but it's a little interesting that he has been changing the forwards up constantly while leaving the defense the same after how bad some of them have played lately, especially Joni Pitkanen and Jamie McBain.

Things will probably improve there once Faulk or Sanguinetti returns but until then, Muller has to do what he can to make the most out of the hand that's been dealt to him and that includes finding suitable lines & defense pairings that can fit his system. For the most part, the Canes have been a good puck-possession team at even strength this year and they have enough healthy players to be one right now even though they've struggled in this department lately.

After the jump, we will look at some stats from Hockey Analysis' With or Without You tool to see which Hurricanes lines and defense pairings have been the best in terms of controlling possession this year and what Muller can possibly do now to dress the best lineup possible.

I don't think any Hurricanes player or fan cares about the numbers from their 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets and I can't blame them for it either. When you haven't gotten into the win column for seven straight games (spanning a little over two weeks), you take any victory you can get. It doesn't matter if the team plays flawlessly or just barely eeks out an ugly win because each one is very important at this stage of the year. The Hurricanes certainly pulled out an ugly win today over Winnipeg but they got the job done in the end, which is all that matters right now. 

The team's confidence was beginning to reach a new low during this losing streak so if anything, the Hurricanes being able to get a win could help give the team a bit of a spark going down the stretch and get back to the brand of hockey they were playing for the majority of the season. With only 15 games remaining, every bounce you get is going to have a much bigger impact than it would in a full-year, so the Canes being able to win despite not playing their best game is pretty huge.

With that being said, the Hurricanes certainly played better than they have in a couple of weeks and at least showed signs of progress. That's not exactly saying much since the bar was set low coming into today, but it's still a step forward and hopefully the Canes can build off it for the rest of the season. Now that we got that out of the way, let's take a closer look at the Hurricanes first win in over two weeks.

The last couple of weeks have been just brutal to watch from a fan's standpoint and I'm sure that the Hurricanes have been even more frustrated. The team's losing streak has now extended to seven games, they've compiled only one point in the standings over the last 16 days and everyone's confidence is at currently at an all-time low. It's tough to get a team motivated when they haven't tasted victory in weeks, but something that might spark the Hurricanes is the fact that they are not eliminated from playoff contention. Normally, a prolonged losing streak would knock out most teams in a shortened year, but the rest of the bubble teams in the Eastern Conference (namely the Devils and Rangers) have also fallen on hard times recently and the Hurricanes can get themselves back in the mix by winning the majority of their remaining games.

Of course, this is much easier said than done because this team has been horrible for the last two weeks and it's gotten to the point where some fans, myself included, wonder if they will even win one more game this season. That was mainly just frustration talking on my part, but I think most would agree that the Hurricanes need to pull a complete 180 if they even want to think about making the playoffs. We've said the same things for the last 16 games and yet, the result is always the same and the team seems to find a more painful way to lose every night. Thus, there will be no more mentions about things like "playoff chances," "must-win games" and "games in hand" until the Hurricanes finally break the losing streak because it's all pointless until then.

The level of how much this team has struggled recently is kind of a mystery because for the majority of the season, the Hurricanes have been a good team. Even after this rough stretch, the Canes are still a top-ten team in Fenwick Close, meaning that they have been controlling the majority of even strength shot attempts when the score is close. That alone is surprising to me because if you take a look at my scoring chance recaps, Carolina has been on the losing end of that battle in most of their recent games. Part of the reason for it is that they've been failing to hit the net and not getting to the scoring areas. Those are definitely parts of the problem but I feel like there's more to this.

My reason for this suspicion is because the team has looked just plain bad in most of their games. Their underlying numbers suggest that we should believe that this streak should end and that it's only a minor bump in the road, but this isn't just a spell of bad luck. There's losing by getting a few unlucky bounces, and then there's losing by three or more goals on a nightly basis and getting outshot heavily while playing from behind. This is what has been happening to the Canes for most of this losing streak. 

The Hurricanes biggest weakness all season long has been their inability to play for a full-sixty minutes and that's never been more obvious than right now. They've had segments where they've played well over the last two weeks but for the most part, they've been playing some of their worst hockey in awhile and letting their opponents dictate the flow of the game. What exactly is the problem with this team, though? Is it the injuries that are keeping them down, or is the coaching staff "not doing enough" to get the most out of this squad? We'll explore all of these issues after the jump.

Last night, the Hurricanes nearly won a game that they had no business being in. They may have shown some "character" by battling back to tie the game in the second period and taking the lead in the third, but the Leafs were more deserving of the win. Toronto held Carolina to only six even strength scoring chances to the entire game and took 14 more shot attempts than them at even strength. There were only two Carolina players who were not outchanced at even strength in this game, most it being due to the Hurricanes being unable to produce offense while not on the powerplay. This goes down as a "heartbreaking loss" to some, but the only "heartbreaking" thing is whatever happened to this team over the last two weeks.

