The 2012 NHL Draft recently wrapped up and three Badgers were selected in Pittsburgh over the weekend. Sophomore-to-be Brendan Woods heard his name called on Saturday, when the Carolina Hurricanes made him their fifth round selection, #129 overall.

Woods, whose family has spent time in Hershey, PA and Fairfax, VA over the past few years is the son of current Ducks assistant coach Bob Woods.

Brendan was passed over in his first year of eligibility in the NHL draft largely due to the fact that he broke his leg and missed the majority of his season. In his 2011 draft year, Woods play was up and down, playing for a brutal expansion team in the USHL that struggled to score goals.

As a freshman at Wisconsin last season, Brendan recorded five goals and five assists in 34 games and saw his playing time increase exponentially as the season progressed. Woods two-way play is a big reason the Hurricanes selected him.

Tony MacDonald, Director of amateur scouting for the Carolina Hurricanes on Woods:

"Big strong guy who missed a year of hockey with an injury. He came back and played this year. He's a big, strong guy who likes to go to the net. Great upside."

MacDonald added that this was Woods' last year of draft eligibility, having been born in 1992; his injury last season is what prevented him from being picked then.

Woods, who chose the Badgers over WCHA rivals North Dakota and Minnesota as well as New Hampshire, Northeastern, and Colorado College played both center and wing for the Badgers last season but will likely see his pro future on the left side and that's where the Hurricanes drafted him.

The 20 year old Woods told PennLive.com that he had talked to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Winnipeg Jets leading up to the draft, but didn't expect to be picked. In fact, he was sleeping when he got the call to inform him that he had been selected.

"It’s something I’ve dreamed of my whole childhood," Brendan Woods told Tim Leone from PennLive.com. "It’s a day I’ll never forget."

Woods father Bob was excited to learn that his son had been drafted.

"It’s pretty cool," Bob Woods said. "We’re pretty excited about it. It’s a good organization. It should be a good opportunity for him down the road.

"It’s always a great honor in getting drafted, having somebody be interested in you. For him, being a ’92 [birth year] in a ’94 draft, it shows they must have pretty good interest in him."

After things settled down for Brendan late Saturday, Woods sent out a tweet expressing his gratitude towards those who have helped him along his journey so far.

Feel blessed to be in the spot I'm in today, couldn't have done it without my coaches and teammates and especially my family ‪#Dreamcometrue

— Brendan Woods (@SkeeterWoods21) June 23rd, 2012

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Sure, it's a little anticlimactic after the release of the regular season schedule last week, but at least now we know when the Nashville Predators' pre-season games and training camp will take place.

An excerpt from the team's press release follows...

Follow @Forechecker

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the Predators will open their seven-game 2012 preseason schedule with a doubleheader at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., for the second consecutive season on Monday, Sept. 24.

Nashville's preseason schedule includes a pair of home games: Tuesday, Sept. 25 against the Central Division rival St. Louis Blues and Saturday, Sept. 29 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Both games at Bridgestone Arena will start at 7 p.m. CT.

In addition to their doubleheader against the Florida Panthers, the Predators will travel to Raleigh to take on the Hurricanes for the seventh consecutive preseason (Sept. 28) and play their first preseason tilt at the Scottrade Center since 2003 on Oct. 2. Nashville will round out the seven-game slate on Oct. 5 at the Verizon Center in Washington.

The 2012-13 Nashville Predators rookie camp is scheduled to open Friday, Sept. 14, with veterans reporting on Friday, Sept. 21 for testing and physicals. The Predators' first day on the ice will be Saturday, Sept. 22 at the Centennial Sportsplex.

In the coming age of advanced stats in hockey, one of the most helpful tools is the WOWY charts because it provides a way to show how dependent certain players were on each other. I have done this with scoring chances for the Hurricanes' players this season and it's shown some interesting findings about quite a few players A way to expand on this is breaking down scoring chances by line combinations and defense pairings to see who were the best units the Canes had last year in terms of generating scoring chances.

With the Jordan Staal trade and more moves on the way, there will likely be some changes to the Hurricanes lineup next year, so seeing which units were Carolina's strongest and weakest last year is a good way to help figure out what the line combinations for next season could be. This also gives insight into which centers on the team can carry weak linemates and make them effective. Eric Staal is regarded as an elite center in the league so he should be able to do this, right? We will find that out after the jump.

This is all even strength data

To answer the question in the introduction, yes Eric Staal was able to have a very positive influence on whatever line he was placed on. He centered five of the team's best lines and all but one of the lines he centered were able to control at least 50% of the even strength scoring chances they were on ice for. That includes the shortly-lived line of him, Jiri Tlusty and Anthony Stewart, two players who are very poor at controlling puck possession. Something I pointed out in Tlusty's exit analysis was that he was very successful when he played with Staal and this data backs it up. He and Staal were able to work very well together and it could possibly give the team some motivation to keep them together next season.

While there is no doubt that Staal was great at making due with what he had, he was not part of the team's best forward line this year, which would be the popular second line of Jussi Jokinen, Jeff Skinner and Tuomo Ruutu. There's a reason why these three are so popular and it's because they control scoring chances at a near top-end level when they play together. The addition of Jordan Staal to the top-six might cause this line to be split up (again) but you can see that each of them were able to have success on other lines. The only time Jokinen and Ruutu struggled was when they played with Alexei Ponikarovsky, which is odd because he is normally good at pushing the play forward.

Evaluating Brandon Sutter's performance as a center through this is difficult because he plays in such tough situations but an interesting observation here is that he, Drayson Bowman and Chad LaRose were somewhat of an effective unit during their short time together. Any time you can come out on the positive end of the scoring chance ledger while playing tough minutes is a notable accomplishment. All of Sutter's other lines couldn't push the play forward much and it's largely because he was primarily used with defensive forwards.

Sutter's numbers might look ugly, but he was playing some of the toughest minutes on the team, while all of Tim Bren'ts lines were used in complete opposite situations and have even worse numbers. Brent is a fourth liner so it shouldn't be expected for him to be some kind of possession demon, but he needs to be a lot better than this while playing in soft minutes. This is why I have my doubts about him duplicating the season he had by counting stats and why I think the fourth line is something that should be addressed this off-season.

Let's move onto the defense now

McBain and Spacek are at the top of the list, but that's mostly because they were the third pairing and drew weak competition as a result. McBain may have been bounced throughout the lineup but Spacek was used strictly in sheltered situations and it definitely led to them having better numbers than they would have playing in a different role. It's hard to fault them for doing their jobs, though because they did just about everything you would want a third defense pairing to do. Although, McBain's success with Gleason could show that he's better defensively than some may give him credit for.

Gleason and Allen were regarded as the team's most important defense pairing and it's hard to argue that when you look at the workload they took on this season. They were still outchanced but it isn't as extreme as one would think if you factor in that they started about 60% of their shifts in the defensive zone against other team's top lines. It takes a top-tier defense pairing to come out positive in those situations and while Gleason and Allen are good, they aren't top-level talents. Should Allen leave, it will be interesting who Jim Rutherford signs to replace him and what kind of role he will play. Do the Hurricanes sign someone strictly to replace Allen or try to promote from within and have someone like Justin Faulk or Joni Pitkanen play those minutes?

Based on what we see here, Faulk and Harrison could stick together to start next year. They were used in secondary situations but still played the most minutes among defensemen at even strength and still managed to outchance their competition. Albeit, they barely outchanced them but that's pretty good compared to how most of the team's other defense pairings performed. I'm a little curious to see how these two are used with a healthy Joni Pitkanen in the lineup because he didn't play enough with either of them to determine any results and the Pitkanen/McBain pairing clearly isn't working.

There are a lot of different things the Hurricanes can do with their lines and defense pairings next year depending who is brought in. With the forwards likely going to be shaken up and the defense still being a work in progress, I would expect some completely different lines to start next year. The good news is that the Hurricanes may have an idea of which players are suited for a certain role by looking at how they did on unit.

Only time will tell if the hefty price Carolina paid to acquire Jordan Staal will pay off. Most seem to think that Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero fared well despite being in a no-win situation with Staal, getting back a high draft pick, a promising prospect and an established NHLer. But they also think Carolina improved their team in the now, giving them either a formidable top line featuring two Staal brothers, or a potent one-two punch down the middle that few can match.

