What a difference a day makes...

So, Wednesday night I come home from work exhausted, and log online to find out that the Canes had managed to work out a contract with Erik Cole, but that the prospects for a new deal with Chad LaRose seemed to be going south fast.

Canes' GM Jim Rutherford had spoken with Chip Alexander over at Canes Now on Wednesday evening and stated bluntly that it was "time to move on"..."It's not going to happen". Evidently the Canes were talking with another free agent about joining the Canes Wednesday night, so Rutherford gave LaRose's agent a courtesy call:

I informed (Patrick Morris, LaRose's agent) that we had another deal we were working on, that I was giving him a courtesy call. He said he would run everything by Chad and call back in an hour. I waited but they never called back. Obviously they have a deal somewhere else. So we're working on signing another free agent. It's time to move on.

Sounded pretty ominous. So I went to bed torn...relieved that we were able to resign Cole at a decent price, but bummed that things seemed to have spun down the drain with LaRose. I wasn't too confident that things could turn around from that point.

All through the day on Thursday I kept one eye on the TSN Free Agent Tracker, curious to see where LaRose's name might pop up, or who this mystery free agent that Rutherford referred to Wednesday evening might be.

Nothing. A slow day all around for the most part as far as new signings, and absolutely nothing from the Hurricanes.

I left around 3:30, and headed off for what turned out to be a real shitty evening at work.
Come home and decide to check in for my hockey fix before heading off to bed. And whadda ya know:

Carolina Signs Chad LaRose For Two Years - Rioting In Street Ensues.

WOO HOO!

Of course, Bubba sums it up as well as I could ever hope to.

So, 3 down, one to go as far as keeping the core intact. Jokinen, Cole and LaRose are staying at home. Now to just wait and see how the details sort out with Ruutu. Heard Jim Rutherford on 99 The Fan this afternoon saying that moving forward, the Canes will just have to wait to hear back from Ruutu as to whether he will accept their qualifying offer, or opt for arbitration. Either way he seemed confident that something would be worked out for next season at the very least. Still to be seen if any kind of long term deal can be reached beyond 2009/2010. If not, Ruutu would become an UFA next summer (and we get to go through all of this again).

Rutherford also mentioned that with Seidenberg (definintely) and Babchuk (most likely) gone, the team would now turn their attention using their projected salary numbers in trying to find a top 4 defenseman in free agency to take their slot(s) in the budget. Will be interesting to see how that turns out.

But I'll worry about that another day.
For tonight (at least) I should sleep well.

BTW, check out LaRose, from Thusday afternoon, moments after resigning, on the radio with Scott Jackson and Mike Maniscalco from 99.9 The Fan.

Dude sounds ecstatic. I cannot imagine a more genuine or enthusiastic ambassador for the Canes and the NHL in general that Chad LaRose.

-m

Welcome Back...Again

Erik Cole decided to dip his toe into the free agent pool, take a look around the market and see what might be out there for him. Well it seems the water was a bit on the chilly side and he decided that the comforts of home were a bit too much to pass up.

After a few hours on the open market, Cole returned to the Carolina Hurricanes, signing a 2 year deal totaling $5.8 million with the team who drafted him (3rd round/1998), and with whom he has spent all but a few months of his 7 year NHL career. The new deal will pay $2.8 million in 2009/2010 and $3 million in 2010/2011. This represents roughly a 25% pay cut from his previous contract with the Canes, that paid out at $4 million per season.

Cole was traded from Carolina to the Edmonton Oilers in the summer of 2008 (in exchange for defenseman Joni Pitkanen), but returned to the Hurricanes in February of 2009 in a three team deal that sent forward Justin Williams from the Canes to the Los Angeles Kings. In 17 games with the Hurricanes to finish the season, Cole had 15 points (2 goals/15 assists), and provided a spark that helped the Canes surge to a 12-3-2 finish and their first playoff appearance in 3 years.

Once considered one of the most feared power forwards in the NHL, with a lethal combination of speed, size and physicality Cole had his best season during the Cane's Stanley Cup season of 2005/2006. He tallied 59 points (30 goals/29 assists) in just 60 games. Unfortunately, Cole missed the last 22 games of that season after suffering a broken vertabre in his neck after a blindsided hit into the boards from Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik (booo!). Cole made a dramatic return to the ice for the last two games of the Stanley Cup finals against Edmonton, and skated the Cup around the RBC Center with his teammates. In the offseason following the Stanley Cup run Cole signed a new 3 yr contract with the Hurricanes at $4 millon per season. Unfortunately, since his injury, Cole's production has slowly but steadily dropped off - 61 points (29G/32A) in 2006/2007 (71 games), 51 points (22G/29A) in 2007/2008 (73 games), 42 points (18G/24A) in 2008/2009 (80 games).