There was a time when the Hurricanes were a great team at even strength, outchanced their opponents regularly and generally were the better team even if they didn't pick up the win. It's pretty easy to remember this time because it was only a month ago and that really makes the last two weeks even more frustrating. We know that this team is what they've shown lately, and seeing them play at a level such lower than their ability is both frustrating and depressing. It's a mystery as to when this team will put the pieces back together but it might be too late by the time they do.

If there was any optimism left among the Hurricanes fanbase then tonight's 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs probably killed all of that. We've been treated to the same story for the last two weeks with the Hurricanes getting outplayed by their opponents, showing no desperation and getting blown out. Tonight's game was a little different. They were certainly outplayed by the Leafs, getting outshot 26-16 at even strength and outchanced 22-13 overall, but for the first time in awhile, the Canes showed some determination and were able to fight their way back into the game after trailing 2-0.

They got the help of a shorthanded breakaway goal from Eric Staal and a timely powerplay goal from Alexander Semin, but it just goes to show you how much winning the special teams battle can help a team. The Hurricanes had absolutely no business being in this game after how they played in the first period, but they were able put themselves in a position to win in the third period thanks to good special teams. They took advantage of this opportunity in the third period with Jordan Staal getting a mini-breakaway after a misplay by the Leafs defense and giving Carolina a go-ahead goal. For that moment, it looked like there was hope the Canes could break out of this slump and at least build some confidence heading down the stretch of the season.

The only problem with this theory is that they were still getting outplayed and continued to let the Leafs forecheck dominate them. Toronto would eventually get a powerplay out of this and scored on the tail end of it with a rocket from the point from Dion Phaneuf. Now Carolina was in a battle just to earn a point in the standings and that went away after Joffrey Lupul went coast-to-coast, skated around Carolina defenseman Joe Corvo and undressed Justin Peters to give the Leafs the go-ahead goal. The Canes were now deflated and began to sink to the levels that we have been accustomed to the last few weeks in their comeback efforts.

The final score might be a tad misleading because the Leafs added on two empty net goals in the final minute, but this probably could have been a blowout when you considered how much better Toronto was than Carolina. This was yet another bad performance by a team that does not look like they have playoff aspirations this season. I know their underlying numbers are promising and they are mostly just underperforming right now, but stretches like this can be a dagger in a shortened season, so anything the Hurricanes ground the Hurricanes make up after this could be too little too late.

The team's confidence is shot right now and they are playing at a level that is much lower than what should be expected of them and I'm not sure if anyone knows how to fix it. You can call for players to be benched or traded and for coaches to be fired but that isn't going to fix anything at this point. The problem with this team right now seems to be much bigger than that and the responsibility goes to everyone involved in the organization. There's not much they can do about this season other than ride things out and hope for the best.

After losing six games in a row, what looked like a promising season for the Hurricanes is slowly falling apart at the seams. For a good part of the season, this team looked good enough to make the playoffs but a myriad of injuries happened followed by a brutal losing streak and now they are hanging onto dear life just to stay in the race. If the Hurricanes were to miss the playoffs, it will be the sixth time in the last eight years that they've been on the outside looking in and that's pretty troubling. I don't think this team had cup aspirations for this season because they do have a few missing pieces, but the end result of missing the playoffs for the sixth time in eight years still looks pretty bad.

How bad is it to miss the post-season this year, though? It's been kind of a strange season with a shortened schedule, so injuries and bounces/puck luck are going to have a bigger impact than usual. The Hurricanes have been on the wrong end of that scale more times than not this year and it's clearly at a low point right now with Justin Faulk on the shelf and the team being unable to buy a goal for whatever reason. In a full 82-game season, there is a chance that things like this even out but with only 48 games (and 17 remaining) this year, puck luck and a good streak can be the difference in a team making or missing the playoffs. Just ask the Anaheim Ducks.

This is why I feel that this season shouldn't be judged on results, even if failing to make the playoffs is a failure. Jim Rutherford made some big acquisitions this summer with Alexander Semin & Jordan Staal and while I think most fans are satisfied with what they've done, they are still going to be criticized because they couldn't bring the Hurricanes to the playoffs even in the lowly Southeast Division. Then again, we will only see 48 games from them by the end of the year, so is it really fair to close the book on these players based on that? Rebuilding this team was going to be a long-term process, so 48 games is very small in the big picture.