Furthermore, the Hurricanes seemed to get the player they wanted with the their first selection in the draft and also add some potential for down the road.

"I thought the Hurricanes had a very good weekend in Pittsburgh," Seidel told Canes Country via email. "We graded them as an A minus.

"Firstly, they get one of the premiere centremen in the entire NHL (do not be fooled by his lack of offensive production playing behind Crosby and Malkin)," Seidel said. "He will flourish playing with Eric and will be a double-edged sword because his defensive awareness will shut down other team's first line while capitalizing on the other team's first line's defensive weaknesses."

Seidel was also complimentary of Carolina's selection of University of Michigan winger Phil Di Giuseppe, who was chosen with the 38th overall pick in the second round (Carolina's first selection after they dealt away the eighth overall pick to land Staal from Pittsburgh).

"Di Giuseppe was a great 1st pick because he has shown all year that he can play AND produce against men," Seidel said. "He put up excellent numbers as a freshman in the competitive CCHA [and is] well coached."

Michael Spath, who covers Michigan hockey for The Wolverine, also thinks Di Giuseppe has a bright future in the NHL.

"He's the quintessential left winger," Spath said. "He knows how to finish and makes his center look good when his center makes him look good. He needs to develop consistency, but that's common for kids that age. I like his effort defensively."

Some feel Di Giuseppe's stock may have slipped some due to a 14-game goalless streak he had during his freshman campaign with the Wolverines.

"I can't explain it, actually," Spath said of Di Giuseppe's slump. "He probably should have scored. It wasn't like he was pressing."

Furthermore, Spath said Di Giuseppe didn't let the slump get the best of him.

"He had a good attitude," Spath said of Di Giuseppe's demeanor during his goal drought. "He wasn't as frustrated as an upperclassman might have been."

Lost in the talk of the drought: if you take away those 14 games, Di Giuseppe had 11 goals in 26 games as an 18-year-old in the highly competitive CCHA.

* * *

Seidel also weighed in most of Carolina's other selections. Here's what he had to say.

• "Brock McGinn was taken a little high for us but is a hard worker, a high-character kid who plays hard but his size is a concern to play in the NHL."
• "Daniel Altshuller is a project goaltender with great size and athletic ability. He stole some games for Oshawa this year and will be a [big] part of this upcoming year."
• "Erik Karlsson is another smallish centreman but he has great hockey IQ and some offensive ability. He represented great value at No. 99."
  
• "Trevor Carrick is a VERY underrated defender from St. Mike’s that has gotten better every month since he came in the league. He's a ballsy kid — not flashy, but No. 5 [defenseman] down the road."
• "Brendan Woods is another NCAA big body that understands the game. He's well-coached ... a winner."
• "Collin Olson might be the steal of this draft. A big kid who only wins, he didn't get enough credit for US-NDTP's success. He lacks some athleticism but just stops the puck."
  

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced a seven game preseason schedule on Thursday that spreads the hockey love through Florida and the southeast. That's a departure of recent seasons where the Lightning traveled the country as a team-for-hire to promoters in venues from Seattle to Saskatchewan and places in between.

In fact, this time around, the Bolts only play two out-of-state games on their schedule - traveling to St. Louis to take on the Blues on September 28th and venturing east to PNC Arena (in Raleigh, formerly known as RBC Center) to take on the Hurricanes on September 30th. The remaining five games are split between Florida venues.

There are two home games at Times Palace scheduled - September 26^th against the Blues and October 4^th against Florida -- while the team also ventures to Sunrise to take on the Panthers at Bank Atlantic Center (October 6th).

Like last season, the Bolts will play an exhibition game in Orlando at Amway Center (again the Hurricanes on September 27th). But as an added exhibition bonus for those in South Florida, the Lightning will play against the Panthers in Estero's Germain Arena (home of the Florida Everblades) on October 2nd. It'll be the first of three consecutive games between the Bolts and the Cats (on top of the six games already slated in the NHL's 2012-13 schedule). For those who want a big rivalry between the two clubs, this will help fan those flames.

The full release from the club is below.

LIGHTNING ANNOUNCE 2012 PRESEASON SCHEDULE

Tampa Bay Set To Play Games in Estero & Orlando Prior to Start of 2012-13 Regular Season

TAMPA BAY - The Tampa Bay Lightning will play a total of seven preseason games in 2012, the team announced today. They will kick off their preseason schedule on Wednesday, September 26 against the St. Louis Blues at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The Lightning will also play three consecutive nights to open the exhibition schedule. A ticket on-sale will be announced at a later date.

The Lightning will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, September 27 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The game will mark the fifth time the Lightning have played an exhibition game in Orlando. The most recent time the Bolts played in Central Florida was last September, when they fell, 4-3, to the Blues at the Amway Center.

Following their game in Orlando, the Lightning will travel to St. Louis the next day to take on the Blues at the Scottrade Center. The club will then head to Carolina on Sunday, September 30 to play the Hurricanes at 2 p.m. at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Tampa Bay will begin a stretch of three consecutive games against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, October 2 when they host their division rivals in Estero, Florida at the Germain Arena. The game will mark the fifth time the Lightning have hosted a preseason game at the home arena of their ECHL affiliate, the Florida Everblades.

The Lightning will then host the Panthers on Thursday, October 4 at the Times Forum before travelling back down south to play them at the BankAtlantic Center two nights later to round out their preseason schedule.

The following is the schedule of games for the Lightning's 2012 preseason:

Date Time Venue Opponent

Wednesday, September 26 7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Times Forum (Tampa, FL) St. Louis Blues

Thursday, September 27 7 p.m. Amway Center (Orlando, FL) Carolina Hurricanes

Friday, September 28 8 p.m. Scottrade Center (St. Louis, MO) St. Louis Blues

Sunday, September 30 2 p.m. RBC Center (Raleigh, NC) Carolina Hurricanes

Tuesday, October 2 7 p.m. Germain Arena (Ft. Myers, FL) Florida Panthers

Thursday, October 4 7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Times Forum (Tampa, FL) Florida Panthers

Saturday, October 6 7:30 p.m. BankAtlantic Center (Sunrise, FL) Florida Panthers

We all know that defense is a major need for the Hurricanes. For the last two seasons, they have been among one of the worst teams in the NHL at preventing shots against and have also struggled mightily on the penalty kill. Rebuilding a team's defense is always a long-term process and with quite a few young players working their way through the system, the Canes' defense corps is a work in progress. The emergence of Justin Faulk and development of Jamie McBain has made things go along quicker than normal but there are still some holes that need to be filled and that is especially true when concerning the upcoming season.

Jim Rutherford seems to know this, as well because he has stated that he intends to acquire a "veteran defenseman" and feels confident that he will be able to do so this July. Bulking up the defense corps is always a good thing but a "veteran defenseman" can mean a multitude of things. Are the Hurricanes going to be looking for someone strictly to replace Bryan Allen if he leaves? Or are the going to try to bolster the defense by going for a top-pairing player? Both seem to be possible right now and there are quite a few options available if the Canes were to pursue either option.

As of right now, the Hurricanes have six defenseman under contract for next season (Pitkanen, Faulk, Gleason, McBain, Harrison, Joslin) I would assume that the likes of Ryan Murphy and Bobby Sanguinetti are going to be in the mix, too. Going off this information, we can safely assume that the Hurricanes are likely going to target a defenseman who can at least kill penalties and play in the top-four like Allen did last year. If they can get someone of higher caliber then that would be even better.

We all know that Ryan Suter is the top-dog of this free agent class and that everyone is interested in him, so what we're going to do is look at some names who could be getting overlooked in the grand scheme of things. We will look at these players and whether or not they will be a good fit for the Hurricanes after the jump.

Matt Carle

#25 / Defenseman / Philadelphia Flyers

Height: 6-0

Weight: 205

Born: Sep 25, 1984 (age 27)

The word on the Internet for the past week was that Matt Carle had a contract extension in place with the Flyers but that turned out to be untrue as it was reported that Carle will now "test the market" come July 1st. Carle is likely the "fall-back" option for teams who strike out on signing Suter and to tell the truth, he isn't a bad option for any team looking for a defenseman. No Flyers blue liner played more minutes at even strength than him last year and he also contributed on both the powerplay and penalty kill.

