Anybody who follows sports somewhat closely knows that there are some players who receive a lot of praise because they possess certain qualities that others do not. Some of those qualities are concrete while others are more intangible. One intangible that’s thrown around regularly is having a leadership presence and showing the ability to be a mentor for the younger players. In baseball, most teams want to have somewhat of an accomplished veteran in their pitching staff to be a mentor. It’s similar to how a lot of football teams look to sign a veteran quarterback to be a back-up and provide some guidance for their young signal-caller.

NHL teams follow a similar trend as “veteran leadership” is something that’s considered an invaluable asset that all teams need to have to succeed. Most fans will often point to past championship teams and how they may have had a few players that had “been there before” and could pass on their knowledge and leadership to some of the younger stars. Names like John Madden, Craig Adams, Mark Recchi, Bill Guerin and Kris Draper are often pointed to as guys who are important for locker room presence and can help teams go further in the playoffs. The other thing that most of these players have in common is that they were either past their prime or bottom-sixers who were relied on more for defense.

All of those players performed well in their roles but I always got the idea that these types were overrated by the media. The reason why I say this is because they all played very replaceable roles and the one thing that put them “above” the rest is their supposed leadership qualities. Fans, media pundits and even general managers are generally attracted to the so called “grit” players who “do the little things to win games” and provide a good presence in the locker room as well. There’s nothing wrong with this since having players with guidance qualities is a good thing and there have been players were able to produce at high levels well into the 30’s and early 40’s, but I, personally would not sign a player only because of his supposed leadership skills.

In what seems like an odd move, the Hurricanes decided to bring another defenseman on board for next year by signing Marc-Andre Gragnani to a one-year, two-way deal. The contract will pay Gragnani $800,000 in the NHL and $105,000 in the AHL, which is a slight raise over the $550,000 he made last season. He spent all of last season in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks and was used almost exclusively in offensive situations.

Gragnani is very well-versed as an offensive defenseman as he led all AHL defensemen in scoring in 2010-11 with 12 goals and 60 points in 63 games. However, his game in the defensive zone is still coming along. He is a high-risk player who will make aggressive pinches when given the chance, so he can produce a lot of offense but he is also proned to give up a lot at the other end. His coaches seem to know this as he started over 63% of his even strength shifts in the offensive zone, faced mostly below average competition and saw a lot of time on the powerplay. Gragnani was very effective in those minutes so he is definitely capable as a powerplay quarterback and offensive defenseman. He hasn't quite lived up to his potential yet but he's still relatively young and can get better.

The Hurricanes acquiring Gragnani, however, is confusing to say the least. Their NHL club already has four puck-moving defensemen (Pitkanen, Faulk, McBain & Corvo) and two more who could join the team next year in Bobby Sanguinetti and Ryan Murphy. Adding another one into the mix doesn't make much sense to me because the Canes have a couple of players who would be third-pairing defensemen on most teams. It's possible that Jim Rutherford wants the team to carry seven defensemen next season for depth reasons and brought Gragnani in to compete with Sanguinetti during training camp for that final spot. They did the same thing with Derek Joslin last season because it was easier to have him available instead of exposing him to waivers. Of course, this was before we figured out that he was terrible.

Gragnani might have a better chance of making the team because he spent all of last season in the NHL but he was given a two-way deal so nothing is guarunteed. Although, Gragnani has experience playing left wing in the pros, so his versatility could be an asset that is valued by the coaching staff and Jim Rutherford. I would hope that they would still be feeling the sting of how bad Derek Joslin was at forward during the latter half of the season but it wouldn't shock me to see them do the same thing with Gragnani. No matter where the team decides to play him, he probably isn't going to go above the third defense pairing or the fourth line if he makes the NHL.

My assumption for next season is that one of Gragnani or Sanguinetti will make the team out of camp next season with Ryan Murphy spending another year in Kitchener. That's probably for the best since I doubt Murphy will be ready by next season and this signing allows the Canes to not rush him into the NHL. As for who makes the team out of Gragnani or Sanguinetti, we won't know that until another couple of months and the decision will probably be a toss-up. Gragnani is the more established player but Sanguinetti hasn't been given a chance yet so he definitely has a shot if he's good enough in training camp and the pre-season.