With that being said, a good question to ask is how far away this team is from being competitive? How much progress have they made so far this season and what else do they need to do to improve? The door is still open for them to make the playoffs this year, but it's going to take a long winning streak and I'm not sure if the odds are in the Hurricanes favor right now. Anyone who has watched the last six games will tell you that the team needs to be blown up, but the big picture suggests otherwise. Watching this team for the last two weeks has been borderline infuriating but at the same time you have to tell yourself that it's only six games and that doesn't undo an entire season.

I figure that this as good of time as any to review the Hurricanes season, see where they stand now and what they can do to make themselves better. Is there any hope left for this season and if not, what needs to be done to put them over the edge? I'll explore all issues after the jump.

Yesterday marked the Hurricanes sixth loss in a row and the third time they lost by a score of 4-1 during this stretch. No matter how many times we hear from the coaches or the players that the "playoffs" are right now, fans keep getting treated to the same performances night in and night out. Last night's performance against Winnipeg was very disheartening because it had come after the team had four days off and had a chance to gain some ground in the playoff race against a divisional rival. They ended up falling flat on their faces yet again and just seem to be getting worse every game.

The blame for this loss seems to be circulated around one player, but a look at the underlying numbers shows that there are more who deserve it, mostly the guys who are supposed to be leading this team.

Seven goals. That is all the Hurricanes have scored in their last six games and unsurprisingly they have gone winless during this stretch and are slowly falling out of the playoff picture. The defense and goaltending is going to receiving the bulk of the blame for Carolina's recent struggles, but you also need things called "goals" to win games and the Hurricanes aren't getting any of them right now. Either they run into a hot goalie, don't get any scoring chance production or get stuck in their zone way too much. Tonight, Ondrej Pavelec gave them a lot of fits, stopping 38 of the 39 shots he faced and the Hurricanes own defensive play left a lot to be desired and it resulted in yet another 4-1 loss.

Most people thought the Hurricanes would come out strong tonight after four days off and a grueling bag skate in Friday's practice, but the team looked off from the get-go. Winnipeg had more energy and scoring chances in the first period and only fell behind early because the Hurricanes got an early powerplay and took advantage of it. Even with the rough start, the Canes were tied with Winnipeg 1-1 at the first intermission and had a chance to take control of the game in the second. They actually had the edge in territorial play for the first part of it, but they ended up losing any momentum they had gained after Jordan Staal took a hooking penalty and Winnipeg scored on the ensuing powerplay. This was followed up by an odd goal from Nikolai Antropov a few moments later and the Hurricanes found themselves in the same situation that they've been in for the last two weeks. Playing from behind and having their opponents dictate the rest of the game. 

It feels like we have been forced to watch the same game on repeat for the last couple of weeks and it's no joke that the fans are sick of it. This is the most important part of the season and all the Hurricanes have done is lay down while other teams continue to leap frog them in the Eastern Conference. They've already los ta ton of ground in the Southeast Division race with this loss tonight and have yet to show any urgency during any of their last six games. I'm not sure what needs to be done right now but what I can say is that what we are seeing right now is not a playoff team. This squad can play at a much higher level than what they've shown recently, but they have no confidence right now and their time is running out. Some serious work needs to be done if this team wants to put together a huge run and the responsibility falls both on the players and coaches. 

With the Hurricanes currently in a tough losing streak, most people figured that there were going to be some changes to the roster very soon and we saw one of those moves today with Jussi Jokinen being placed on waivers. To most people, this move came as a surprise because Jokinen is known to most people as a "top-six player," a good face-off guy and a solid play-maker. However, most Hurricanes fans are less surprised because he is currently having the worst season of his career. Jokinen has only 4 goals and 10 points in 30 games and has been drifting back-and-forth between the second and third lines for most of the year.

The emergence of Riley Nash as the team's third line center has forced him out of that role and the return of Tuomo Ruutu might have pushed him out of one of the winger spots in the top-six, leaving it hard to find a place for him in the lineup. The Hurricanes have also been pushing the 23-man limit on their roster with the recent call-up of John Muse and Chad LaRose returning from injury, so someone was going to be out regardless and one of those players ended up being Jokinen. One would think that Jokinen has some trade value, but it appears that isn't the case since any team can get Jokinen for free if they desire. The only risk that comes with it is that they will have to take on him $3 mil. salary & cap hit next season, which is a lot for someone with his numbers but not a crippling cost.

