The Hurricanes released some shocking news yesterday when they announced that the team is sending rookie Elias Lindholm to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League. This decision might come across as controversial because Lindholm has already played 10 games and many thought Lindholm would be in the NHL to stay now that the first year of his entry-level contract has started. Scouts tagged him as an "NHL-ready" player, but the injuries he sustained over the summer and during the season have put him behind schedule a little bit and the coaching staff feels that he would be better off getting top line minutes in the AHL.

Lindholm could be back with the Canes very soon, as the team allowed him to play ten games instead of sending him back to Sweden to avoid burning a year on his entry level contract. How much does he need to work on before he makes his return, though? Lindholm is a great skater, has shown very good offensive instincts and has made an impact on the power play, but his performance at even strength leaves much to be desired. He has been on the ice for six five-on-five goals against in 10 games and only Kevin Westgarth posted a worse Corsi percentage than him. Personally, I thought Lindholm was improving with every game but his all-around game is still developing and some time in the AHL could help him with that.

Still, the Hurricanes letting him play 10 games and sending him to Charlotte indicates that they might have some short-term plans for him. When he was drafted, all indications were that he was going to get every chance to make the team out of camp and despite being hurt for most of August/September, Lindholm found himself in the opening night lineup. He started off on the fourth line and slowly worked his way up the depth chart before getting hurt in his fifth game of the year. Lindholm then found himself back at square one after that. The coaching staff was still giving him decent minutes and using him heavily on the power play, but the Hurricanes were still getting grossly outshot at even strength with him on the ice, which indicates that he either isn't at 100% or isn't completely ready for the NHL just yet.

Had it not been for the injury, Lindholm's season might be going a little better but having him in the AHL isn't the worst thing in the world right now. Yes, it still burns a year of his entry-level deal but Lindholm can still be called up later in the year if he dominates at that level. Given his talent, Lindholm should be able to make a big impact with the Checkers. It's rare that you'll see a player this young in the AHL, but Lindholm not having any current ties to another league gives the Canes some freedom to do what they want with him.

I'm not sure if this is the best way to handle Lindholm but I think the Hurricanes initial plan for him to play all of this year in the NHL. Unfortunately, his injury problems have derailed that plan and Lindholm will need to spend some time in the AHL to work on his all-around game. He will likely get big minutes down there and we could see him back in Raleigh if he plays well enough. The fact that hey kept him in the NHL for so long despite the injuries tells me that the Hurricanes view Lindholm as someone who can help the team this year, which makes sending him to the AHL not a terrible option right now. They might be patient with him and let him play out the season there, but it wouldn't surprise me if he is recalled sooner rather than later.

I have been running this blog for almost three years and by now, most people know my shtick. Whenever the team goes through a rough stretch or has a problem, I like to dive into the numbers or go over the game tape to break down what happened and what the Hurricanes can do to fix it. Today, I'm going to be taking a different approach and give my two cents on some of the team's problems right now. After the disaster that was last season, this five-game losing skid has a lot of fans on the breaking point and while I am not at that point yet, there has been some frustration building up over the last two weeks.

As much as I don't want to be the type blogger who plays armchair analyst and complains about everything, we all need to vent and the Hurricanes have given me plenty of things to expound upon these last couple of weeks.

A signing that went relatively unnoticed a few weeks ago was the Charlotte Checkers signing veteran center Manny Malhotra to a professional tryout contract. A former first round pick, Malhotra has been in the league for 14 years and while he has never lived up to his draft status, he has built a reputation as a solid defensive center. He spent the last three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks and unfortunately, injuries have held him back during that time.

Malhotra was the Canucks third line center for most of the 2010-11 season and performed well in that role until a gruesome eye injury put him in injured reserve. He eventually returned to Vancouver's lineup in the playoffs, but suffered vision loss and it had a negative impact on his play the following season. Malhotra was able to suit up for 78 games in 2011-12 but was mainly used as a fourth liner and was limited to only nine games last season. At 33, Malhotra might still have something to offer, but is he healthy enough to play in the NHL full-time again?

It appears we will know the answer to this question by tomorrow night, as the Hurricanes have signed Malhotra to a one-year, two-way contract. With Radek Dvorak, Jeff Skinner and now Kevin Westgarth on the shelf, the Canes need another forward and it appears Malhotra will be getting the call for tomorrow's game against Tampa Bay. Forward depth was a major issue for the Hurricanes coming into the year and injuries have magnified that, so Malhotra will at least give them an experienced player for the bottom-six. How useful is Malhotra at this point in his career, though?

