"If you look at our season, it was almost like Jekyll and Hyde," Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said "A lot of it had to do around the time Cam got injured. Up until then we were leading our division. … We were just flying along great. Unfortunately the injury happened and we were .500 for a few games and then after that we just couldn't keep the goals [against] down and it affected our production in the second half. The biggest surprise for me was how much of a playmaker he (Eric Staal) was," Muller said. "I took him as more of a goal-scorer. He might have the best hockey instincts on our team right now. He's a really smart player, loves to make plays. He kind of just fed off the other two guys and played off of those two."
The trio of Eric Staal, Jiri Tlusty and Alexander
Semin reminded Muller of one of the top lines he saw from his playing
days. "It's a lot like [Mike] Modano and [Brett] Hull and
Jere Lehtinen
when I was in Dallas. If you look at that line, Tlusty was the Jere
Lehtinen of that line, the reliable guy, the guy who did all the
work grinding it out in the corner, the two-way type winger. Given
the opportunity, he showed he could score goals and produce on that
line while being the real reliable guy. Staal is a workhorse, and
with his size and strength opens things up on the line by his
presence and his size. And then you've got Semin. … The chemistry
was really good on all three. You've got a hard-working guy, you got
a playmaker and a goal-scorer. They took a lot of pride in being a
really good No. 1 line."
The Hurricanes boasted one of the top first lines
in the League with Eric
Staal centering left wing Jiri
Tlusty and right wing Alexander
Semin. The trio combined for 42.5 percent (45 of 127) of
Carolina's non-shootout goals last season. Staal's success wasn't a
surprise, he led the team and was sixth in the League with 53 points
in 48 games, but it was the first time since his breakout 100-point
season in 2005-06 that he averaged better than a point per game.
Semin was second on the team with 44 points, also not that much of a
surprise from a player who averaged 31 goals and 64 points the
previous six seasons. But what stood out to Muller was his 31
assists, second on the team to Staal's 35. The real stunner, though,
was Tlusty, who set career bests with 23 goals and 38 points, and led
the team in goals and plus/minus (plus-15).
"I played a little bit with Jiri, so I
kind of knew what he was about," Staal said "Alex,
just playing against him and seeing the skill level and the talent
that he was with in Washington … we played together in one
intrasquad game, and I think after the second shift I knew it was
going to be really good. Just certain passes, certain plays, certain
things that happen on the ice … I knew it was going to work."
Finding depth behind the top line will be something Muller focuses on during training camp. He envisions a second line featuring Jordan Staal and Tuomo Ruutu, a pairing Muller believes will have more success this season because Ruutu will come to camp healthy (offseason hip surgery limited him to 17 games last season) and Staal has a full season in Carolina under his belt. Filling out the second line could be a younger player, with Muller saying Zac Dalpe and Drayson Bowman could get the early opportunities.
That would shift Jeff
Skinner to the third line, potentially with Elias
Lindholm, the fifth pick of the 2013 NHL Draft. Who plays on the
right side of that group will be decided at camp, which is exactly
what Muller is aiming for.
"This is where some of these young guys
have to look at it and go, 'I want that spot and I'm going to get an
opportunity in exhibition games and camp to prove it,' Muller
said. "That's what we haven't had before. That's where
we have that competition for these guys to battle for it. No, 'I
didn't get a chance, I came up and wasn't able to do this.' These
guys are going to get a chance and it's up to them to grab it and
earn it. You got Dalpe, the thought of maybe moving Bowman over to
the right side and being a checking-type winger. [Patrick] Dwyer, who
could be the type of guy who's versatile and play there or on the
third line, maybe he's the veteran guy that can play with Skinner and
Lindholm, if he's ready to play. There's a lot of playing around to
do during camp to see where the chemistry matches up."
