Despite a great deal of attention and a few bargain additions, the Carolina Hurricanes' third and fourth forward lines remain woefully undermanned as the third week of NHL free agency approaches.
The signings of fourth-line center Jay McClement and borderline NHL players Brad Malone and Ben Holmstrom will lend some support, if only as much-needed fresh faces—but they won't come close to solving the problem.
All three bring a respectable mix of size, physicality and defensive play, yet scoring remains an issue: The trio combined for just seven goals in 113 NHL appearances last season.
Compared to the departing role players each are replacing, moreover, the improvements are even vaguer. McClement functions as a cheaper and more well-rounded but arguably equally skilled version of Manny Malhotra. Malone serves as a moderate upgrade over the invisible Radek Dvorak. Holmstrom replaces former AHL captain Brett Sutter with an almost identical skill set.
Meanwhile, youngsters such as Zach Boychuk, Brock McGinn and Chris Terry seem currently penciled in as the only candidates to replace non- ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Jones
Carolina Hurricanes’ Forward Depth Continues to Require Improvement
July 12th, 2014 by Mark Jones Leave a reply »
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