In his last full NHL season, Malhotra was used as the Canucks fourth line center and was regularly buried in the defensive zone by the Canucks coaching staff. Malhotra took only 14.3% of his even strength draws in the offensive zone that season and his deployment was similar the previous season, albeit with more minutes. Due to that, Malhotra's underlying numbers have taken a beating in the the last few seasons but prior to that, he did a pretty good job of driving the play at even strength. Both the Blue Jackets and Sharks used Malhotra in a defensive role and the puck was usually in the other team's zone whenever he was on the ice, showing that he did a fairly good job as a checking line center. He also scored 30+ points in each of those seasons, which is impressive when taking his role into account.

However, it's worth noting that those were Malhotra's prime years and there is a slim chance that he will return to that level, especially after the eye injury. The Hurricanes probably wont need him to be that kind of player, though since all they need right now is a fourth line center who isn't a liability at even strength. It's tough to say whether or not Malhotra can be that right now because he has played only nine NHL games in the last calendar year and his extreme deployment has really affected his underlying numbers. The Hurricanes might use him in the defensive zone, but I'm not sure if they will completely bury him there like Vancouver did, so he could be a decent possession player or at least a minor improvement over the Canes current fourth line. He should also help with faceoffs, as that is one skill which appears to have stuck with him even after the injuries.

In the short-term, I see Malhotra taking over Brett Sutter's role as the fourth line center with Sutter moving over to the wing. Muller might heavily deploy him in the defensive zone to take some heat off Jordan Staal's line, who have been playing virtually all of the toughs this year, and use him on the PK if he plays well enough. His ability to win faceoffs will likely keep him in the lineup over Sutter or Westgarth for at least a few games, so Malhotra will definitely get every chance to stick around. Carolina's found a few good bargains in the off-season with Radek Dvorak, Ron Hainsey & Nathan Gerbe, so let's hope that trend continues with Malhotra.

The past week brought some mixed results for the Hurricanes prospect pool, as there were a couple of players who put up big numbers while a few others had some ugly performances. The good far outweighs the bad, though as Sergey Tolchinsky and Brock McGinn continued to light it up for their respective teams with a couple of multi-point games. Both are in the Top 10 in points in the OHL and McGinn's 15 goals ranks him second among goal-scorers. McGinn really helped his cause this week by scoring five in three games, including a hat trick in Guelph's 6-3 win over Kitchener.

McGinn also added three assists to his total which now gives him 27 points in 15 games, ranking 5th in the OHL. It's weird to think that McGinn had only 22 goals in 101 career OHL games when he was drafted because his offense has taken a couple of big steps forward these last two seasons. He got off to a slow start last year thanks to a wrist injury but he has stormed out of the gates this time around and has been a big reason why Guelph is currently in a battle for first place in the OHL's Western Conference. I always saw McGinn as someone who can contribute even if he isn't scoring, as he is a great penalty killer and puck-possession player, but his expectations will certainly go up after this season. 

After the jump, we'll talk more about McGinn and review the past week for Carolina's OHL prospects.

Skaters

Goalie

McGinn was simply outstanding this past week, as he recorded a goal in all three games and kicked it all off with a hat trick against Kitchener. Guelph has scored more goals than any other OHL club this year and McGinn has been the one leading the way there. He is one of the older players on the team, so most expected him to have a big year, but I don't think anyone saw him posting these kind of numbers. Judging from how he looked in prospect camp, I would say that he is pretty close to being ready for the pros, even if it's just the AHL, and he has certainly been showing that so far juniors. Unfortunately, he is too young to play in Charlotte, so we'll have to wait until the end of the year before we see him there.

The other standout from the week was the undrafted phenom, Sergey Tolchinsky, who had five assists and a pair of multi-point games for Salut Ste. Marie this week. Tolchinsky is normally more of a goal-scorer but his play-making skills were on display in the Hounds 8-3 win over the Sarnia Sting where he recorded three assists. He also had two assists in their wild 7-5 win over the Belleville Bulls and was a force on the power play from the looks of things. His even strength on-ice goal stats were a little weak for his standards, but Tolchinsky has made up for it in other areas and always seems to make an impact whenever he is on the ice.

