Talk about a strong finishing kick. The Canes' turned what appeared to be a fairly quiet trade deadline day into a bang-up, wholesale lineup change with a late rush.
Defenseman Aaron Ward and Scott Walker were traded just after noon. About three hours later, just before the NHL's 3 p.m. deadline, the Canes dealt defenseman Joe Corvo to the Washington Capitals for defenseman Brian Pothier, Finnish forward Oskar Osala and a second-round pick.
Defenseman Andrew Alberts was sent to the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round pick, and forward Stephane Yelle -- with Harrison Reed -- was sent to the Colorado Avalanche for Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll and a sixth-rounder.
Add in the trades of Matt Cullen and Niclas Wallin before the Olympic break and that's seven players leaving the team since mid-February. General manager Jim Rutherford promised changes and he made them.
"I'm not happy with the day. It was not an easy day for anybody," Rutherford said. "It's a tough day, a sad day. You're saying goodbye to people you care about.
"As far as cutting our losses financially, and building toward the future and getting a couple of young players, we did what we set out to do. But I can't say I'm happy. I'm happy the day is over."
Rutherford estimated the Canes would save a little more than $2 million this year with the trades.
"It was part of the guidelines going into this trade deadline," Rutherford said. "We're in a year where our gate receipts are down, our revenues are down, we're in a tough economy. We understand why. Our team didn't play well for a couple of months. We didn't draw as many people as we expected to.
"So from a business point of view we felt we had to try and cut our losses. And we did that and we did it by not moving any of our core players."
Rutherford said Zach Boychuk and Jay Harrison would be recalled from Albany (AHL) and that Pothier, 32, would be in the lineup for Thursday's game against Ottawa. Forwards Chad LaRose and Erik Cole returned from injury Tuesday against Toronto.
For much of the last month, trade speculation has centered on winger Ray Whitney, due to be an unrestricted free agent. But Rutherford said no offers "made sense."
"Ray did not want to go anywhere," Rutherford said. "I think at the end he would have if it was in the best interests of the organization. It was in the best interests of the organization to finish the season here."
Whitney has a no-trade clause in his contract, but Rutherford said that was not a factor in nixing any potential deals in the past few days. What was a factor, he said, was the Canes winning their last six games and 10 of 12.
"Based on how we've played over these last 12 games, it probably did change our position on Ray Whitney a little bit," Rutherford said.
Rutherford said he "really teetered" on making the Corvo trade with the Caps, but the offer of a second-round pick in addition to the two players sealed the deal. The Alberts trade to Vancouver was made just minutes before the deadline, he said.
Rutherford said it was important to bring in goaltender Justin Pogge with Cam Ward out with a back injury and Albany goalie Mike Murphy sidelined with a hand injury.
"We only have (Justin) Peters and (Manny) Legace healthy," he said. "If one of those guys went down we would be in a jam."
Rutherford said the Canes now have three second-round picks and two third-round picks in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, with 11 picks overall in the first seven rounds.
Ward, Alberts and Yelle were added in the offseason in an attempt to solidify what Rutherford and others thought would be a Stanley Cup contender. Alberts was under contract for next season for $1.3 million.
"It's difficult. I'm attached to all these players," Rutherford said. "I'm the guy who brings them here, I'm the guy who works with them through good times and bad times and it's a tough day.
"You don't ever want to be a seller. When you're a seller, the year's not going the way you expected it to go, whether it's from a financial point of view or a performance point of view, and they usually go hand in hand. It's not a good day."
The Canes have pulled within eight points of eighth-place and playoff position with 20 games left to play.
"Our priority is to make this playoff race interesting," Rutherford said.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at
Comments
The Hurricanes are Now One of the Hottest Teams in the NHL
Sat, 03/06/2010 - 00:05 — abramsdougI don't understand the argument that the Hurricanes will be awful next season. The new Hurricanes are now one of the hottest teams in the NHL. They started the year crippled by injuries to key players. They were also saddled with horrific play by Aaron Ward -- play he himself said was the worst two months of his entire NHL career. Wallin was ineffective. Yelle was playing so poorly when he was waived, nobody picked up his $550,000 salary. Brind'Amour was being given top six minutes and was failing miserably (to the tune of a +/- -25).
The Hurricanes unloaded A.Ward, Wallin, Yelle, Alberts, Walker, Cullen, and Corvo. Only Cullen and Corvo were significant contributors to the team. It is not at all a surprise to me that the Hurricanes are playing excellent hockey. They have four Olympic world class players in Staal, Gleason, Pitkanen and Ruutu. Cam Ward when healthy is world class. Jokinen, I would argue, is a world class player. Sutter has shown he is an outstanding hockey player.
