RALEIGH, NC. – The last two weeks have entailed no shortage of Canes news.
Are you up to speed?
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Martin Necas and Max Lajoie – the two final Canes restricted free agents to agree to contracts – have officially put the pen to the paper and are back in the mix.
For Necas, the upcoming season will be the first of two on his new bridge deal, one that he hopes will be a bounce back from a 2021-22 campaign that did not meet expectations. How will this year be different? 88’s arrival at next month’s training camp will also come with some questions.
What level will his confidence be at? Will he get an opportunity at center, one that he alluded to hoping for in his exit interview in June?
As for Lajoie, he becomes the tenth defenseman with NHL experience under contract for Carolina. While it is a two-way deal, allowing the team to fluidly move him between the big club and Chicago (AHL), his opportunity to play NHL games may not be far off.
What does the blue line look like on Opening Night? That remains to be seen, but barring injury, you can expect Jaccob Slavin, Brent Burns, Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce. The final pair, plus presumed one extra, could be some combination of a re-signed Ethan Bear, Jalen Chatfield, who saw NHL time last year, newcomer Dylan Coghlan and/or Jake Gardiner, who will attempt to get back into game-form after missing the entirety of the 2021-22 season due to injury.
But of the above, only Slavin, Skjei and Gardiner are left-handed. While it’s not uncommon for a team to have a setup outside of the even split of three left-handed shots and three right-handed shots, should the need for a left-handed shot arise, Lajoie’s familiarity with the organization’s systems may make him the first man up – if he doesn’t make the team out of camp.
Like Necas though, there are questions that come in order for that to happen. What will transpire with Gardiner? How will William Lagesson fit in in his first year within the organization? The 6-foot-2, 207-lbs. Swede played in 33 NHL games last year, while Lajoie played in just five.
Just some things to think about it.
Video: VAN@CAR: Necas rips goal in bar down on his birthday
Pacioretty Injury
Speaking of questions and things to think about, the team was dealt with some tough news last week when Max Pacioretty tore his Achilles during training.
Acquired less than a month earlier, Pacioretty is estimated to be on the shelf for six months, giving him a loose return date of February 9. The Canes will be just two days away from their first game post-All-Star Break then, meeting the New York Rangers at home on Saturday, February 11.
Along the theme of questions surrounding, what impact will this have on the lineup? Will Pacioretty head to long-term injured reserve? If so, will the Canes use the newly available salary cap funds?
Canes 5K
After much anticipation the Canes 5K has officially been announced, set to take place on Sunday, September 18.
Beginning at 8:30 a.m., the event will begin just before a 10 a.m. puck drop between the Canes and Nashville Predators at PNC Arena as a part of the 2022 Prospects Showcase (more on that in a second).
Early bird registration discounts are available through this Sunday, August 22, so don’t delay in signing up.
Prospects Showcase
After years of participating in a tournament in Traverse City, Michigan and taking a team to Tampa, FL last year, the Canes are finally playing host to the season-starting rookie tournament.
The Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and aforementioned Panthers will each be bringing a group of developing players to the Triangle for a series of three games in four days. Contests will take place at both Invisalign Arena in Morrisville and PNC Arena in Raleigh, with all being free to attend, as well as streamed on the team’s official website.
This is where the Seth Jarvis coming out party began last season, springing onto the scene with an impressive slew of games. Who will stand out this year?
World Juniors Update
Speaking of prospects, 2021 draft selection Aleksi Heimosalmi has had himself quite a nice tournament thus far for Finland in the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship. In his country’s ousting of Germany on Wednesday afternoon, the defenseman had a pair of assists, now giving him six through five games thus far.
The loss means that the schedule of games for netminder Nikita Quapp has ended. While it may not have gone or ended how he hoped, he will be able to represent his country once again in December at the next edition of the event.
Ronan Seeley and Canada will try to punch their ticket to the next round against Switzerland Wednesday night.
Ronan Seeley, Powerplay Producer. We’ve known this for a while.
Primary assist and Canada leads 3-1!#WorldJuniors x @Canes pic.twitter.com/K97iPMAaE7
– Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) August 13, 2022
New Pillows For Pyotr
And lastly, according to Twitter’s Goalie Gear Nerd, Pyotr Kochetkov’s setup for next season has been revealed. Rather clean.
Russian equipment maker Miklin has made a new logoless set for @Canes‘ goalie @pyotrkochetkov . The gear has to be devoid of logos as Miklin does not pay the fee to display their logos at the NHL level (a 6 figure price tag per product category). #GoalieGearNerd pic.twitter.com/EXw4qzKt0V
– Goalie Gear Nerd (@GoalieGearNerd) August 17, 2022
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