Over the next few days, I am going to look at each team in the Southeast division and determine what kind of moves they could be making as the trade deadline approaches. We've already seen a few deals go down the last few days and have an idea of what the market looks like, so I am sure that things will get interesting soon.

What I am going to do is look at the situation each team is in and whether or not they will be "buyers" or "sellers" over the next week and look at where they stand monetarily. Different GMs have different kinds of budgets and that effects what kind of trades they will be making. Some GMs are more likely to pony up money to re-sign a player while others will trade him away for draft picks or future assets. I will also examine some of the moves that these teams have made leading up to the deadline to get an idea of what to expect.

Of course, I will be starting with the Carolina Hurricanes, who currently sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference but they haven't been in complete sell mode yet. The only expiring contract they have dealt is Alexei Ponikarovsky and they actually re-signed Tim Gleason to a four-year deal. The cap floor and injuries in both Raleigh and Charlotte might be preventing Jim Rutherford from making all of the moves he wants, but Carolina doesn't need to blow everything up right now. The most likely thing Rutherford will do is trade those with expiring contracts or those who are on cheap deals in return for salary, prospects and picks. Who exactly do the Hurricanes have to trade now that Tuomo Ruutu is injured, though? Better yet, what kind of moves will Rutherford be making over the next week if any at all? After the jump, we'll review Rutherford's activity this year and look at what kind of situation the Canes are in.

Every year, there always seems to be that one player who has your teams number whenever you play against them and for the Hurricanes this season, that player is John Tavares. The former number one pick scored two goals and had an assist tonight which now gives him six goals and twelve points in four games against the Hurricanes this year. Carolina has had some difficulty containing dangerous liines (Neal-Malkin-Kunitz come to mind) but none of them have come close to what Tavares has done. The Hurricanes aren't the only team that Tavares' line has walked all over this year, but his domination of them shows that the Canes defense could use some improvement. Gleason, Allen, Faulk, Nodl, Sutter, Dwyer & Harrison have all done a solid job this year but they have their limitations and we saw that tonight. It's a big reason why they lost tonight and why they are 0-2-2 against the Isles this year.

Aside from getting run over by the Islanders first line, the Canes played well tonight and had the advantage in scoring chances 19-17 despite taking the loss. Carolina didn't get off to a good start but they eventually shook off the cobwebs and were able to keep up with the Islanders for most of this game. A horrible stretch of play to begin the third period is what ended up dooming the Canes, though as they had to play from behind for the entire third period and couldn't do enough at even strength to tie the game.

Again, a good effort from Carolina even if it resulted in a loss (only the second loss in regulation in the last month) but the Canes had poor starts to the first and third period and it ended up hurting them. An injury to Cam Ward before the third period didn't help either.

Scoring Chances & more after the jump

Today marks the first time this season that a Carolina goalie not named Cam Ward recorded a win. After performing below replacement level last year, many wondered if we would see back-up goalie Justin Peters even play a game in Raleigh this season. He did start the year in Charlotte but an injury to Brian Boucher led to him being called-up and because he doesn't get to play much, Peters needs to make the most out of his starts. Tonight, he did just that in stopping 35 of 37 shots and playing a huge role in the Canes winning tonight's game 3-2. I know that he got a two-goal cushion to start things out but Carolina's offense fell asleep in the third period and Peters was the main reason why the Sharks didn't break this game wide open. He earned every bit of this win.

While I am happy for Peters, I have to say that I wasn't pleased with Carolina's overall effort tonight. I know the Sharks are a great team but seeing the Canes come out flat in the third period with a 2-0 lead was very discouraging. They were playing so strong defensively for the previous 40 minutes and then they just let the Sharks walk all over at the beginning of the third period and they tied the game. A good shift and a deflection goal from Jussi Jokinen put Carolina back on top but this win could have come a lot easier than it did.

In the end, a win is a win and after how many bad bounces the Canes got last week, I will gladly take a victory like this. Carolina managed to only hang on by the skin of their teeth but it's still two points in the standings and another step out of the cellar of the Eastern Conference.

Scoring chances & more after the jump.

If you were to look at which Hurricanes forwards are creating the most scoring chances on the powerplay relative to their ice time, you'll see some familiar names. Jussi Jokinen, Eric Staal and Tim Brent. Wait, Tim Brent? The guy who we signed to center our fourth line and play on the penalty kill? Well, it's true. Brent trails only Jussi Jokinen in powerplay scoring chances per ice time with 9.64 chances per 15 mins. He only has a goal and an assist while playing with the man advantage but he's been creating scoring chances and has been on ice for eight powerplay goals. Muller's done some interesting things with the lineup and adding Brent to the powerplay is one that seems to be paying off.