Carle's reputation around the league is that he is more of an offensive defenseman and that is fair to say. He will get you 30-40 points a year from the blue line and is a very skilled puck-mover. He also produced 1.08 points for every 60 minutes he was on the ice at even strength, a rate that was higher than anyone on the Hurricanes' blue line last season.

Offense might be his best asset, but Carle is also very capable of standing his ground in the defensive zone. He led the Flyers in blocked shots last year with 164, which is very good when you consider that he was on ice for fewer shots per 60 minutes than all but one defenseman on the Flyers. Carle also saw the third toughest competition among Philadelphia defensemen and started a little over 50% of his shifts in the defensive zone but managed to post a very solid corsi relative of 3.2. Showing that he did a very good job of keeping the puck out of the Flyers' end.

Carle being such a skilled player is the reason why quite a few teams have shown interest in him. It's also why he is likely going to get a rather large payday from whoever signs him, especially after seeing what Dennis Wideman got from the Calgary Flames. The Hurricanes might like to add him but it's tough to say whether or not he would be worth the price tag. They already have a similar player in Joni Pitkanen and not a huge budget to go around, but I think he should be considered.

Jason Garrison

#52 / Defenseman / Florida Panthers

Height: 6-2

Weight: 216

Born: Nov 13, 1984 (age 27)

Jason Garrison had a season that seemingly came out of nowhere. He ranked third among NHL defensemen in goals with 16 and second in powerplay goals with 9. If that wasn't enough, he was also a key part of Florida's top defense pairing with Brian Campbell last year playing over 20 minutes a night in all situations. While it is doubtful that Garrison can repeat this kind of season, there are plenty of other things about him that make him an attractive option in free agency.

Before Garrison became Mr. Goalscorer, he played on Florida's shutdown pairing the year before and was very successful in that role. He and Mike Weaver played some of the toughest minutes in the NHL (42.2 OZ Start%) and managed to nearly break even in terms of Corsi, which is pretty amazing when you consider the role they were playing. He and Weaver were basically the Panthers version of Gleason/Allen. This most recent year, Garrison gets upgraded to a more offensive role with Campbell and has a points explosion as a result.

Who knows what role his next team will use him in but I think he would be a very solid acquisition for whoever picks him up. The 16 goal season was likely a fluke, but at the very worst, he will be a solid 2nd pairing defenseman who can play against tough matchups. That fits the Hurricanes needs at the moment. He's probably going to try to parlay his career season into a big contract, though.

Filip Kuba

#17 / Defenseman / Ottawa Senators

Height: 6-4

Weight: 226

Born: Dec 29, 1976 (age 35)

Having the luxury of playing with Erik Karlsson can do a lot of amazing things. For Filip Kuba, it made him look like a possible top-pairing defenseman and not the aging blue-liner he appeared to be the year before. However, if you take a closer look at Ottawa's underlying stats, it becomes obvious that Karlsson was the driving force behind that pairing. Karlsson was a possession demon at even strength while Kuba, along with the rest of the Senators defense, was struggling to break even.

In fairness to Kuba, he is still a useful player and would probably make the top-four of some teams in the league right now who are looking to sign a defenseman. Some could say that he fits the mold of what Rutherford is looking for. He's got a lot of experience that he can pass on to guys like Faulk, McBain and Murphy and and was one of Ottawa's main penalty killers last year.

The question is how good will Kuba be in a different system away from Karlsson, and is it worth the money he is looking for? Kuba has gotten the tough matchups from the Senators coaching staff but has started at least 54% of his even strength shifts in the offensive zone the last two seasons. When you consider that he had to block 119 shots at even strength despite starting so many of his shifts in the offensive zone, it makes you question his ability to control puck possession. That along with his age make me hope that Carolina looks for other options but Kuba's certainly not the worst player out there.

Adrian Aucoin

#33 / Defenseman / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-2

Weight: 213

Born: Jul 03, 1973 (age 38)

The 38-year-old quietly had a solid year defensively for the Phoenix Coyotes and has actually been pretty good over the last couple of seasons. He might be getting up there in age, but he was still a positive player in terms of possession with the Coyotes last season and didn't need to be protected to get those results. Aucoin was also one of the Coyotes' top penalty killers last year as he spent at least two minutes per night on the PK and was one of the team's best defensemen at preventing shots against.

If the Hurricanes are looking for someone to replace Allen for next season, Aucoin isn't a bad option by any means. He seems capable enough to play the shutdown role and is versatile enough to be used on almost any defense pairing. The major red flag with him is his age since he's going to be 39 when the season starts. Aucoin's offensive production was almost non-existent last year, too (9 points in 64 games) but he is normally a better contributor than that.

Like I said, he wouldn't be a bad pick-up if the Canes are looking to save money but I'm always iffy on signing players who are close to 40 because their performance is prone to drop at any minute.

Scott Hannan

#23 / Defenseman / Calgary Flames

Height: 6-2

Weight: 220

Born: Jan 23, 1979 (age 33)

If the Canes were going to "buy low" on a player, Scott Hannan would be one of the guys to do it on. Hannan is usually a very steady stay-at-home defenseman who is able to hold is own against tough matchups but he was torched at even strength as a member of the Flames last year. He had the worst Corsi Relative rating among Calgary defensemen, which is saying a lot because the Flames were an extremely poor possession team last season. Albeit, he was playing in tough situations (4th in QualComp, 48.7% OZ Start) but the Hurricanes need someone to fill that role right now and may need someone better than Hannan to do it. He could easily rebound but I would only sign him if he is cheap.

Michal Rozsival

#32 / Defenseman / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-2

Weight: 212

Born: Sep 03, 1978 (age 33)

The criticisms directed towards Michal Rozsival in the past are mostly concerning the massive contract that Glen Sather signed him to. He is soon to be free of that deal in a couple of days and will likely sign somewhere else for a much lower cost. Could Carolina be one of those places? His stats are very similar to Aucoin's in the sense that he got the secondary competition among Coyotes defensemen, started most of his shifts in his own zone and was regularly used on the penalty kill. Rozsival doesn't have much offense to his game anymore, but he still might be able to play in a top-four role and I suspect that he could be on Carolina's radar. It's been three years since he has played a full season, so health concerns may cause a lot of teams to shy away.

Bryce Salvador

#24 / Defenseman / New Jersey Devils

Height: 6-3

Weight: 215

Born: Feb 11, 1976 (age 36)

Savaldor fits the billing as a shutdown defensemen but he is getting old and his performance in the playoffs was just ghastly. Yes, he had 14 points but take a look at some of the underlying stats from the Stanley Cup Finals. He was getting abused at even strength, something that was occurring all season long. Salvador has not played well enough defensively for the Canes to consider signing him for a top-four role. If he wasn't producing points then I'd be willing to bet that not many would be even considering signing him this off-season.

Carlo Colaiacovo

#28 / St, Louis Blues

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Born: Jan 27, 1983 (age 29)

Colaiacovo will likely be one of the more underrated/undervalued players this summer. He's been hit with the injury bug more than a few times in his career and that held him back a little but he's been a very strong two-way defenseman for the past few years. Last season, he was used on the Blues top-pairing with Alex Pietrangelo and took on the tough assignments that came with it. How did he fare? Well, he was on ice for only 23.9 shots against per 60 minutes and less than 2 goals, which is pretty strong when you consider the situation he played in. I would be on the lookout for some team to pick him up and possibly use him in a top-four role.

My concern with Colaiacovo aside from injuries is that a lot of success could be him relying on Pietrangelo, since he is a Top 10 defenseman in the NHL and Colaiacovo might be just riding his coattails. His possession numbers are strong enough to make me think he will be successful in another system, but his WOWY suggests otherwise. You can see that his ability to drive play drops when he isn't playing with Pietrangelo.

Colaiacovo also hasn't been used much on the PK so that might hurt his value to Carolina but the upside is certainly there.

