Canes Things I Think I Think — January 24, 2024
Just throwing some things out there. Not sure if this will be a regular thing or not. If you like it, let me know at @MrWorkrate on Twitter (sorry, not calling it the other thing.)
Let’s go.
Relax about Spencer Martin. Dude is goalie organizational depth in the short term while the Canes have two goalies with varying indefinite injuries, another who is a bad stretch away from an IR say, and one who has 17 games of professional experience, 16 of which are two levels below the NHL.
Sure, Martin’s numbers look bad both this season and last, but also remember the teams that they came from — Columbus this season is a tire fire, and last seasons’ Canucks made Thatcher Demko — a top 5 or so goalie in the NHL — post a 3.16GAA and a .901sv%. If you look at recent AHL numbers, there’s a little more optimism there:
Martin is Goalie B in that list. Goalie A is Alex Lyon, who has taken the 1A goalie spot in Detroit. Goalie D is Samuel Ersson, who was fighting for the 1A in Philadelphia this season after going 12–5–2, 2.07GAA, .921sv% since the beginning of November, and might have won by default. Goalie C is Pytor Kochetkov, which I think if you could replicate at a league minimum cap hit, you’d take. For a team that was considering a 38-year-old Jaroslav Halák and a 34-year-old Aaron Dell, at least this 28-year-old might have an upside, no matter how limited you might think it is.
That said, clock’s ticking on a goaltending move. There have been some really bad suggestions online regarding the Canes search for a big name goaltender, most of which involve taking over someone’s questionable contract and/or headcase in exchange for all of the assets.
Panic mode is what causes good teams to make bad decisions, and good GMs identify those teams and use those bad decisions for profit and gain. Don Waddell is generally not a panic mode guy, but the typical Waddell acquisition (low key good player with term) isn’t really out there, or is but at too high of a price. Rentals (not a Waddell/Dundon thing) aren’t in good supply either — Petr Mrazek just signed an extension with Chicago and Cam Talbot’s not going anywhere, so you’re looking at players like Kaapo Kähkönen or James Reiner, which… eh.
I don’t envy Don Waddell’s position here — he’s like when you go on a road trip and realize you have to go to the bathroom and you know the Buc-ees is 200+ miles away. You may have to bite the bullet and hit a Sheetz or even that shady gas station where the bathroom key is attached to a 2x4, or else you’re going to wish you had leather seats.
I feel kind of bad for Tony DeAngelo? Yeah, not exactly the words I’d expect to type out, but here we are. I tried to keep a relatively open mind about the Canes’ acquisition of the “defender”, separating my perception of him as a player versus his personality (and moreso the type of fan he attracts — read more here!) and most of my negativity towards him came from the fact that the positives that come from having him on the ice come at too much of a cost, between his poor defending skills and taking Jalen Chatfield off the ice.
And, well, that’s just what happened. Away from the Slavin handcuff he had in 2021–22, DeAngelo turned back into a pumpkin, nearly sabotaging the value of free agent signing Dmitry Orlov* and eventually getting himself in the doghouse with Coach Brind’Amour by the middle of November.
- For those who might think I’m overreacting — in the first 17 games of the season, where he was generally paired with DeAngelo, Orlov had one goal and five assists with a -11 rating. In the 28 games after, as DeAngelo was a frequent healthy scratch and Orlov was paired with Chatfield, he has one goal, nine assists, and a +4 rating.
To his credit, DeAngelo has been quiet about his lack of usage, as he’s generally been quiet during both his tenures in Carolina. But really, this has to suck for him — he’s an NHL player, just not necessarily one that fits for Carolina. There are teams that could use him, and I’m curious if Don Waddell looks to see if some team finds value in him and gets a little something for their trouble (although not as much as they paid for him — Massimo, we barely knew you) or if they keep him in the wings just in case something happens to Brent Burns during the stretch run (thought Dylan Coghlan must be wondering who he pissed off.) In a semi-related note…
…it looks like we’re stuck with Brendan Lemieux, #fornow. Lemieux hasn’t been a big part of the Canes roster, only playing in 18 of a possible 45 games, and hasn’t played double-digit minutes in any of those games. Lemieux’s been relatively quiet in those games, throwing a few hits here and there, while potting two goals and an assist. He endeared himself to Canes fans a couple of weeks ago when he fought Anaheim’s Sam Carrick after Carrick boarded the Canes’ Jack Drury.
I mean, this is what Lemieux does — hits people, either with his body or his fists, and gets in front of the net in an effort to get some grimy goals. But sometimes he’s asked to do other things — simple things — and his weaknesses are exposed. Take Sunday versus Minnesota, with Lemieux placed in the lineup with Andrei Svechnikov out:
There were some calls from fans for the Canes to call up someone and keep Lemieux firmly locked in the press box (specifically Vasily Ponomarev, who had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut January 5th before being sent back down a few days later), but that doesn’t seem to be happening, and to be fair I get it. Lemieux is here to be a body — someone to come into the lineup one game here, one game there when someone gets nicked up. Before this run in January (injuries to Necas and now Svechnikov have put him in the lineup), Lemieux had played in four games the previous two months. Not an ideal situation for a prospect, but for a roster filler like Lemieux it’s good enough. Could the Canes call up someone else like Jamieson Rees and send down Lemieux? I mean, I guess, but Lemieux is a known quantity at this point; Rees isn’t. If Svechnikov’s injury is longer term, or if another player sees a good chunk of time lost, then you’ll likely see a prospect, but until then, it’s going to be Lemieux. Finally…
…the whole “Seth Jarvis — honorary Finn” thing is fun. Seth Jarvis moved in with Sebastian Aho when he first made the Hurricanes roster as a 19-year-old, and has been an “Honorary Finn” ever since. This week is the Canes’ Mom’s Trip, and we got a new “family picture.”
It’s goofy stuff like this that brings a team together and forms bonds that make a team just a little bit better. As someone who was “adopted” by a group of people who brought me into their culture when I was away from home, I can identify with this and know how important something like this is outside of the silly photo ops. You can try to force team bonding by trips and events, but the best kind — and the longest lasting — is the kind that comes naturally.
Thanks for reading this far — more next time!
