Call me crazy...

It was announced today that Matt Beleskey will be hitting free agency after rejecting the best offer from the Ducks. Any time a player seeking a disproportionately high salary enters free agency, there are always a few teams that come up in discussion when speculating where said player may end up -  Toronto, Philly, even Chicago despite their upcoming need to shell out the big bucks to extend Kane and Toews. However, I feel like Beleskey may be a fit on the roster on a team that doesn't always make waves in these conversations: The Carolina Hurricanes.

Last season Carolina finished fifth-to-last in the league standings with a team whose highest-scoring player mustered up 54 points. The Canes are in need of a boost in their offense and Beleskey may be able to assist in this regard. Producing a modest 32 points for the Ducks in '14-'15, Beleskey is just entering the peak of his career at age 27 and if his numbers inflate proportionately, a 35 to 40 point season should help propel the Hurricanes a few positions higher in the standings.

Carolina also has something that some of the other usual suspects may not necessarily have after their most recent free agent grabs: cap space. According to nhlnumbers.com, Carolina currently has $56 million worth of player contracts. It should be noted that as of this posting, that number does not include Michal Jordan's new contract or the recently inked 2-way deal for Derek Ryan, so that brings the total closer to $58 million. Still, this leaves the Canes with roughly $13 million to work with. With the deal Beleskey turned down rumored to have been in the 4 year, $4mil AAV neighborhood, Carolina should be able to accomodate him easily. Most of their big guns are wrapped up for at least three more seasons. The biggest cap concern in the near future will be whatever new contract they choose to provide Eric Staal, who becomes a UFA at the end of the '15-'16 season, and is currently on the books at an $8.25 million hit.

There are some cons to this theoretical signing. For one thing, Carolina has a short supply of right wings, and Beleskey is a left wing. Carolina has 10 picks in this year's draft, so it may be better for them to sign an established right winger and draft left wing if they feel that is a need. For another thing, only two players finished with a +/- above zero last season and those were a +1 and +2. This displays a need to shore up on defense, and the Hurricanes may be better off investing here than signing a forward.

It will be interesting to see where Beleskey ends up, what moves Carolina makes during the offseason, and if these two paths intertwine.


All salary information taken from nhlnumbers.com on 6/23/15.

Intro post

Hi everyone! So I thought I'd try my hand at hockey blogging. At least, a year and a half ago I thought I'd try it out. My first post was going to be all about why I thought Dominic Moore should win the Masterton Trophy. Then I never got around to writing about it, and then everyone agreed with me anyway!

I'm a thirty-something born and raised in the Tri-State area, now living in Tampa Bay. You can guess which team I pay the most attention to. However, I intend for this blog to have more variety than that. I don't know how regularly I'll post. Probably when I have something to say that's more than a few sentences. Hopefully it will help me learn more about other teams than just the ones I watch regularly.

The name, as you may have surmised from the blog's subtitle, was inspired by Patrick Roy's infamous skate up the ice during a game against the New York Rangers. It was one of my favorite hockey moments to witness (on TV) during my childhood and remains a favorite memory to this day.

Enjoy!