Greg Zanon

#6 / Defenseman / Boston Bruins

Height: 5-11

Weight: 201

Born: Jun 05, 1980 (age 32)

Here's yet another player that fits the "Bryan Allen Replacement Model" if Carolina wishes to go that route. He's only a few months older than Allen and does the same things. He is relied on for most of his team's defensive zone starts, plays the shutdown role and his heavily depended on to block shots. The difference between the two is that Zanon is a significant downgrade from Allen. He plays fewer minutes, isn't used in a tough minute role anymore and has gotten less reliable in the past couple of years. Allen played a top-four role on this team and I'm not sure if Zanon is anything more than a third-pairing defenseman right now. He would be cheap, though.

There are some other players out there who Carolina might pursue, as well. Colin White, Dylan Reese, Sheldon Souray, Sami Salo and Kent Huskins come to mind. Like I said earlier, whoever we sign is going to depend on what Rutherford wants to do with the defense. He might go for a higher end player in an attempt to shake things up a little or he might just be looking for someone to replace Allen. If he were to take the latter route, there are plenty of options out there but not many offer a huge reward.

The Carolina Hurricanes solidified the biggest offseason in their history Thursday, signing free agent sniper Alexander Semin to a one-year, $7 million contract. The addition of Semin, along with the acquisition of center Jordan Staal, gives the Canes a huge boost to their forward corps heading in to the 2012-13 campaign.

Semin has been, at times, criticized for his effort and commitment, but there's no denying his skill. The 28-year-old Russian right wing has three 30-plus-goal seasons under his belt during his six seven seasons in Washington, including a 40-goal, 44-assist campaign in 2009-10 that ranked him sixth in the NHL in tallies that year. He was also on the mark that postseason, scoring five goals and adding nine assists in 14 playoff games. For his career he has 197 goals and 408 points in 469 games, plus 34 points in 51 career postseason games.

Semin has thrived against the Hurricanes in his career, registering 45 points (27 goals, 18 assists) in 41 games in the Southeast Division. But by adding Semin (13th overall pick in 2002) and the younger Staal (second overal in 2006), coach Kirk Muller now has several options in the top-six. One could figure that the top two lines will consist of some combination of Eric and Jordan Staal, Semin, Jeff Skinner, Jussi Jokinen and Tuomo Ruutu. If the Staal brothers play on the same line — with Eric moving to wing, as the team has hinted they will try — Semin could join them at right wing, with the "Finns & Skins" line of Skinner, Jokinen and Ruutu staying together. Regardless, all six have scored at least 26 goals in a season, and they combined for 298 points in 2011-12.

The release from the Hurricanes is after the jump.

‘CANES AGREE TO TERMS WITH ALEXANDER SEMIN

Winger has averaged 30 goals per year over last six NHL seasons

RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with left wing Alexander Semin (SEH-min) on a one-year contract. The deal will pay Semin $7 million for the 2012-13 season.

"We have done a lot of research about Alexander, and discussions about his fit with our team have included people at many different levels of our organization, including players, coaches and staff," said Rutherford. "What’s been clear throughout this process was his commitment to wanting to play in the NHL, and compete against the world’s best players.

"Alexander’s elite skill level and ability to score from the wing fill an important need on the ice, and we hope that a fresh start in Carolina will serve both Alexander and our team well."

Semin, 28, completed his seventh NHL season in 2011-12, ranking second among Washington Capitals skaters in goals (21), assists (33) and points (54), and tied for fourth in plus/minus (+9). The Krasnoyarsk, Russia, native earned three goals and one assist (4 points) in 14 Stanley Cup playoff games for the Capitals, as Washington topped Boston in the first round before falling to the New York Rangers in seven games. Following the playoffs, he joined Russia at the 2012 IIHF World Championship, tallying five points (2g, 3a) in three games, including two goals and one assist during Russia’s gold-medal game victory.

"I’m very happy to be a Carolina Hurricane," said Semin. "It’s a great fit for me. I look forward to playing with great players, and putting together a winning season."

Selected by Washington in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, Semin (6’2", 209 lbs.) has totaled 197 goals, 211 assists (408 points) and 450 penalty minutes in 469 career regular-season games with the Capitals. He is one of 18 NHL players to have averaged 30 goals or more per year over the last six seasons, with 187 total goals in that period of time. Semin netted his 197th career goal on April 5 against Florida, moving into fifth place on Washington’s all-time goal-scoring list. He has a career plus/minus rating of plus-65, and his plus-92 rating over the last four seasons ranks fifth among all NHL players.

Semin has represented Russia in nine major international competitions, including the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. He helped Russia capture gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 IIHF World Championships, and also won medals at the 2002 U-18 World Junior Championship (silver), 2005 IIHF World Championship (bronze) and 2010 IIHF World Championship (silver). Semin’s career statistics are below.

After spending seven years as a left-winger for the Washington Capitals, Alexander Semin has signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. It is likely that "rumors" will begin swirling about how this affects the Shane Doan and Phoenix Coyotes situation. Don’t listen to any of them. Internet rumors, as we have come to learn over the past three years, are total junk.

Semin was one of the marquis free agents heading into the offseason, but many teams were hesitant to sign him because of perceived character issues. According to Mark Gandler, Semin's agent, the Russian winger was not happy with the low amount of minutes he received on the penalty kill and power play. At the end of the season, Gandler went public with the announcement that his client was not happy with his position in the Capitals’ organization. Obviously, that is the sign of somebody who is fishing to be lured away by a gigantic contract. His elite offensive prowess was not lost on anybody, but some people questioned his work ethic and effect on the locker room environment.

This negative stereotype has followed Semin for his entire career. He missed the final game of his rookie season because he overslept and missed the team's flight to Pittsburgh. It got even worse in 2004 during the NHL lockout when he refused to play for the Capital’s AHL affiliate (the Portland Pirates, now the Coyotes’ affiliate team). Instead, he shipped himself back to Russia to play in their Superleague. The problems continued the next year when his Russian "military obligation" kept him out of the country. The Capitals filed a formal complaint against him. Gary Bettman said, "This is a situation where a valid, legally-binding contract is not being honored, and that's not right." A U.S. District Court judge even filed a restraining order for his agent; he was ordered to stop representing Semin to any team other than the Caps. Semin eventually returned to the Caps in early 2006. He went on to become the Capitals’ 5^th leading scorer of all time.

Semin will add a considerable amount of firepower to Carolina’s revamped offense. The Canes floundered last year and never seemed to find their footing. This year, with the addition of Jordan Staal and Alex Semin, they hope to turn that around and make a run for the Stanley Cup. However, they have taken a considerable risk by bringing his personality into their locker room.

As for Shane Doan, this signing will likely not affect where he ends up playing. The deciding factor for him will be whether or not Greg Jamison either buys or makes progress towards purchasing the Phoenix Coyotes. However, GM's will certainly feel more pressure to go after Doan now that he is the biggest name winger on the free agent market.

On the bright side for Caps fans, they will finally be able to partake in all of the juvenile puns that the rest of us have enjoyed so much.

Carolina Hurricanes General Manager Jim Rutherford held a press conference at the PNC Arena Friday morning and spoke to the media regarding the signing of Alexander Semin. The GM confirmed that not only did the team thoroughly research the star winger before offering him a contract, but they also took into consideration some extensive analytical profiling before making their decision.

I spoke with the GM after the press conference to get more details and asked him if he meant that Semin played better at both ends of the rink than many thought.

"The stats we look at provide much more detail," said Rutherford. "Jason looks at this and the stats show how a player performs under certain circumstances. If he can perform under pressure, at the end of the game, with the score tied, and against the best competition. The results of our analysis show that this player performs right at the top of most categories."

Rutherford went on. "Some critics like to point out that he did not do well in the playoffs, but that happens to many players from time to time. For most of his career he has performed very well under pressure."

While Semin disappointed in the most recent playoffs, (three goals and a total of four points in 14 games), career wise he has 15 goals and 34 points in 51 playoff games.

Rutherford also pointed out that the addition of Semin should help the Hurricanes improve their woeful record in shootouts.

Check out the entire press conference after the jump.

