2012 Projections: Carolina

The Carolina Hurricanes just barely missed the playoffs in the 2011 season, but had quite a few bright spots in their season to build from for the 2012 campaign.  The off-season has been kind to them, as they have been able to add some key pieces to their puzzle, looking to keep up with the competition in the Southeast Division.

The Hurricanes will be good for their elite goaltender and their captain, who has seen flashes among the elite forwards in the league, the reigning Calder Trophy winner is in their corner, added a Stanley Cup winning defenseman from the Spring and overall have a decent group of competitors that will make life tough for their opponents.

But really, how do they stack up for drafting this year?

Forwards		Defense		Goalies
Eric Staal	70	Tomas Kaberle	40	Cam Ward	70
Jussi Jokinen	60	Joni Pitkanen	35	Brian Boucher	20
Jeff Skinner	55	Jamie McBain	35
Tuomo Ruutu	55	Bryan Allen	15
Anthony Stewart	35	Tim Gleason	15
Chad Larose	30	Jay Harrison	15
Brandon Sutter	30
Jiri Tlusty	25
Alex Ponikarovsky	20
Tim Brent	15
Patrick Dwyer	15
Zach Boychuk	30	Derek Joslin	15	Justin Peters	10
Zac Dalpe	25

Pool Worthy Forwards (Inside the top 160, 40 points)
Well, the forward roster does look a bit short, but possibly some rookies can help that out, but I don't really project the players that are there to light up the lamp too furiously.  Both Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner are poised to take a bit of a drop this year, likely on the shoulders of a lack of help.  The Hurricanes don't seem to have much play-making help going into the pre-season, so their top guys may hurt from this.

Jussi Jokinen is coming back from a slightly injury-shortened 2011 season, to which I think he'll be able to bounce back from, but I don't see him really making too much of a positive impact on his teammates going forward.

Anthony Stewart is a kid that I can see growing into his own shoes in the league, as he might be able to hit pool worthy status again before the end of the season, but really, it will be more as a depth player.

Pool Worthy Defensemen (Inside the top 80, 25 points)
The Hurricanes were able to change Joe Corvo for Tomas Kaberle (essentially) in the off-season, which doesn't seem like a swap that has a clear winner or a clear loser.  Kaberle may have just won a Cup, but he wasn't the number one guy on the blueline.  Add a lacklustre set of forwards to the mix, I don't see Kaberle having a great season in Carolina.

Joni Pitkanen and Jamie McBain, they should be able to hang around the mid-30-point pace for the bulk of the season.  The status quo for Pitkanen, while McBain sees a bit of an increase.  Either one could be a pretty solid pick-up from the blueline.

Pool Worthy Goalies (Inside the top 40, 25 points)
Well, if the forwards are not going to have a good season, that means the offense may not be there to help out Cam Ward on a regular basis, which to me says that the Canes starting goalie might end up losing a good number of 2-1, 2-0 or 1-0 games, which doesn't bode well for him.  Still, Ward is still good enough to hang in there, especially if his team gets a lead, so that's what I am taking into account this season.

Pool Worthy Rookies
A lot of the young players that are pool worthy on this Carolina team are outside their rookie status, but one to watch for this season will be Zac Dalpe.  I don't have him projected too well, especially since the Hurricanes have been weary to get them into their line-up too quickly, with Jeff Skinner being the obvious exception, of course.  The Hurricanes may have a spot or two to try out for, but it could be a long road, if Dalpe and company don't impress right away.


Key Injuries
None.