SUMMER MOVES
OUT: Joni Pitkanen (out for season, injury); Marc-Andre Bergeron, D (free agent, Zurich, Switzerland); Chad LaRose, LW (free agent); Joe Corvo, D (free agent, Ottawa); Tim Brent, LW (free agent, Nizhny Novgorod, KHL), Dan Ellis, G (free agent, Dallas); Tim Wallace, RW (free agent, Orebro Hockeyklubb, Sweden); Jamie McBain, D (trade, Buffalo); Bobby Sanguinetti, D (free agent, Atlant Mytishchi, KHL); Andres Nodl, LW/RW (free agent, Lausanne HC, Switzerland)
After finishing 29th in goals-allowed per game last season, the Hurricanes reconfigured a large portion of their defensive group. Gone are five players, including Joe Corvo, who led the team's defensemen with six goals and 17 points. Among the newcomers are Andrej Sekera, who arrived in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres, and Mike Komisarek, who signed a one-year contract after being bought out by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sekera, 27, was a solid performer with the Sabres, with 12 points in 37 games. Though he was a minus-2 last season, he's been a plus player in four of his seven NHL seasons. Komisarek, 31, is ready for a fresh start after four rough seasons with the Maple Leafs. He signed a five-year contract with Toronto in July 2009, but things were so bad that last season he played four games with the Maple Leafs, was placed on waivers and sent to the American Hockey League. In June, the Maple Leafs used one of their compliance buyouts to terminate the final season of Komisarek's contract. Veteran Ron Hainsey was added on a one-year contract after the news Joni Pitkanen would miss the entire season with a left heel injury. There will be more pressure on the new players, as well as holdovers Justin Faulk, Tim Gleason and Jay Harrison, to step up their play in Pitkanen's absence. Also potentially ready for a full-time job is 20-year-old Ryan Murphy, the team's first pick (No. 12) of the 2011 NHL Draft. An offensive star the past four seasons with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (220 points in 228 games), his biggest impact will come as the point man on the power play. Murphy made his NHL debut last season and averaged more than 21 minutes per game in a four-game emergency recall that drew positive reviews.
"Two proven guys that have played,
veteran-type players," Eric Staal said. "Mike has
got a little something to prove, which is always good to have those
guys. They’re motivated to prove something. Andrej's a guy I played
against in Buffalo a number of years. He's a solid, serviceable
defenseman. He does everything really well, can skate, can be tough
to play against. Good additions that I think will help us."
Muller has a history with Komisarek, dating to
their time together with the Montreal
Canadiens. That knowledge has Muller believing Komisarek is ready
for a big comeback. "I think he's really excited about the
opportunity to just come and play, and show that he's capable. Who
knows whether he's a fourth or top-four or top-six [defensemen]. …
All he has to do is worry about playing hockey, helping the penalty
kill. He can play physical against teams we're going to have to play
against, bring his experience and attitude. You can already tell;
when I spoke to him, he's really excited to get playing and
everything. I think he's going to fit in great. He's going to bring
so much fun energy to the room that I think that's going to be
awesome. I was really pleased with Murphy. He doesn't look
intimidated at all. There were times he joined the rush and played
his game."
Ward's injured knee was the pivot point for the Hurricanes last season. The team went 7-17-3 after he left the lineup, and went from a six-point lead on the Washington Capitals atop the Southeast Division to finishing the season 15 points behind them and 13 points out of a playoff spot. Ward will be healthy entering training camp and has his sights set on a rebound performance. Ward played at least 64 games in four of five seasons prior to last season's injury, and to help keep him fresh for a hoped-for postseason run, the team signed Khudobin, who went 9-4-1 with a 2.32 goals-against average and .920 save percentage in 14 games as Tuukka Rask's backup last season with the Boston Bruins. Adding depth is Justin Peters, who won four of his 18 NHL games last season after injuries sidelined Ward and backup Dan Ellis.
"Last season obviously is one I'd like to
forget," Ward told the Raleigh News & Observer. "I
feel confident I've done everything I can this summer to get my body
in the best shape I possibly can to have a healthy season. I want to
make a big impact on this hockey team and let my play do the
talking."
Muller also said he thinks Ward will have a chip
on his shoulder from not being invited to Canada Olympic orientation
camp. "I think the idea that the Olympics being this year,
it's really up for grabs for goalie in Canada. I think he wants to
show people that not only is he capable of being on that team, but
he's got the capabilities of being the No. 1 guy. I think he's got a
lot to prove. He wants to get back on the map as one of the top
goalies in the game."
"Khudobin played on a very good team with
the Bruins and he had great numbers," GM Jim Rutherford told
the team's website. "We have a scout right in Boston that saw
a lot of him. He started talking about him midway through the season.
He played extremely well, and we feel that he can do that for us."
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