Here I Am...

ROCK YOU LIKE THE...

Carolina Hurricanes
What an interesting club this continues to be. Missing the playoffs by the finest of margins after a season that was plagued by injury and uncertainty, the Hurricanes have gone out and... well... made some decent moves.

Gone is the quick, popular, fearless and severly injury prone Eric Cole. I'll cover Cole when we get to Edmonton but this is a player that I was always happy to see someone else take in a fantasy draft. Cole is good, bordering on great, when he's healthy, which is almost never.

The only MAJOR addition, fantasy wise, this offseason was Joni Pitkanen. Pitkanen didn't have a great year, though his 26 points across 63 games is a bit deceptive. Edmonton is also a FAR less offensively minded team then this Hurricanes squad, when healthy. Pitkanen is only two seasons removed from scoring 46 points in 56 games back on 05-06. Some of that can be attributed to the Peter Forsberg factor, but a good chunk of that has to be talent. Pitkanen is only 24 and joining a squad with real promise for the first time since 05-06. I would say he is a very good candidate as a sleeper pick in most fantasy drafts.

Pitkanen's chief competition for powerplay time will be late season addition Joe Corvo. Corvo was already having a good year when he arrived in Carolina last year... then proceeded to blow the doors off the place scoring 21 points in 23 games (see why I'm excited about Pitkanen?!?). I think both are very viable fantasy options.

There are a lot of players to talk about on this team. Players that I think will be undervalued in your upcoming drafts because of injuries sustained last year or shifting line combinations, but since this is really meant to be a discussion of offseason moves I'll hold back on that for now. If you want a preview my two best candidates for huge "bounceback" years have last names that start with the letter W.

A quick note. This is a prediction that no one will remember. If it comes true I'll say I told you so though, so don't worry. I don't expect anyone to draft him but Patrick Eaves is too good not to eventually surprise us all by performing up to his pedigree. Maybe its just my Boston College pride, but Eaves has the tools and the talent to score 30 if he gets the ice time. Remember, this is a guy Ottawa auditioned on its first line for a while and drafted in the first round back in '03. He's only 24 so give him time. I really do think the kid is going to be good, and this year he should get the ice time and the line mates to prove it.