Carolina Hurricanes: Training Camp Day 6 News and Notes
By Brett Finger
On Wednesday, the Carolina Hurricanes hit the PNC Arena ice once again following their two-game road trip to Washington and Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday, but it was far from a warm welcome from the club.
Following two disappointing losses to kick off the preseason, head coach Bill Peters let everyone know that he wasn’t happy with his team’s efforts over the past couple days.
Team practices started at 11:00 am with “Group A”. The first group was composed of almost all NHL bound players, with the exception of a few players that made a surprising jump.
Brendan Woods, Derek Ryan, and Jaccob Slavin all played up with the big boy group.
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It was a tough, skating-filled practice for the first group that was capped off with one of the tougher conditioning skates I’ve seen from Bill Peters in recent memory.
Peters was very vocal throughout the Group A practice. He took an aggressive, unforgiven approach to it, which is something that hasn’t been seen much from him since the beginning of his tenure in Raleigh.
The coaching staff went with a different look on the blue line with Justin Faulk paired with Ron Hainsey, John-Michael Liles paired with James Wisniewski, Noah Hanifin with Michal Jordan, and then a fourth pairing of Ryan Murphy and Jaccob Slavin.
Murphy and Slavin appeared to be the two blue liners that fell out of the mix, indicating that Noah Hanifin and Michal Jordan are higher up on the depth chart. Murphy had a rocky outing on Monday against the Capitals.
Hainsey playing in a top-two role consistently during the regular season would be a mistake. He is best in a limited role as a 5 or border line 4 blue liner that sees penalty kill time. If Hanifin can continue to step up and play the type of hockey that he did in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, that issue will be solved.
Up front, Eric Staal centered a line featuring Victor Rask and Elias Lindholm. Jordan Staal was flanked by Nathan Gerbe and Joakim Nordstrom on a more defensive-minded line. Jeff Skinner and Kris Versteeg both played alongside Riley Nash who is fresh off a new contract. The fourth line grouping was Jay McClement with Brad Malone and Andrej Nestrasil. The remaining group of Chris Terry, Derek Ryan, and Brendan Woods were an extra “fifth line”.
The combination of Jeff Skinner and Kris Versteeg seemed like a solid one, but I’m not convinced that Riley Nash is the best center for that line. If Skins and Steeger can gel with one of the Staals down the middle, it could create a very talented and dangerous forward line.
Carolina Hurricanes
J. Staal and Gerbe have always played a lot together, so it wasn’t a surprise seeing them together again on Wednesday. Only time will tell if that will last, however.
Eddie Lack and Cam Ward were the two goalies that suited up for Group A practice.
The first practice session came to a close with a bag skate that led to a lot of tired hockey players on the ice.
Group B hit the ice at 1:00 on Wednesday afternoon, and the group consisted mainly of young non-NHL roster players, including the likes of T.J. Hensick and Zach Boychuk. Haydn Fleury was also in the second practice session.
Boychuk was a noticeable player in the second group. He appeared to be on a mission at points and probably wasn’t happy to not be part of the NHL player session.
Haydn Fleury had a good chance to stick out amongst a group of unproven players, but he didn’t really do that on Wednesday. It certainly appears that Noah Hanifin has the upper hand in that mini-competition.
Danny Biega skated with the second group, which was somewhat disappointing. It would have been nice to see him in the top group after his great showing against the Caps on Monday.
A big story to follow will be the goalie situation in Charlotte this season. Drew MacIntyre is the obvious starter there, but it gets hazy after that. Rasmus Tirronen and Daniel Altshuller will compete for the backup position with the Checkers, but it looks like Altshuller has already lost that competition, at least in the eyes of the Canes coaching staff.
Altshuller has been the odd-man out since the beginning of camp. He is the only goalie to not see preseason action up to this point, and he saw the least playing time during drills on Wednesday. He also got lit up on line rushes.
He will likely be among the next group of players cut. The Maple Leafs and Flyers both cut down their training camp rosters today, and the Hurricanes will likely follow suit in the next few days.
The Canes will practice on Friday at the PNC after a day off on Thursday. Tomorrow could be the day that we see some more roster cuts.
The team will play in neutral site games in Canada against the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators on Saturday and Sunday.