Also on the upswing last week was Trevor Carrick, whose Mississauga Steelheads are starting to right the ship with wins over Oshawa and Sudbury. Both of Carrick's points came in the win over Sudbury, his assist being the primary helper on the game-winning goal. He was also on he ice for more of Mississauga's goals than the opposition's, which is a nice change from recent weeks. The Steelheads are depending on him for a lot this year and he's responded with his best offensive season to date and his play in his own end is improving, as well. 

On the ugly side of things we have goaltender Daniel Altshuller, who played in all three of Oshawa's games and had his roughest week to date. He allowed 10 goals on 79 shots, eight of them coming in two games. Although, some good news is that Oshawa won two out of those three games and they were shutout in the one game they lost, so that wasn't completely on Altshuller. He's having a good season, so hopefully this is only just a blemish.

As for Ganly and Pedersen, both were pretty quiet. Pedersen recorded yet another assist, giving him eight points in 12 games, while Ganly is still looking for his first of the year. He also ended up with a negative goal differential for the first week this year, which is unfortunate because he is normally very solid in his own end.

Overall Numbers

Once again, McGinn and Tolchinsky are the ones leading the way as they are simply destroying their competition right now. Although, Carrick is also performing very well, scoring at a point-per-game pace. Hopefully these three keep it up.

This was one of those rare weeks where the Hurricanes success was coupled with some good results from their prospects. The Canes OHL pool has been playing rather well this year as three of their prospects currently lead their respective teams in points and two of them are in the top 10 of the league. One of those players is Sergey Tolchinsky, who has continued to light it up for Sault Ste. Marie after going undrafted this past summer. Tolchinsky recorded seven points in three games for the Greyhounds this past week and had a huge five-point game against Peterborough. It's easy to get over-excited about gaudy junior hockey stats, but Tolchinsky could potentially be a steal for the Canes if he continues to develop well. I saw him being a few years away from being ready for the pros, mostly due to his size, but he hasn't had any issue with producing in the OHL now that he his playing a big role. 

Tolchinsky is the clear-cut first star of this week's feature, but he wasn't the only Carolina OHL prospect who had a good week.

It's that time of the week where we'll step away from Hurricanes news to discuss what has been going on with some of their prospects. Last week, they had three prospects leading their respective OHL clubs in points and saw big performances from forwards Sergey Tolchinsky and Brock McGinn. Who stood out in the Canes prospect pool this week?

With the OHL season being a couple weeks old and college hockey just around the corner, it's now time for our weekly review of the Hurricanes prospects. The team's prospect pool isn't as widespread as it was last year, as most of their junior players have graduated to the professional level but there is some new blood in the system and a few of them have been doing well for themselves in this young OHL season. Three Carolina prospects currently lead their respective teams in points (Segey Tolchinsky, Trevor Carrick & Brock McGinn) and a couple others have been off to good starts, as well.

After the jump, we'll take an individual look at the week that was for each of Carolina's OHL prospects.

After months of previewing and speculating, the 2013-14 season is finally here for the Carolina Hurricanes and they face a very tough test tonight when they take on the Detroit Red Wings. I never like to read into opening night results that much because it's only one game, but after how the last two season openers went for Carolina (both 5-1 losses), it would be nice to see the Hurricanes come away with a win tonight. Especially since this hasn't exactly been an ideal off-season for the Canes. Between the news about Joni Pitkanen, the myriad of injuries affecting the club right now and the move to a tougher division, the feeling in Hurricanes camp right now is one of concern rather than hope.

Personally, I don't think the Hurricanes are going to be that outmatched in this new division as some may believe, but there are a lot of things that need to go right for them in order to make the playoffs. With so many key players injured during the pre-season, it may take a few games for the coaches to figure out what the full-time lineup will be and the next couple of weeks may not be pretty from Carolina's standpoint, especially since they play some very good teams at the beginning of their schedule. 

There's definitely a lot to be concerned about if you're a Canes fan and I understand that but personally, I'm way more excited for this season than I was the last two or three. I might be a little more optimistic than I should be, but I truly don't believe the Canes were as bad as their record stated last season and I like that there is a lot up in the air for them this year. I don't know what to expect in terms of results or how the team will perform in the new division because there is still a lot that needs to be decided. All I do know is that this is going to be a much different Canes team than they were in year's past (for better or worse) and that really makes me look forward to this season even if most people are projecting the Canes to finish last in the division.