Either way, this is a decent signing for the Hurricanes. Gragnani might spent all of next season in the AHL and that's fine because he has proven success there as an offensive defenseman. If he makes the team out of camp, then the Hurricanes have someone who they can turn to if they need depth or want to replace someone on the third pairing. The worst thing that can happen from this is Gragnani not making the team and getting claimed off waivers for nothing but let's be honest, if a player can't crack this defense corps, then it's probably not a big loss if another team claims them. The bottom line here is that Gragnani has a decent amount of potential and the Hurricanes were able to sign him for less than a $1 mil. If he works out, then it's a great deal and if he doesn't, then there isn't much lost. 

Coming into last season, there were a lot of people (myself included) who felt that Carolina's highly touted forward prospect, Zac Dalpe, would make his mark in the NHL and possibly contend for the Calder Trophy. That obviously didn't happen and it has left a lot of people frustrated with Dalpe's progression and wondering when he will take that next step. There has always been a lot of hype surrounding Dalpe, his skill level and his supposed "ceiling" and the fact that he hasn't made the jump to the NHL as quickly as most were hoping now has many assuming that he will not amount to much as a pro.

It seems that players are breaking into the NHL at younger ages every year and the Hurricanes have two major examples of that recently with Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk. When you compare Dalpe's production in the NHL to those two, he looks weak and it may cause some people to question his development. However, before you start making assumptions about Dalpe's future and where his development is at, there are some things that you need to remember. 

1. Zac Dalpe is not Jeff Skinner. The latter is an all-world talent who was an elite goal-scorer in the OHL. Dalpe can develop into a very good player in the NHL but he is not at Skinner's level and likely never will be so there is no sense in comparing the two.

2. Dalpe is only 22 and is not an "over-ager" by any means. Last season was only his second year of playing professional hockey.

3. Dalpe MADE THE TEAM out of camp the last two seasons, which were the only two years that he was under contract.

What's to say that Dalpe can't make the team this year and possibly stick around for the entire year? The opportunity for him to do so is still open and he has a very good chance to make the team again this year with the Hurricanes having holes in the top-six and on the third line. Dalpe played only 16 games in the NHL last year and didn't exactly light up the score sheet in the AHL either but despite that, he showed some signs of promise in both leagues and could be poised to become a full-time NHL-er next season.

Dalpe may not be the star that many hoped he would turn into, but he still has a promising future ahead of him and has a stronger chance of being a full-time NHL-er next season than some may think.

After signing Joe Corvo and missing out on the Ryan Suter sweepstakes, Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford stated that he likes where the team's defense is right now and doesn't plan to make any other signings this off-season. Some might say that this is preposterous because of how poor the team's defense was last season and that entering the year with roughly the same defense corps would be a bad idea. There are a few factors that make this coming year's defense different from last season, though.

Firstly, you have to account for some of the defensemen that the Hurricanes have in their system. Bobby Sanguinetti and Ryan Murphy are not locks to make the team by any stretch, but both players have a very good chance at cracking the opening night roster. Another thing to consider is that some of the younger talents like Justin Faulk and Jamie McBain could continue to improve and step into larger roles than they had last season. What I think will play the biggest factor, though, is the health of Joni Pitkanen.

There is no doubt that Pitkanen is coming off a disappointing season but the big Finn also missed 42 games with knee and concussion problems so he wasn't at 100% either. When healthy, Pitkanen can play over 20 minutes a night, be used in almost every situation and play on both special teams units. The Hurricanes are a better team when Pitkanen is in the lineup and if they can get him for a full season, then their defense corps is already much better than it was last year. Pitkanen's health is always going to be a problem and it seems that Jim Rutherford might be banking on that along with the younger players in the system to rebuild Carolina's defense.

After the jump, we will look at the level of impact that Pitkanen can have and how much better the team's defense is when he is in the lineup.

There were so many factors this off-season that had people believing this year's free agency period would be nothing but mass chaos. The fact that only so many desirable players available combined with the salary cap increasing to $70.3 mil. led a lot of people to believe that there would be a lot of massive over-payments and ludicrous contracts handed out to second-tier type players this summer. The off-season is still young but we have yet to see too many ridiculous deals handed out so far and there have actually been quite a few underrated signings that could have a lot of value at the end of next season.

