A Letter To Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford
Dear Jim,
I see that your hockey club has been experiencing some major woes in 09-10. You didn’t expect this kind of a start, I know, nor did many hockey observers.
The Hockey News actually picked you to finish 6th, and Adam Proteau of the same publication picked you to finish 5th in your conference.
Hopes and expectations were high, that much is clear — but I’m writing to tell you that Hockeycentric saw your collapse coming.
It was printed by the Hockeycentric staff on October 5th, 2009:
The Canes have a historic tendency to follow a strong year with a year of futility. This will be one of those down years, as the Paul Maurice honeymoon is over, and the aging forward core won’t be able to tough it out over another full year. Cam Ward is the real deal, and (overpaid) first-line centre Eric Staal is a horse, but Carolina will fall flat in 09-10.
In the offseason, you targeted team toughness as your biggest deficiency, and you attempted to rectify that area by bringing in Tom Kostopoulous, Andrew Alberts, and Aaron Ward.
While that trio certainly added some sand to your lineup, it wasn’t a lack of toughness that saw you lose four straight to Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference final. Rather, your club’s offense, which is centred around Eric Staal, became very easy to target when matched against a Pittsburgh club that boasted three spectacular centremen. It quickly became clear that Eric Staal needed the support of a highly skilled #2 centre to take the heat off, and to force opposition teams to divide their defensive focus.
But that wasn’t the only problem with your club, Jim. It seemed that just about everything seemed to come together all at once for your Hurricanes last year. Samsonov, Jokinen, Gleason, and Seidenberg played over their heads. Cam Ward elevated his status as an elite netminder, while Paul Maurice’s insertion as coach lifted your club into a different stratosphere, as they entered the post season sporting a fire trail.
Above all though, there were two signs that your franchise was on the verge of a collapse.
First, was the notion that Joni Pitkanen has been and continues to be your number one defenseman. On a contending club, a player of Pitkanen’s caliber would tend to be closer to a 3rd or 4th defenseman. It was a mystery to myself and others as to how your team made it past the Devils and Bruins with a Joni-led defense core.
Second, and more importantly, is the age of some of your core players.
Rod Brind’Amour, who may be the hardest worker off the ice of any NHL player, but who has unquestionably lost a step to the youth that surrounds him. Though he won back-to-back Selke trophies in 05-06 and 06-07, he was an atrocious minus-23 last year. While still a tremendous faceoff man, Brind’Amour (who is already minus-14 this year, with only 18 games under his belt) doesn’t have the vigour of years gone by — the conclusion of this season might be the right time for Rod to retire.
Then look at the remaining top-6 forwards, and you’ll find Ray Whitney, a 19-year veteran of the NHL who will turn 38 in May. Ray isn’t producing this year, and his production will likely see a rapid decline as he approaches 40.
Other members of the ‘30+ and underperforming’ club include Sergei “I only play well sporadically” Samsonov and Matt Cullen. These are players that you have invested in Jim, but they are inconsistent performers who have no business being considered go-to players for a contending team.
While this off-season’s roster tweaking hasn’t resulted in a winning record, I’m sure it is clear to you now that at least a partial dismantling of your roster is the logical next step.
Which brings me to the good news portion of this message — your roster is as dismantle-friendly as any in the National Hockey League. Here’s what you need to do:
Joe Corvo, Ray Whitney, Matt Cullen, Scott Walker and Aaron Ward have expiring contracts upcoming, and each of these players will be wanted commodities at the deadline. Corvo, Whitney and Cullen will each fetch a 2nd round pick, while Walker and Aaron Ward might get you between a 3rd to a 5th if you play your cards right. Rid yourself of these assets and stockpile some draft picks.
Even though results have been poor this year, your franchise has an all-star #1 centre and a world-class goaltender. It won’t take long to assemble some pieces around Staal and Ward that will make you a contender again. Plus, you have the most eloquent press conference coach in the NHL.
As it stands now, your club will have a good shot at a lottery pick, maybe even first overall. This means there’s a good chance Taylor Hall could be a Hurricane as early as next year. Wouldn’t that be a step in the right direction?
Consider the Philadelphia Flyers and how atrocious they were a few years ago after Eric Desjardins and Keith Primeau retired at nearly the same time. Now realize that you’re in a similar position as those once-lowly Flyers, and you have just as good a chance to ice a winning team in ‘10-11.
The solution, Jim, is a re-tool. (See: the Colorado Avalanche and the Anaheim Ducks for a blueprint)