Jim Rutherford worked virtual miracles in getting top value for players like A. Ward and Yelle who nobody wanted when he waived them. For Wallin he obtained a second round draft pick -- which is an astonishing good result. For Corvo, he may have had the most amazing deal: (1) a second round pick in 2011; (2) Osala -- a major talent with tremendous size and speed; and (3) Pothier -- who is a puck-moving defenseman with some skills comparable to Corvo or at least who plays a role similar to Corvo. Getting a second round pick and Picard for Cullen is a great deal for the Hurricanes. Picard is exactly the kind of fast, big, physical player the Hurricanes need on defense.
The point is that the Hurricanes unburdened A.Ward and Wallin, and with players whose skills sets and decision-making are better suited to the Maurice/Francis/Rowe system are playing dominating hockey. On defense Carson has stepped in to play excellent hockey. Dwyer has used his speed and strength to pin down teams in their defensive zone.
The team will be improved after the draft and with the emergence of young talent such as Sutter, Boychuk, Tlusty, Bowman, Rodney, McBain, Osala, Samson, Dwyer, and perhaps Dalpe, the team will be further improved. In fact, the question next season is how to find places for all the talent the Hurricanes have accumulated.
In the meantime, I am having a blast watching the new Hurricane team play the kind of exciting, committed hockey that I had thought they would play when the season opened.
Is The Team on Life Suport? More Financial Losses Next Year
Thu, 03/04/2010 - 08:37 — hnic66Right now, JR has formed a team for next year that's probably going no where, although I hope not. And he did this because he said he had to cut the team's financial losses. The amazing thing is by getting rid of the players he did, he said, "the Canes would save a little more than $2 million this year with the trades." Two million dollars?? That's a spit in the bucket.
In a very rare instance, JR gives us a peek into the financials of the team: Fact is the team is hemoraging (sic) -- read between the lines-- "We're in a year where our gate receipts are down, our revenues are down, we're in a tough economy. We understand why. Our team didn't play well for a couple of months. We didn't draw as many people as we expected to."
Unfortunately, This team loses money every year if it doesn't make the finals. Not the playoffs...but the finals. It will continue to lose money next year unless he adds marquee players.
So he got a bunch of draft picks. You can celebrate all you want, but there's no guarantee draft picks make the NHL level.
Anyone know the price of tickets for next year?
$2M is significant. To use
Thu, 03/04/2010 - 11:42 — ctill$2M is significant. To use a financial term, most pro sports teams have high operational leverage... which is a way of saying that nearly all of their costs are fixed. In that scenario, a small change in revenue makes a big change in the bottom line; that's why hockey teams want to make the playoffs so badly (also why the NHL lets 16 teams into the playoffs). The $2M reduction in fixed cost will fall to the bottom line. Think of it this way. Assume that the average marginal ticket yield at the box office is $25 per seat for the remaining 10 home games of the season. JR's savings of $2M is the equivalent of 8,000 incremental ticket sales for every remaining home game. There isn't that much headroom in ticket availability.
A Meaningful Conversation
Fri, 03/05/2010 - 08:56 — hnic66Appreciate your reply and a thoughtful intelligent one at that. Now if this forum could have just more like it.
Hmmm....
Thu, 03/04/2010 - 09:56 — penaltykiller74"Right now, JR has formed a team for next year that's probably going no
where"
And at the beginning of this season we thought he had a team that would be a great contender for the Cup.
You never know what the season will bring.
Penaltykiller makes a good
Thu, 03/04/2010 - 11:20 — ocolumnPenaltykiller makes a good point: You never know.
Odds are that next year's team, being as young as it will be, will be exciting and fun to watch. Expecting to vie for the Cup every year is unrealistic. But expecting to be entertained by a fast, energetic and talented, hard-working team is not.
With the combination of young, new guys and the core we still have, I think we'll be back in the playoffs next year. I'm afraid we might even make the playoffs this year!
I plan to call the Canes tomorrow to see how I go about reserving my four season tickets for next year. I doubt prices are going up.
JR also simplified his
Thu, 03/04/2010 - 08:35 — ctillJR also simplified his post-season workload. The UFAs going forward are Whitney, Ryan, Pothier, Harrison, Conboy, Rodney, and Legace. Only Whitney and Pothier are paid serious money. Given Peters' performance to date, I assume Legace won't be back. I suppose Harrison was called up yesterday to give him a try-out for next season. If he plays well, perhaps JR will give him an offer.
Over All
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 21:48 — esteban1949Jr did what needed to be done..whil;e Scotty looked like he was torn between being happy to be going to a team where if all went well he could get that elusive Cup ring...A.Ward looiked like a kid who got caught playing doctor with the wrong girl...and this should be a wake up call for him as the man does have talent, and ability...but for some reson he didn't get it going in time...all players have slumps...but his sadly carried on way too long..but and again he has what someone else needed...you could see it in his face he loves his family and i thnk he was more upset at himself for possibly putting them in a situation they'd rather not be in...but such is the business of hockey...and finally the Move to Vancouver and Colorado was a surprise...but such things as these usually are...Thanks Chip..good job...