Brent was used sparingly on the powerplay in Toronto last year so this isn't anything new to him but the general thought among Carolina fans that Brent's role would be limited to the fourth line and penalty kill. He's still the team's fourth line center but if you look at his special teams ice time, you'll notice that his powerplay and penalty kill usage have shifted in the opposite direction and the change started right around the time that Muller took over. The strange thing is that Brent has actually been very efficient on the powerplay. Remember, he is second among regular forwards in creating powerplay chances. This isn't what you'd expect from a defensive center who struggles to drive possession but for whatever reason, Brent is getting the job done on the powerplay.

What exactly is Brent doing to be so operative on the powerplay? The initial thought is that he would be a good body to create traffic in front of the net. While he can play that role, he's actually been working the point on most nights. That might come across as a surprise to some, but he's actually done a fine job in that position. Brent playing the point has helped the Canes with their zone entries on with the man advantage and he's been doing the little things that help make the Canes powerplay better.

After the jump, we'll jump into the film room and look at an example of how Brent's been helping the powerplay.

The injury bug hit Carolina again earlier this week when it was announced that Tuomo Ruutu would miss three weeks with an "upper-body injury." With the trade deadline approaching and the Hurricanes needing to make a decision on what they want to do with Ruutu in the future, this injury came at the worst time possible. Just to rub salt into the wound, Ruutu has been a key part of the team's first line for the past two months and replacing him with call-ups from the AHL is going to be a tough task.

This did get me thinking about something, though. Which call-ups from Charlotte have seen the most success this year and who is the most likely to land a permanent spot on the Canes? The injury to Ruutu opens up the door for a few players and I would imagine that a few other roster spots will open up after the trade deadline depending on what happens. Carolina has quite a few forward prospects with decent upsides, so using the rest of the season to see if they fit into the team's plans wouldn't be a bad idea.

As of right now, Drayson Bowman and Jerome Samson are the two call-ups who are going to be depended on to replace Ruutu's production and then some. My guess is that both of them will get a look on the first line during the next few weeks as an audition. Both have played in the top-six roles before, so playing with Eric Staal shouldn't be anything too foreign for them. Bowman has seen modest success with the Canes and Samson has only been here for four games this season so the jury is still out on him.

How do Bowman and Samson look outside of their point totals and what other forwards could we expect to see in Raleigh? We'll explore that after the jump.

In my recap of Monday's win over the Montreal Canadiens, I said that the Canes had two of their worst performances on the penalty kill along with one of their best. Overall, they were burned for two powerplay goals in the second period, gave up four scoring chances and nine shots on about six and a half minutes on the PK, which is pretty bad overall. Most of that damage came in the first two periods, though. In the third period, the PK pulled a complete 180 and had two of their strongest penalty kill efforts of the season, one of which led to a shorthanded goal. The PK really stepped up when they were clinging onto a 4-3 lead and that counts for a lot. It was definitely a strange game and the Jekyll/Hyde like performance from the penalty kill just added to that. After the jump, we are going to take a look at what the Canes PK did right and wrong in Monday's game.

Before getting into the details, I just have to say that the Canes 5-3 win over the Canadiens last night was one of the best Carolina games I've seen this year. We have seen the Canes come back from a deficit before but what made this win feel so good was the play of Eric Staal. Carolina was constantly getting into penalty trouble and was down their leading goal-scorer for most of the night but that didn't seem to phase them even when they blew a 2-0 lead in the second period. Staal took over the game in the third period and it all started with his shorthanded goal where he made former Hurricane Tomas Kaberle look like a traffic cone. After that, he played like a man possessed and ended the game with six shots on goal, 11 shot attempts and a two goal/three point night to boot.

On a night where head coach Kirk Muller was returning to the city where he once led the Habs to many victories, it was only fitting to see Staal do the same for Carolina. I know Staal's been having an off-year by his standards but I don't think you can deny that he's been Carolina's best player ever since the calendar turned 2012. While he has played better than his goal total and plus/minus indicate, Staal's performance last night was exactly what fans were hoping to see out of him all season and more. I hope he can continue to have more games like that down the stretch.