After the jump, I'll go over some of the contracts I thought were solid bets and also talk about some deals that I wasn't a huge fan of. There are still plenty of moves to be made, but I just wanted to post my thoughts on some of the transactions that have occurred over the past week.

Note: This article was meant to be posted on June 30^th, but I lost power on Friday night and just had it restored today. Therefore, some of the information might be outdated.

The Jets have only been in Winnipeg for a year now, so we are all still figuring out Kevin Cheveldayoff’s tendencies and habits as a GM. So far, we can say that he’s made some very questionable draft choices, hasn’t spent a lot in free agency and overpaid for a mediocre talent. Not exactly a good start to the new regime despite the Jets strong home record in their “inaugural season.” It’s still tough to figure out what moves he will make in free agency because he didn’t do much last year and I’m not sure if the Jets have to funds to pursue big free agents. They could in a few years but that’s unknown as of right now.

We might find out this year because Winnipeg has more than a couple holes to fill in their forward corps and they may have to sign a couple players in order to address those needs. Lord knows they have the cap space to do so but like I said earlier, I’m not sure what the Jets’ money situation is but I’m sure that it’s not anything that will keep them making the moves they want.

Note: This article was meant to be posted on June 30^th, but I lost power on Friday night and just had it restored today. Therefore, some of the information might be outdated.

George McPhee and the Washington Capitals were the champions of the off-season last year but the moves they made didn’t quite have the on ice results most were hoping for. Whether you want to blame injuries or the coaching change, one thing that is certain is that the Caps looked like they took a few steps back in the regular season last year. It got so bad that there was a point where a lot of fans wondered if this team would even make the playoffs, but the Caps were able to make it in and they had a decent run before losing to the Rangers in seven games.

With a new coach in place and a few former key player set to leave, the Caps are ready to don somewhat of a new look and are hoping to get themselves back on top of the Southeast. They have a couple of prospects who are another year or two from making it to the NHL so McPhee will likely hold off on any long-term deals but he always seems make a splash in free agency every year and I’m sure this season will be no different.

Note: This article was meant to be posted on June 30^th, but I lost power on Friday night and just had it restored today. Therefore, some of the information might be outdated.

Aside from Steven Stamkos winning another scoring title, the Lightning had a very disappointing season. They went from one game away from the Stanley Cup Finals to not even being close to making the playoffs the next year. There are a lot of things you can point to blame for it; injuries, terrible goaltending, bad defense, a roster that seemingly changed every game, etc. Steve Yzerman inherited a team that wasn’t in great shape to begin with but he’s done a very nice job as GM of Tampa Bay and seems to know what he needs to do to make them a better team in the next few years. He’s already made a couple moves, so what else can we expect from Stevie Y this summer? Find out after thejump.

Note: This article was meant to be posted on June 30^th, but I lost power on Friday night and just had it restored today. Therefore, some of the information might be outdated.

It’s been a year since Dale Tallon went on his massive shopping spree in attempt to get the Florida Panthers to the cap floor. Many questioned why he was giving out so many long-term deals to mediocre players last year but those questions stopped once the Panthers made the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. Then the story was all about how Tallon turned the Panthers around and how he deserved to be GM of the Year. The reality of this is that the Panthers mainly won the Southeast because it was one of the weakest divisions in the NHL since the lockout and the Panthers were still largely a mediocre team.

Florida might employ the same strategy this year but they have a couple big free agents they might want to re-sign before they spend their funds elsewhere. They also have a lot of young forwards who are relatively close to being NHL-ready so Tallon might want to spend his money more wisely this time around. He has quite a history of overpaying for free agents and with the cap going up, it wouldn’t shock anyone to see this trend continue.

Note: This article was meant to be posted on June 30^th, but I lost power on Friday night and just had it restored today. Therefore, some of the information might be outdated.

By this time, you have probably seen the many of the in-depth articles I have written on certain needs that the Hurricanes have heading into free agency. When you finish last in the Southeast Division, you generally have a lot of areas that need to be addressed, so this is a lot of work to go over. I’ve discussed team needs, players who should be re-signed, possible trade targets and what free agents that the Hurricanes could go after this summer. When you finish last in the Southeast Division, you probably have a lot of holes that need to be filled so this is quite a bit of work to go over. Which is why, to make things easier on you, I’m going to give a brief overview of what the Hurricanes outlook is heading into tomorrow.

We will start this after the jump.