Literally yesterday's news: high-scoring but ultimately perplexing former Capitals winger Alexander Semin finagled a one-year tryout-style contract (his third in as many seasons) within the Southeast Division. He will continue wearing primary red though now of the Raleigh variety while garnering a pay raise in the neighborhood of $300,000. Moving expenses, obviously. Local Hurricanes coverage of the signing is well worth a peek at Canes Country.

So along with the recent bombshell acquisition of Jordan Staal, Carolina gets another coveted A-list forward as Semin packs his 17 goals and 19 assists in 40 career games vs Florida and heads a wee bit closer to Sunrise. Regardless of the lousy work-ethic accusations and apparent playoff vanishing acts, landing the six-year NHL veteran is a sly move by GM Jim Rutherford, divisionally speaking, as he's officially prevented the 28 year-old from upping with the Panthers, Lightning, or Jets.

That said, Semin scored a somewhat paltry 21 goals in 77 appearances during the 2011-12 campaign, which seems on the low end (and is in fact just that over his career) for a guy whose previous floor was 26 (in 66 games!). Even Florida's Kris Versteeg - who never found himself surrounded with Capitals-type talent up front last season - potted 23 goals in six fewer games. A year of utter frustration for Semin while adjusting from one coach's strategy to another? Undoubtedly. But if he returns to 40-goal form, that $7M will be in line with market value (cap hit comparables per CapGeek: Joe Thornton, Jarome Iginla, and Jason Spezza).

Is he the One That Got Away or will he become an inevitable burden on coach Kirk Muller?

One of the best things about the Hurricanes recent signing of Alexander Semin is that it gives the team a legitimate top-six and almost guarantees that they will have two-scoring lines next season assuming no injuries occur. When you factor it in with the team’s acquisition of Jordan Staal and the growth of Jeff Skinner, it should make a lot of fans excited about the team’s forward corps for next season. Eric Staal is probably very excited about these acquisitions because he has had to deal with a revolving door of linemates the last couple of seasons and may finally start to see some consistency with more talent brought in. Eric isn’t the only member of the Staal family who should be excited because the Canes revamped top six could mean great things for Jordan, as well.

One thing we know about Eric Staal is that he has the ability to carry a line and boost the level of play of most of his linemates. We saw this with Jiri Tlusty last season and he has also been able to elevate the play of linemates like Sergei Samsonov, Chad LaRose and Cory Stillman in recent years, too. Being strong down the middle is always critical and that is especially true when you have a player lie Staal who can carry a line on his own.

Adding Jordan to the fold gives Carolina two centers who can do this and it could lead to some terrific results for the rest of the top-six. Most people know that Jordan Staal played on the third line for most of his time in Pittsburgh and while he didn’t play with garbage linemates, he was mostly paired with third line talent. The Hurricanes will likely pair him with some more offensive-minded players and I’m sure that Carolina fans are already salivating over what kind of results that would bring.

After the jump, we are going to take a look at Jordan Staal’s linemates over the last few years to see how much he was the driving force on that line and discuss who he could be playing with on the Hurricanes next season.

Staal's linemates 2008-12

Data from stats.hockeyanalysis.com

Like I mentioned earlier, Staal was playing with mostly third line talent in Pittsburgh (this mostly applies to Kennedy and Cooke) but he didn’t have bad players on his line because most of his teammates were able to do fairly well territorially without him. The only exception on the list is Matt Cooke. However, the common trend with Staal’s linemates is that most of them were able to produce a lot of offense while not giving up a lot at the other end. Staal was also a positive player when it came to territorial player when he wasn’t playing with any of his most frequent linemates, which is a very good thing when it comes to his ability to carry a line.

Something that might stick out here are his numbers with Tyler Kennedy and Chris Kunitz. Kennedy’s numbers are especially intriguing because the amount of shots Staal was on ice for really went down when he wasn’t playing on a line with him. It’s tough to determine how much Kennedy was the one driving the bus here because his usage over the years has changed dramatically, while Staal has stayed in a tough-minute role for most of his career. Kunitz, on the other hand, has been given a lot of offensive zone starts for most of the last few years, which likely had an effect on the number of shots he was on ice for.

Using the same data from David Johnson’s Hockey Analytics site, we can determine if Kunitz was getting the benefit of soft minutes all of these years. We can do this by looking at the 2010-11 season when he was used in more of a tough-minute role and he was still able to be on-ice for a high volume of shots. So, we can determine that both Kunitz and Kennedy are both extremely effective at driving the play forward and could have had a role in Staal’s strong underlying numbers.

Despite that, Staal’s numbers on his own are impressive enough and if you look at the last three seasons worth of data when he was used in a shutdown role, you will notice that he was able to create a lot of offense while playing tough minutes. This should lead to great things in Carolina because he is going to be used in a top-six role with stronger linemates. Like his brother, Staal has been able to produce even when he isn’t playing with top-line talent so he should be able to get by with whoever the Canes will have flanking his line this year. My initial concern with this plan was that Carolina did not have that many play-drivers but adding Semin completely changes this.

A top-line winger has been at the top of Carolina’s need list for the last couple of years but having two centers who are capable of being used in a strength vs. strength role and carrying their linemates can go a long way. Carolina has that now with the Staal brothers and adding Semin only strengthens the possibilities. Even if Jordan isn't playing on Semin's line, he could still be flanked by two of Skinner, Ruutu or Jokinen, which could potentially be a very dangerous second line. It will be a very interesting season in Raleigh, but in a good way.

We have now reached day 11 in our WIML Senators player prediction series, and I have to say, each day the series gets more fun as the quality of the comments and debates get better and better. This was going to be the last day of the series as I only have 2 players left to write about, but Mark suggested last week that I keep doing it. Let me know if you’d like me to do more, maybe about other teams or about players we’ve already done, but different scenarios. Or we can go back to normal Nuggets; it is up to you, I’m here to serve the people.

Speaking of the people, in a landslide (which was probably due to me rushing to fix the post, thanks Bobby Butler) you decided Thursday that Colin Greening would likely post a career high in points, while Kaspars Daugavins would not post a career high in games played. Many good arguments were made, but in the end, the best one was made by JonathanA:

Greening

His career points-per-game (0.47) is only 0.02 higher than his points-per-game for last season (0.45), so if he meets or exceeds his career points-per-game this coming season, even by the smallest of margins, he’ll beat last season’s point totals.

Playing lots of games is difficult, even for established players, something which Daugavins is not. 2011-12 marked the first time, for example, that more than 5 players played at least 80 games (for whatever reason) with the Senators since 2007-08. You don’t have to conjure the spectre of ‘injury-prone’ to posit that it is possible that Daugavins might be hurt at some point next season (iron-man streaks in the NHL are, after all, extremely rare), and besides, it is more likely that he’ll be scratched a few times for presumably more talented players to strut their stuff than Greening will.

Today we look at two players who have no chance of being waived as this post goes up, Mark Borowiecki and Jim O’Brien. Both figure to provide depth to the Senators lineup this season. Today’s question is this:

Which is more likely? That Mark Borowiecki plays more than 20 games OR that Jim O’Brien finishes the season with at least 15 points?

Borowiecki: The Borocop has become much loved by Sens brass over the last few years; they are impressed by his hard work and his professionalism. After his first year pro, in which he made his NHL debut, Mark is hoping to push for a roster spot on the new-look blueline. With the signing of Mike Lundin, how many games will he play?

O’B: With his shiny new one-way contract and the departure of Zenon Konopka and Jesse Winchester, Jimmy looks like a lock to play this season as the Sens 4^th line centre. 4^th line production goes a long way to helping a team win, can he lead the charge?

Which is MORE likely?

Links!

Sens News:

• Peter starts his Deep Thoughts series, which should provide some laughs and will allow you to get to know the new faces of the organization. [SSS]
• Jared Cowen played in all 82 games as a rookie, and that served to give him lots of experience and a good understanding of the effort needed to play a season at the NHL level. [Sens]
• Bobby Butler was officially bought out on Friday. [Panzeri]

Welcome to another day of your Florida Panthers All-Time Countdown. For a detailed explanation, click here.

Yesterday, we closed out our three-a-day section of the countdown with winger Ville Peltonen (207 games, 34 goals, 54 assists), defenseman Geoff Smith (137 games, six goals, 19 assists), and defenseman Steve Montador (196 games, 10 goals, 28 assists. Today, we'll check in with an Ontarian goaltender and a Czech right winger.