As for tonight's game, I really want to see the Hurricanes carry over their strong puck-possession game from last season and hang tough with Detroit but ultimately, I'm just hoping for a win. Even if it's one where they get outshot 35-22 and rely on luck to carry them. This is not how I want the Canes to win all of their games but for tonight, I'll be satisfied with a win no matter how it comes. I'm sure everyone else in the Triangle has the same mindset, so let's get to previewing the actual game.

There has been a lot going on for me the last couple of months and I thought it would be a good idea to give you all a heads up on everything  that has been going on for me lately and how it will effect this blog. First off, I'll just say that this blog is not going anywhere and I'll still do my best to get one post a day up on here. However, with me being added to the staff of a couple other web sites, working full-time and still doing my NHL tracking project on the side, there will be less game day coverage than there has been in years past. I'm still going to be tracking scoring chances, zone entries and zone exits for every game and post the data here afterward, but I may not get able to get a preview & recap posted every night like I did for the last couple of years.

Those posts are great for generating hits, but I always felt like those can be found on other blogs so instead, I'm going to be focusing on bringing you guys more analytical pieces on a regular basis. My goal is still to get at least one article up per day and I'm sure that will be fairly easy to do once the Canes get a few games under their belt. 

In addition to that, I'm going to add a couple of new features to the web site, one of which being a database for all of the data I've tracked for the Hurricanes over the last two seasons (scoring chances, zone entries, exits, etc.) and possibly having it expanded beyond that. I'm also going to try to bring back my weekly statistical recap of the Hurricanes team & individual player performances like I did during the 2011-12 season and review the performance of Carolina's prospects.

There are some other things I have planned for this season as well, but I'm not quite ready to reveal them just yet. I just wanted to give you all a heads up on some of the changes I'll be making to this blog over the next month or so. As always, thanks for your readership. I'm looking forward to this season.

With the roster needing to be trimmed down to 23 players by 5 p.m. today, many fans were hoping that the Hurricanes roster situation would be cleared up by now. Unfortunately, the roster the Hurricanes submitted left everyone with more unanswered questions. According to the statement released by the Canes today, the Hurricanes "opening night" roster will feature 12 forwards, 8 defensemen and two goaltenders. Seeing how two players on the roster are injured (Tim Gleason & Elias Lindholm), it's very likely that the lineup the Hurricanes send out on Friday night will be completely different from what we're seeing here. 

This became evident when the team announced that they were sending defenseman Ryan Murphy to the AHL even though he has been very impressive in training camp and is needed on the power play. They also did not sign right winger Radek Dvorak, despite him also having a good camp and filling a need in the bottom-six. The Hurricanes can still make changes to their roster between now and Friday but had until today to trim their roster down to 23 players. What might sound odd to fans is that they were already at 23 players before they sent Murphy to Charlotte. One would think that this means the coaching staff wants him to play a few games there before breaking into the NHL, but then TSN's Bob McKenzie tweeted that Murphy will likely be on the opening night roster despite being sent down today. 

So what the hell is going on here?

This really comes down to cap space and the Hurricanes needing to wait until the season to place injured defenseman Joni Pitkanen on Long-Term Injured Reserve. As everyone knows by now, Pitkanen is not going to play this season and the Hurricanes were eventually going to place him on LTIR, which would take his cap hit off the books until he is healthy and able to play. However, they can't place Pitkanen on LTIR until tomorrow at the earliest because that's when the salary cap begins to take into effect. Capgeek explains everything well in this article here, but the gist of it is that LTIR can not be used unless a team absolutely needs cap relief, so the Hurricanes have to wait until tomorrow to put Pitkanen on LTIR and get his $4.5 mil. cap hit off the books. Right now, he is listed as an "injured non-roster player," and his $4.5 mil. puts the team right up against the cap. I suspect this to change tomorrow.

This is probably why the team elected to send Murphy & his $1,313,333 cap hit down while keeping Matt Corrente on the roster for now. It also explains why they did not put the injured Gleason on IR yet because he will likely be out for more than 10 games with a concussion. Once this happens, the Canes will likely have enough room for Murphy, Dvorak and possibly another player if they want to add more to cover up the injuries.

As for the rest of the roster, there are still a few things to iron out. Alex Semin is still questionable for opening night with a hand injury and no one knows if Elias Lindholm will be in the lineup either. It's also tough to figure out if the Canes will make another move since the team's right wing depth is still lacking and they could use a couple of improvements in other areas. With the season being just around the corner, my instincts say there won't be any major moves, but there could be a couple of surprises.