The Canes are Good,My Grandkids are Better, and Life is Great !!
Go Canes !!
Whitney
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 20:55 — CanarseI think JRs conversations with Whitney lead him to believe he can sign him for a discount in the off season. According to HNIC he's building a house in the area. If they guy wants to stay that bad he'll do it a bit on the cheap. Good move if that is the situation.
Leverage...
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 20:08 — hockeyhickWith all the trades today the Canes are in a great position going forward. With the exception of Alberts, we were able to get assets for players that probably were not going to be here next year anyway. We now have plenty of picks, prospects and CASH to build around the strong core. I am a little surprised by the Alberts trade, as I thought his play had steadily improved over the last few months, and it would have been nice to have a young BIG defenseman under contract for next year.
With players like Tlusty, Boychuck, and Dwyer ready to be permanent NHLers next year we will have the resources to re-fortify the defense with younger talent and hopefully land that sniper we have sorely lacked. Also, it would not surprise me if Whitney signs on for another year next year. Given that we will be considerably younger I would welcome his return for his leadership, albeit at the right cap number of course.
As for the players we received in return: Pothier and Picard are NHL regulars and should be servicable for the remainder of the season. Osala is a BIG boy at 6-4/ 220 and has had some success in the AHL. Maybe the strong Finnish contingency already on the Canes can help him in his development. I love his size-we need that up front.
I was sad to see Scotty Walker go, and a little puzzled by the Alberts trade. But all-in-all I think we are set up nicely to build a very good, exciting young team for next year.
A Good Day
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 18:32 — NetMinderWith one exception — Andrew Alberts is 28, big and solid on the blue line. He'll be missed. Corvo will flourish under Bruce Boudreau and Walker will give the Caps some much needed grit. We play them three times down the stretch — twice at home — and that should be fun. Aaron Ward will be chewing on his mouthpiece, taking stupid penalties, skating to the box and thankfully driving Ducks' fans crazy instead of Caniacs. Yelle returns to Colorado for his NHL grand finale and the Canes pick up some picks. So, after playing themselves back into the playoff picture, they enter the final 20 games of the regular season with a full complement of forwards, a defensive corps that's a shadow of its former self (expect a McBain sighting soon) and three backup goalies (the acquisition of Pogge indicates Cam probably won't be playing the rest of the regular season). With our decimated defense and lack of a starting goaltender, the theory that "the best defense is a good offense" is about to be put to the test.
this was all about salary
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 18:31 — bppackthis was all about salary dump. 15% of 2nd rounders turn into significant NHL players. basically, we have merely increased our chances of getting a good player out of all those picks. Pothier has had concussion issues (he has had at least 7 and missed 65 games last year and 48 in '08 because of concussions) and at 32, who knows when the next one KOs him for good. he won't be re-signed. Pogge is a backup. none of the young guys are projected to be top line players. we traded 4of our top 6 defensemen. we are going to be very young next year.
Should have moved Whitney
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 17:53 — heelzfanWhile JR did a good job moving as many guys as possible, and acquiring young players and picks, he really missed out on not moving Whitney for a huge haul. I realize he was hamstrung a bit by Ray's NTC, but I wish they could have come to an agreement to move him somewhere, and get at least a 1st round pick in return. If that could've been done, imagine the Canes sitting with 2 1st rounders, and 4 2nd round picks in the upcoming draft. You talk about being able to decide how the draft goes in the first couple of rounds.
All in all a very good day for the Canes, but it could've been a great one had Whitney been moved.
Intersting Note
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 18:29 — GoShelfI scrolled through all the moves today and noticed no one gave up a first round pick, which hopefully means it's going to be a deep 1st round. I hope we find out in coming days what happened with regards to Whitney.
biggest surprise
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 17:37 — louis12580was probably trading Alberts. His name had surfaced on several sites as a player who might be moved. Vancouver is a good spot for him. He's shown improvement and they need d-men because of the multitude of injuries back there. Corvo for a proven d-man in Pothier, a prospect (another Finn as well) and a 2nd. round choice could be a steal for us. Stockpiling draft picks (I think we have 3 or 4 in the 2nd. round now), puts us in a position to maybe make a deal on draft day to move up or get another 1st. round pick.
Bitter
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 17:34 — GoShelfWow, he sounds bitter, I don't blame him. Not a bad day: In all (past couple of weeks) we've acquired 3 2nd round picks, 1 3rd, 1 4th, 1 6th, and 1 7th. We gave up a 5th. No one can be sure how these picks will be used, I hope we can either get an additional early 1st round pick or add an additional marquee forward to play with Staal (in this case we'd have to give up an additional roster player).