Follow the jump to continue reading.

Burke, a 6'4" goaltender from Windsor, Ontario, was with the OHL's Toronto Marlboros when the New Jersey Devils selected him in the second round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft with the 24th overall pick. In two seasons with the Marlboros, he posted a 41-48-6 record.

After leaving the OHL, Burke joined the Canadian National Team for an extended tour, posting a 46-22-4 record over the next two seasons of international play. He made his NHL debut near the end of the 1987-88 season with New Jersey, going 10-1-0, .883, 3.05. He then posted a 9-8 postseason record, leading the NHL with 458 saves.

Burke would remain a Devil for three more seasons, bringing his career totals to 62-66-23, ranking fourth on the Devils' all-time list with 162 goaltender appearances. He managed four shutouts, an .876 save percentage, and a 3.65 goals against average.

Burke took the 1991-92 season off to return to the National Team, posting a 23-8-4 record. Prior to the 1992-93 season, the Devils traded him along with Eric Weinrich to the Hartford Whalers for Bobby Holik and a second round draft pick (Jay Pandolfo). Burke was the Whaler's number one goaltender for the franchise's last five seasons in Hartford and part of their first season as the Carolina Hurricanes. He ranks fourth all-time on Carolina's win list with a 107-131-29 career record, posting a .903 save percentage and a 3.09 GAA. He was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on January 3, 1998 with Geoff Sanderson and Enrico Ciccone for Kirk McLean and Martin Gelinas.

Burke went 2-9-4, .876, 3.51 with Vancouver to in two months before the Canucks traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers (7-3-0, .913, 2.56) for Garth Snow just prior to the 1997-98 trade deadline. After the season, he signed on as a free agent to backstop the Panthers. He earned a 1-0 shutout victory over the New York Islanders on January 16, stopping 27 shots. On February 18, he shut out the St. Louis Blues on 27 shots, matching up against Jamie McClennan, who shut out the Panthers on 21 shots in a scoreless tie. On March 13, he notched his third shutout of the season, another 1-0 decision as the Cats shut down the Tampa Bay Lightning on 24 shots. Overall, Burke posted a 21-24-14 record with a .907 save percentage and a 2.66 GAA.

Burke posted a 2-5-0 record for Florida to start out the 1999-00 season, allowing 18 goals on 208 shots for a respectable .913 save percentage and a 2.58 GAA. Florida traded him to the Phoenix Coyotes with a fifth round pick (Nate Kiser) for Mikhail Shtalenkov and a fourth round pick (Chris Eade) on November 18.

Burke finished out the season with Phoenix, and played with them for the next three and a half seasons, totalling a 97-78-29 record and ranking fourth on the franchise all-time wins list. He notched 15 shutouts, a .919 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA. Later, he stopped in Philadelphia for a second tour with the Flyers (6-5-2, .910, 2.55), the Tampa Bay Lightning (14-10-4, .895, 2.80), and the Los Angeles Kings (6-10-5, .901, 3.11). He now works for the Coyotes as the Assistant to the General Manager and as Phoenix's' goaltending coach.

All-Time Statline: Two seasons, 66 games, 23-29-14, 1,832 shots faced, 1,663 saves made, 169 goals allowed, three shutouts, .908 save percentage, 2.65 GAA, 7.7 APS.

59. Juraj Kolnik

Kolnik is a 5'10" right winger from Nitra, Slovakia. He was skating with the QMJHL Rimouski Oceanic when the New York Islanders picked him in the fourth round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft with the 101st overall pick. In two junior seasons he put up 95 goals and 95 assists in 109 games.

2000-01 would see Kolnik split his season between the AHL Lowell Lock Monsters (25 games, two goals, six assists), the AHL Springfield Falcons (29 games, 15 goals, 20 assists), and the Islanders (29 games, four goals, three assists). In 2001-02, he spent most of the season with the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers (67 games, 18 goals, 30 assists), making a brief NHL appearance with the Isles (seven games, two goals). New York traded him to the Panthers with a ninth round pick (Carter Lee) for Sven Butenschon just before the start of the 2002-03 season.

Kolnik began the 2002-03 season with the AHL San Antonio Rampage (65 games, 25 goals, 15 assists), averaging 10:33 per game in a 10 game stop in Florida in December. He went scoreless while taking 14 shots on goal and collecting an assist in his first NHL game, a 2-2 tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 18. He finished the season with a plus-1 rating.

2003-04 would see Kolnik start the season in the AHL with the Rampage (15 games, two goals, 14 assists). He joined the Panthers in November for the rest of the season, eventually appearing in 53 NHL games with the club. He ranked third on the team with 14 goals on 100 shots, also making 11 assists, a minus-7 rating and 14 PIM. He had six multi-point games, including two goals and an assist in a 4-0 win over the Leafs on February 25.

Kolnik spent the 2004-05 campaign in the AHL while the NHL endured a season long lockout. He played 74 games with he Rampage, scoring 13 goals with 16 assists. NHL would resume play in 2005-06, and Kolnik opened the season with the Panthers. In 77 games he averaged 14:19 TOI, scoring a team sixth best 15 goals on 145 shots with 20 assists, a plus-1 rating, and a career high 40 penalty minutes. He made four assists in an 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 28. On April 9, he scored twice with an assist in a 6-3 win over Tampa Bay. He totally owned the Lightning through the season, collecting four goals and seven assists in eight contests.

In 2006-07, Kolnik played in 64 games for the Cats, averaging 12:05 TOI. He scored 11 goals on 113 shots, made 15 assists, a plus-2 rating, and 18 penalty minutes. He made three assists in a 7-2 win over the Boston Bruins on February 24.

Starting in 2007-08, Kolnik played three seasons with the HC Geneve-Servette of the Swiss League (145 games, 72 goals, 112 assists), later playing with the KHL Moscow Dynamo (eight games, one goal, four assists) in 2010-11, and part of last season with Zurich in the Swiss League (six games, two assists).

All-Time Statline: Four seasons, 204 games, 40 goals, 46 assists, 86 points, minus-3 rating, 72 PIM, 7.7 APS.

That's all for today. Tune in tonight as we go live for the first time with Litter Box Chats, hosted by our very own Ryan Meier with help from Donny and Alex at 9PM, and be sure to check in tomorrow as we take a look at number 58, an offensive defenseman from Minsk, and number 57, an original Panther center from Alberta.

Hey all and welcome to the Arctic Ice Hockey Mailbag! This will be a regular feature on the site, covering any questions you may have pertaining to the Winnipeg Jets. In order to kick your work weeks off right, join us every Monday for the publication of your comments along with the thought provoking responses of Tim and the snarky retorts of yours truly. Unforunately, we were late getting our act together this week and are running on Wednesday instead. Sorry dudes, our bad!

In this weeks premiere edition, we discuss on the NHL future of University of Omaha-Nebraska forward Jason Megna, the logjam of right-handed defensemen in the system and the possibility of a playoff appearance next spring.

If you want to submit your questions or comments for next week's mailbag, you can tweet or direct message us on Twitter @arcticicehockey, or email us at sbnarcticicehockey@yahoo.ca.

Enjoy!

FlashJet: Will Jayson Megna sign with the Winnipeg Jets, given their ties with the University of Omaha-Nebraska?

Trevor: At this juncture, I would predict the front runner on Megna to be the Pittsburgh Penguins. I say this because he has a familiarity with the franchise after spending his first week in July at their Development Camp. While with the Penguins, Jayson decided he was ready to turn pro, so there’s going to be some comfortability with that franchise. I also factor in that Megna was only a Maverick for one season, so I’m not sure if the opportunity to play with other former alumni would be that alluring of a situation for him.

chewybaccawooki: Do you think our Jets are going to make the playoffs this year? I like the chances. Thoughts?

Tim: I think there is a very good chance that the Jets make the playoffs this year. At minimum, they should be on the precipice of the playoff bubble come April. Yes, the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning have improved, but I still see the Jets as one of the most improved teams in the NHL since the end of the year. Five more wins over the course of the season (a 10 point improvement) should be attainable. If the Jets don't improve, it will be a major let down as it will likely be the result of the team’s younger players regressing significantly.