Moving onto the more technical details, last night's game was actually pretty odd. A little over 30% of the game wasn't played at even strength and we saw plenty of 4-on-4 and 4-on-3 situations, so there were bound to be a lot of strange occurrences. Five of the eight goals scored last night were on special teams situations as the Habs struck twice on the powerplay and the Canes scored twice with the man advantage and had a shorthanded tally in addition to that. Like I said, strange things happen when a good chunk of the game isn't played at five-on-five and the Canes won last night because their special teams were slightly better than Montreal's. Want proof of that? The Canes were outchanced 14-13 at even strength but had 21-18 advantage overall because of how good they were on the powerplay. Sometimes goalies steal you games and sometimes the powerplay will. This time it was the latter.

Scoring chances & more after the jump

Carolina Hurricanes (20-25-11) at Montreal Canadiens (23-24-9)
Bell Centre, 7:30 p.m.
TV: FS-Carolinas, TSN-Habs

Tonight's game should be a very emotional night for Hurricanes head coach Kirk Muller as he returns to Montreal for the first time as the Carolina bench boss. Muller was well-traveled over his NHL career but he is best known for his time with the Montreal Canadiens as he led the team to a Stanley Cup in 1993 and served as team captain for the 1994-95 season. He may have spent only four seasons in Montreal but his service as a player and captain there are not forgotten. There is no doubt that he was loved in Montreal and that he loved Montreal, as well so this is going to be a very special game for him and the Canadiens fanbase.

That aside, let's not forget that the Canes are coming off back-to-back overtime losses, both of which were heart-breaking. I am sure that Muller hasn't forgotten about those and will look to get the Canes back in the win column tonight. Let's hope the Canes do Muller a solid tonight and help him make this night even more memorable.

Lines & more after the jump

Whenever you are a team that is out of playoff contention near the trade deadline, most people consider said team to be in "sell mode" and the "logical" thing to do is to trade all of their players with expiring contracts for pieces they can use to rebuild with. Being last place in the Eastern Conference, the Hurricanes are one of these teams in "sell mode" and have a few players with deals that expire at the end of the season but the one everyone is talking about is the physical forward Tuomo Ruutu.

GM Jim Rutherford has already re-signed defenseman Tim Gleason for four more years at a moderately high cost and has said that he wants to re-sign Ruutu, as well. We know where Rutherford stands on this issue but there are a still a few things standing in the way. How much money does Ruutu want and will Rutherford be willing to give him that much? Another factor is how much are other GM's be willing to give up to acquire Ruutu. Most teams are going to want at least two solid scoring lines for a playoff push and Ruutu can help them with that. You have to weigh both sides of the situation with issues like this, so we're going to look at both the positives and negatives that come with either re-signing or trading Ruutu. I think JR has to do one or the other here because the worst thing he can do is let Ruutu walk away for nothing like he did with Erik Cole and Ray Whitney.

When Jim Rutherford traded Philippe Paradis for Jiri Tlusty back in 2009, not that much was made of it. Tlusty was known as one of the many "busts" of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the John Ferguson Jr. Era and it didn't look like he would be more than a fringe-NHL player. Fast forward to 2012 and Tlusty is on-pace for a career high 17 goals and has shown some of his first-round skill at times. What a lot of people are wondering is if Tlusty is finally coming to his own or if this year is a complete fluke. As of right now, things are still unclear.

It is easy to forget that Tlusty is only 23 and isn't near the prime of his career, so this season could be him continuing to progress as a player but he's been given a lot more opportunities to succeed this year than he has in the past. Tlusty's always had offensive talent but he's never been given a chance to show it during his tenure with Carolina. Before this year, he was usually put on the fourth line and used in defensive situations. Now, he is playing a lot more minutes and is currently slotted at left wing on the first line with Eric Staal and Tuomo Ruutu. It makes you wonder how much of Tlusty's success this year is related to him playing with stronger linemates because that usually helps a lot of players. If you look at Tlusty's most frequent linemates, you'll see that Staal is at the top of the list so Tlusty's breakout season could be a product of playing with the captain. However, we've also seen him make some fantastic individual efforts this year, so it's unfair to say that Staal is the only reason for Tlusty's success.

After the jump, we'll take a closer look at Tlusty's season and see what the reason is for his emergence. He's a RFA at the end of the year so finding out if this year is a complete fluke or not will be important when it comes time to re-sign him.