No one is going to deny that Jokinen is having a bad season, but is giving him up for no cost a smart move? Even with Nash playing well and Ruutu's return, I find it hard to believe that there is no place for him in the lineup. A look at Jokinen's underlying numbers show that he has actually been pretty good at driving the play forward this season but can not catch a break at all. The Hurricanes are outshooting their opponents by 8 during 5v5 play whenever he is on the ice and that's with him playing some tough minutes on Jordan Staal's line for a good part of the year. Is it Jokinen's fault that the team is shooting at less than 6 percent with him on the ice? I know he takes a lot of flack for missing open shots, but this issue seems to be team-wide lately. In a shortened season, bad bounces can usually make or break you and Jokinen has definitely been on the wrong end of that for most of this year. Still, after reviewing his numbers, I find it kind of hard to believe that he deserves a spot on this team less than Drayson Bowman & Chad LaRose, who have been performing much worse in smaller roles.

If the idea behind this was to send a message, then an easier move would have been to scratch Jokinen for a game or two and look for potential suitors. There aren't going to be many of those now that they can get him for free and a cap floor team such as Phoenix will have no problem taking on his salary. The Hurricanes were obviously in a bind with the roster limit, but I don't think giving up players for free is the smartest idea when your entire organization has been riddled with injuries all season long.

There is also the possibility that this was done to make room for some other players, since the Hurricanes are at the 50-man-roster limit and there have been a lot of rumors swirling about Rutherford wanting to trade for a veteran defenseman. Removing Jokinen's salary and cap hit next season allows them a little more flexibility to do that since they can go after more than just a rental now. There has to be more to this move than just wanting to get rid of a player that's having a bad season, so we will just have to wait and see what else Rutherford has up his sleeves.

If there is one thing Hurricanes fans needed during this losing streak, it was some good news and that got that today when it was announced that the team had signed Alexander Semin to a five-year contract extension worth $7 mil. per season. Semin has been almost a perfect fit on Carolina's first line with Eric Staal and Jiri Tlusty as the trio have been one of the most dangerous units in the league. Both Staal and Semin are currently point-per-game players and are in the Top 25 in the NHL in scoring. They are both currently benefitting from  high on-ice shooting percentages during five-on-five play and are probably performing a bit over their heads right now, but these two are still going to be a dangerous duo for a long, long time now that Semin is signed long-term.

Yes, $7 mil. per season is a lot of money to committ for 5 years under a $64.3 mil. cap and I have my doubts that Semin will continue to produce at a rate of over 3 points per 60 minutes at even strength, but before you go on about how much of an "overpayment" this is, ask yourself how much it would cost the Hurricanes to replace Semin. We are talking about a player who has been a legit first line winger for most of his career, has produced a very high rate in recent seasons and has filled what is a huge void on the Canes first line. People have criticized Rutherford for letting key players walk in the past and he made sure to not let it happen with Semin because replacing him would have been a huge task this off-season. Not to mention that it would have also been a PR nightmare for the team.

Like all contracts, there is obviously a lot of risks attached with this because $7 mil. per year is a lot of cash and Semin just turned 29, so he is exiting what is the prime of his career. His numbers could very well decrease over the next few seasons and make the deal look bad under the new cap. However, it's worth noting that the Canes have been trying to get their full money's worth with Semin. He plays in just about every situation (including the penalty kill now), is being used as a first liner and has been given just about every opportunity to succeed. So far, Semin has taken full advantage of this with his performance and I think Staal has also benefitted a ton from having Sasha as a linemate since he might be the most talented winger he's gotten to play with in years. I've talked about how Staal has elevated the shooting percentage of his linemates in past years and Semin's also had a high on-ice shooting percentage in past seasons, so it's possible that they could have some great years together after this season.

The only drawback of the Semin contract is the money and how much the Hurricanes have committed to next season under a $64.3 mil. salary cap. I have no issues with Semin being paid that much, but the Canes now have over $40 mil. of that cap space taken up by nine players. The Canes have themselves a nice core locked up, but the issue is going to be building around this corps with cheap contracts. They have plenty of space to give Justin Faulk a nice raise after Joni Pitkanen & Jussi Jokinen's contracts come off the books, but they are going to need to find bargains to occupy other depth roles. Jiri Tlusty is also due for a new contract after next season, as well and he may not come cheap unless his counting numbers take a nose-dive.

Carolina's younger players can probably step up into complimentary roles with the top-six spots being filled out, so the issue is going to be building a competitive defense corps on a tight budget. They have Gleason & Harrison locked up for awhile and should be able to re-sign Faulk but after that, things get a little dicey. It's doubtful that Ryan Murphy will be ready for a top-four role as a 20 year old and guys like Keegan Lowe, Austin Levi, Danny Biega, etc. are probably second pairing guys at the most. Blue-line help may need to be a top priority for Rutherford this summer.

There are going to be a lot of people against this signing but I think it's one the Hurricanes needed to make. They aren't going to find another Alexander Semin on the open market and he seems to like where he is in Carolina, so it's good that they were able to come to an agreement. The challenge is going to be building around him and the rest of the pieces Carolina has locked up for the next few years.