I see Ondrej Pavelec as the Jets most polarizing player. The difference between the team’s success or failure likely rides with him. If he can rebound to his 2010-11 form -- or better yet improve upon it -- the Jets will be in the playoffs. Should they fall short, I think even the most staunch Pavelec apologists may be worried about his future.

Garret H.: Would you consider this to be year two of a rebuild due to change in management, or has the process been a continuation of what began in Atlanta? What steps does TNSE need to take to get this team to the next level?

Trevor: I think the contract extensions of Ondrej Pavelec, Andrew Ladd and Tobias Enstrom portray that current management is satisfied with many of the pieces Don Waddell and Rick Dudley had put in place before the sale of the franchise. Had Kevin Cheveldayoff made a significant overhaul to the core of this roster, I think that your former assertion would be correct. TNSE has made a few free agent signings the past two offseasons to bolster their line-up and put their own stamp on the roster, but that can hardly be seen as restarting a rebuild.

I’d say the current rebuild is coming into its fourth year, given what we know about how this team was structured when it came here. As for what the team needs to take the next step in their rebuild, the Jets have come a long way in solidifying their roster the recent additions of Olli Jokinen and Alexei Ponikarovsky, as well as the retention of Kyle Wellwood. What they will need in order to become a perennial contender is for prospects the likes of Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba to pan out so they can fill the remaining holes in their roster in a cost effective manner, keeping them out of the fiduciary harm of their self imposed soft cap.

Paul P.: What do you think the Jets will do with their plethora of right handed defensemen (Dustin Byfuglien, Zach Bogosian, Paul Postma, Zach Redmond, Jacob Trouba)? That’s five top level players all at the same position.

Tim: This is an interesting question that may present a dilemma for the Jets going forward. Unless Claude Noel can shift one of these guys to the left side, I could easily see one, if not two of these defensemen being moved at some point. If the Jets decide they need to make a move sooner rather than later, Postma would be the most logical player to discard. NHL clubs seem to value offensive upside, even if that talent comes with defensive let downs. Moreover, I can't see a player like Redmond having immense value outside of the organization making it worthless to move him. That said, I don't see TNSE rushing to make any major moves with any of their current stable of defensemen. Postma and Redmond are currently unknown quantities and Trouba is still a couple years away. When Trouba is ready, it may be time to move Big Buff and give Bogosian a spot on the first pairing. Then again, a lot can change in two years.

The Flyers signed head coach Peter Laviolette to a multi-year contract extension on Wednesday morning. It'll keep him under contract with the team through the 2014-15 season, but as we all know with head coaches, that doesn't mean much.

Sure, the Flyers will be paying him until then regardless of what happens, but will he actually still be coach in the summer of 2015? Let's briefly look at Lavi's career history:

If we ignore playoff results (which is obviously saying a lot), Lavi is on a similar trajectory in Philadelphia as he saw in Carolina. Came in midseason in his first year and had success in a relatively short amount of time after taking over -- he won a Stanley Cup in Year 2 with Carolina and won the East in Year 1 with the Flyers.

The narrative that's survived regarding Lavi's downfall in Carolina is that he lost the team. Too much work, not enough success following the Cup run. We talked to Bob Wage from Hurricanes blog Canes Country back when the Flyers hired Laviolette.

"He is certainly his own man and might have a bit of an ego," Wage said, "but... he gets things done. I think he's a great fit for you guys, but he seems to wear out his welcome after a bit. Will he be your head coach five years from now? The odds are, no."

More on Laviolette's firing in Carolina can be read over at Canes Country here.

We have no idea what may happen over the next three seasons, but I think it's safe to say that there is a concern -- whether it's unspoken or not -- that Laviolette's up-tempo, aggressive style can wear on guys over the course of a full season or multiple seasons.

I'd like to think Laviolette will make it through at least another season here in Philadelphia. He's had his two of his three best seasons as an NHL coach over these last two years and even if the Flyers don't match that 47 win total again in 2012-13, there's reason to expect they'll be in that ballpark again.

But if the Flyers lose in Round 1 or 2 of the playoffs again, will we grow impatient? What do you think? How long do you believe Peter Laviolette will be the head coach of the Flyers?

Welcome back to another Friday edition of the All-Time Florida Panthers Countdown. If you need the story behind the story, click here.

Yesterday, we touched on former Florida players defenseman Ruslan Salei (147 games, nine goals, 46 assists), and original Panther and first ever team Captain center Brian Skrudland (256 games, 32 goals, 67 assists). Today, we'll check out a Quebeqois left winger and a current right winger from Alberta.

If you'd like to continue, click to follow below.

After scoring 63 goals and 68 assists in only 65 QMJHL contests with the Hull Olympiques, Gelinas, a 6' left winger, was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, seventh overall. Before making an NHL appearance, Gelinas was involved in one of the most shocking trades in NHL history as he was sent, along with Jimmy Carson and three first round draft picks (Jason Miller, Martin Rucinsky, Nick Stajduhar) and cash to the Edmonton Oilers for Wayne Gretzky, Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley. He opened the 1988-89 season with the Oilers, scoring a goal and two assists in six games before rejoining the Olympiques, scoring 38 goals and 39 assists in only 41 games.

Gelinas went on to score 60 goals and 60 assists with Edmonton over five seasons. He played 258 regular season games, finishing his Oilers career with 156 PIM and a plus-9 rating. He added six goals and 12 assists in 53 playoff games while with the team, helping the Oilers to the 1990 Stanley Cup Championship. After the 1992-93 season, the Oilers traded him to the Quebec Nordiques with a sixth round pick (Nicholas Checco) for Scott Pearson.

Gelinas opened 1993-94 with Quebec, playing 31 games (six goals, six assists, eight PIM, minus-2 rating) before being claimed on waivers by the Vancouver Canucks. He played in parts of five seasons with the team, playing 258 games (90 goals, 81 assists, plus-10 rating, 173 PIM). He pitched in six goals and six assists in 33 postseason contests. The Canucks traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes with Kirk McLean for Sean Burke, Geoff Sanderson and Enrico Ciccone on January 3, 1998.

Gelinas finished the season and each of the next four with the Canes, playing in a total of 348 regular season games (75 goals, 90 assists, minus-11 rating, 226 PIM). He also put up three goals and eight assists in 35 playoff games, including a 2002 Eastern Conference title. After the 2001-02 season, he signed a free agent contract to play with the Calgary Flames.

In two seasons with Calgary, Gelinas appeared in 157 regular season contests (38 goals, 49 assists, plus-7 rating, 121 PIM). He also scored eight goals and seven assists for the 2004 Western Conference Championship team. He signed on with Morges of the Swiss-B League for the 2004-05 campaign, scoring 38 goals and 23 assists in 41 games. Later in the season, he played one game in the Swiss-A League with Lugano, going scoreless before pitching in an assist in five playoff games with the club.

Prior to the NHL resuming play in 2005-06, Gelinas signed a two year, $1.9 million contract to play with the Panthers. The 35-year old averaged 15:59 per game, appearing in all 82 contests for Florida (the first time in his career in which he appeared in every game). He scored 17 goals on 186 shots with 24 assists, a team best plus-27 rating, and 80 PIM. He had nine multi-point efforts on the season, including a goal and two assists on March 6 in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Atlanta Thrashers.

In 2006-07, Gelinas continued to display his durability, again appearing in all 82 contests. He averaged 13:26 TOI, scoring 14 goals on 171 shots with a team fourth best 30 assists. He also finished up with a plus-7 rating and 36 PIM. Gelinas notched two or more points in 11 games, including a goal and two assists in a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 10.

Prior to the 2007-08 season, Gelinas signed on with the Nashville Predators, his seventh NHL team (not counting the Kings). He appeared in 57 games with the club (nine goals, 11 assists, plus-5 rating, 20 PIM). He is currently an assistant coach with Calgary.

All-Time Statline: Two seasons, 164 games, 31 goals, 54 assists, 85 points, plus-34 rating (Panther's all-time leader), 116 PIM, 8.1 APS.

55. Kris Versteeg

Versteeg is a 5'10" right winger from Lethbridge, Alberta. He scored 24 goals and 43 assists over his first two WHL seasons, in 125 games with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Boston Bruins picked him up in the fifth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft with the 134th overall pick. He played in the WHL for two more seasons with the Hurricanes (68 games, 22 goals, 30 assists), the Kamloops Blazers (14 games, six goals, six assists), and the Red Deer Rebels (57 games, 10 goals, 26 assists). He made his pro debut late in the 2005-06 season with the AHL Providence Bruins (13 goals, two goals, four assists).

2006-07 would see Versteeg open the season with Providence (43 games, 22 goals, 27 assists). On February 3, he was traded by the Bruins to the Chicago Blackhawks with "future considerations" for Brandon Bochenski. He finished out the season with Chicago's AHL affilate, the Norfolk Admirals (27 goals, four goals, 19 assists).

Versteeg opened the 2007-08 season with the AHL Rockford IceHogs (56 games, 18 goals, 31 assists). He was called up to play with the Blackhawks on four occasions, totalling two goals and two assists in 13 NHL games.

Versteeg totalled 44 goals and 57 assists through his time in Chicago. He posted a plus-22 rating and 96 PIM in 170 regular season games. He also totalled 10 goals and 16 assists in 39 postseason contests while a member of the Blackhawks, helping the team to the 2010 Stanley Cup. Chicago traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs after the season with Bill Sweatt for Viktor Stahlberg, Chris Didomenico, and Phillippe Paradis.

2010-11 would see Versteeg score 14 goals and 21 assists in 53 games for the Leafs. He was part of a trade deadline deal to the Philadelphia Flyers for a first and a third round draft pick (Stuart Percy and Josh Leivo, respectively). He scored seven goals and four assists in 27 games for the Flyers.

The Flyers traded Versteeg to the Panthers on July 1, 2011 for a second and a third round pick. He opened the season on a tear, scoring 11 goals and 14 assists in his first 20 games, including two goals and two assists in a 7-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 17. He also scored three goals with an assist in a 5-2 road victory over the Winnipeg Jets on November 11 (see video). He absolutely owned the Jets, with seven goals and three assists in only five contests between the two teams. He posted 12 multi-point efforts over the course of the season, resulting in a career high 23 goals on 181 shots with 31 assists for a career high 54 points. His plus-4 rating ranked fourth on the team. He averaged 19:55 through 71 games, spending 49 minutes in the penalty box. He also added three goals and two assists through the Panthers seven game series loss to the New Jersey Devils in the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Kris Versteeeg hat trick 11/10/11 (via NHLVideo)

All-Time Statline: One season, 71 games, 23 goals, 31 assists, 54 points, plus-4 rating, 49 PIM, 8.4 APS.

Versteeg was on course for a real breakout season when he slowed down in December and came back to earth. It was revealed later that he had played the second half of the season with a cyst on his hip that required surgery after the conclusion of the playoffs. If he had kept up the pace set through the first 20 games of the season, he would have finished with a 40-goal, 100-point season. He recently signed a contract that will keep him with Florida through 2015-16 at $4.4 million per season.

Thank you for wasting a little time reading about your Panthers today. Vote in the poll, and check back on Monday as we get right back to it with a goaltender and a defenseman, both still on the Panthers.

Bob Mackenzie broke the news last night from his hammock:

Jeff Skinner's extension with CAR expected to be 6 years with an AAV of $5.725M.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) August 8, 2012

If there's one guy who should be happy about this, it's upcoming RFA Tyler "TyTy" Seguin. And his agent. You can buy a lot with 5.75 million, like a 5-bed, 9-bath house in a nice part of Raleigh. And still have half left over. The hope, of course, is that the new CBA will "fix" this and TyTy and the RFA Stars won't get big deals. But I kind of doubt that will happen, since the real problem that the CBA should address is revenue sharing instead of stealing money out of players' pockets.

Highlight:

This was a video of Skinner scoring a powerplay goal against Boston, but then I found this and figured it was more appropriate.

The Buffalo Sabres have one more major move coming this summer, at least that we know about, and that's the re-signing of RFA Tyler Ennis. But even after months of waiting, there's been little talk of what that new contract might look like.

Yesterday, the Carolina Hurricanes signed one of their promising young players, Jeff Skinner, to a six-year extension. Skinner, like Ennis, is a young center with potential who just finished up his second year in the NHL. His new contract may help us shed some light on what to expect out of Ennis' new deal.

Skinner's contract is a six-year extension with a $5.725 million cap hit. That's quite a big number for someone coming off a down season, as he is, but it's an indication of how much the Hurricanes value him as part of their future. But how does Skinner's production compare to Ennis? They're both undersized centers entering their third NHL season, and while Ennis has never scored 30 goals in a season like Skinner has, their point production isn't too far apart; Skinner has averaged 60 points per 82 games while Ennis sits at 54 points per 82.

At this point, Skinner has had the more successful career, but if the Sabres brass is looking at pure potential, it's hard to ignore the torrid second half Ennis had last season. After an abysmal first half marred by injuries, Tyler 2 came on to score 29 points in his final 32 games from February-April.

Clearly that kind of production over the course of 82 games would be worth a big cap hit like Skinner's, but at this point it remains to be seen whether or not Ennis can keep that up. Sabres GM Darcy Regier has stated that he thinks Ennis' deal will likely be a shorter one, but after seeing the money that other promising young centers are getting this offseason, a new contract for Ennis might be a bit more expensive than the Sabres planned.

Well whattaya know, for a mid-August day we've actually got enough going on to bring you a second bushel-full of hockey notes, starting off with a thorough examination of what Hal Gill went through in order to play on a broken legagainst the Phoenix Coyotes during the playoffs...

48-Hour Sale knocks 25-40% off NHL apparel | Hockey Gear HQ
This is the perfect sale to jump on if you're looking for back-to-school hockey items like hoodies, t-shirts, or other team-related gear. But hurry, it expires on Friday at 11 a.m. Central.

Nashville Predators News

The Quiet Room: Holy Hell, Hal Gill. | Backhand Shelf
"Yes, you can actually play hockey on a broken leg if you load it up with enough anesthetic. It also helps if you’re a badass, which Hal Gill apparently is."

NY Rangers a favorite to land Phoenix Coyotes forward Shane Doan - NY Daily News
Doan's agent says that "a team outside of New York has offered Doan a four-year deal worth at least $7 million per season". The rumor-mongers on Twitter (seriously, people?) are pointing the finger at Nashville, but boy, I sure hope it's not true. That's way too much money and term, even for an old-fashioned Canadian power forward like Doan.

14 Shades of Shea: Ranking Shea Weber's Career Highlights - The Hockey Writers
Another Predators blogger hits the internet...

Top Moments From 2011-2012 – #9: Kevin Klein the GOALIE | The Predatorial
Kris celebrates a time when Kleiner bailed himself (and Peks) out.

2012 U.S. WJC Camp: Previewing Day 5 Action — USA vs. Finland | The United States of Hockey
Preds draftee Jimmy Vesey was scratched today.

Around the Wide Wide World of Hockey

Hartnell on CBA talks: Owners pulled 'a 180' - CSN Philly
Scott Hartnell vents over the owners' bald-faced cash grab.

Jeff Skinner signs 6-year, $34.35 million extension with Hurricanes | Puck Daddy
Cha-ching!

On the realization that "Holy crap, I really want to watch the Carolina Hurricanes next season" | Backhand Shelf
Hey, I think they've become my Eastern Conference team to watch.

Joel Ward on awkward hernia moments and getting a call from the FBI - DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post
Dude, TMI!

A second Toronto team now makes almost too much sense (Trending Topics Extra) | Puck Daddy
This would be the slammingest slam dunk of all-time for the NHL.

Jeff Jacobs: Give Howard Baldwin Credit For Trying, But The NHL Dream Is Dead — For Now - Hartford Courant
One city you can cross off the list for getting back an NHL team is Hartford.

Understanding Turner's Acquisition Of Bleacher Report - Awful Announcing
How does a site loaded with crap content like Bleacher Report hit the $195 million jackpot? A veneer of credibility and soaring metrics explain a lot. If anyone wants to buy me out for, say, 10% of that price, I'm all ears.