Heading into free agency, it seemed 50/50 at best that Cole would return to the Canes. It was obvious that GM Jim Rutherford wanted to resign him, but the question remained whether or not Cole would be willing to accept the pay cut that Rutherford and the Canes were sure to require. Over the last weeks and days speculation and rumor had centered around Cole and fellow UFA Chad LaRose, and which of the two the Canes could afford and should push to resign. Rutherford repeatly stated that he wanted to get both back in the fold - assuming that could work out the price.

After signing Cole this afternoon, Rutherford had this to say (from Canes Now):

Erik clearly had an instant impact on our team when he returned to Carolina in March...He has been an important piece for our franchise for a long time and we are pleased that he has decided to remain at home in Raleigh.

Today, Cole is back with the Canes and LaRose appears to be out the door for greener pastures.

Welcome home Erik. Again.

-m

Door Left Open For Cole; LaRose and Babchuck, not-so-much...

Canes Now is reporting that Erik Cole's foray into the free agent pool might be short lived. Canes GM Jim Rutherford said today that, while there are no guarantees at this point, Cole might be back with the Canes:

Erik is working hard to work with us...He'll still go into free agency but has said he will not stay out there long if he does not see a big deal he can get...I don't think we're far apart with Erik. We've had several good conversations in the last 24 hours in Erik's case. I see his point of view. He's willing to take a pay cut but wants to see if there's a big deal out there. There's not the same frustration with Erik.

[NOTE: Is it just me, or does Rutherford stating this publicly, in the media, severely hamper Cole's ability to get a "big deal" out there? If he is saying that Cole has admitted he is willing to take a pay cut in Carolina, does that not temper the amount of money another team would be willing to offer? Wiley public negotiating for sure, but I know if I was Cole's agent I would not be too happy right about now. ]

That last line, referencing "frustration", seems squarely directed at the LaRose camp. As is this little nugget:

I'd like to sign both, Rutherford said. My position has changed. I only have so much (money) to do it. If we can do it within those numbers, we'll do it.

I've got to wonder if there might be some sort of lingering animosity left over between LaRose (or his agent) and the club after last year's drawn out negotiations and arbitration?

There also seems to be a significant snag in negotiations with RFA defenseman Anton Babchuck. The Canes offered Babs a qualifying offer of $1 million, the same salary he made last season. But apparently the 25 year old Babchuck is not interested, wants a raise and could return to Russia (again) . Sigh. I was really impressed with Anton's development this year, his playoff performance not-withstanding, and for whatever reason he's always been a favorite of mine. So much potential there. He's still a young guy and I would love to see him continue to develop under the all seeing Eye. But the guy definitely seems to be high maintenance.

Hell, the Canes actually gave him a break in accepting him back into the fold and providing him with the opportunity to play quality minutes, after he skulked off to Russia two years ago. Now, here we go again. I got to wonder if this is the kid, or if he is just getting bad advice from his agent. He has already screwed up his arbitration status by leaving for a year. Sure he might be worth a bit more than $1 million a year, but signing this offer now allows him to PROVE that again next season, continue to develop at the NHL level, and to make even more money down the line. I don't see how returning to the KHL (again), helps him at all in the long run, except in theshort term pocket-book of course. Just seems a little short sighted as a negotiating ploy.

Rutherford did not seem to have much patience as he summed it up this way:

We have an issue with Babchuk.

Ok.

Now, any word on Ruutu?

-m

The clock strikes midnight

As I type this the clock is passing across midnight in the Eastern time zone and June gives way to July. The deadline for teams to negotiate exclusively with their unrestricted free agents has officially passed, and since there has been no news out of Hurricanes HQ or from various media outlets (good job staying on top of this one N&O - natch), one can only assume that Chad LaRose and Erik Cole are now officially free agents, free to field offers from any NHL club.

And according to a post on the Canes website earlier on Tuesday, GM Jim Rutherford is not keen on taking part in any bidding wars for either Cole or LaRose:

“If they go into tomorrow [July 1st] then they’re obviously making the choice to go somewhere else...We’ve given our best offer within our budget to try to keep them, and at this point it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”

Sure this might just be tough talk, taking a bargaining position through the media, and in general being a hardass, but it does not sound promising.

I would love to keep both guys, but feel stronger about keeping LaRose. He is definitely due a pay raise based on his performance this past season, but I wonder how much money is out there for him on the open market - or at least how much MORE money than the Canes are offering. LaRose is such a valuable player to this team on and off the ice, it could be a blow to lose him. And to be honest, seeing as how he had really found his niche and even exceeded expectations on this team, he might be hard pressed to find a good fit elsewhere. My guess at a fair price would be around $1.5-2million per season. And even that might be a little steep unless it is a short term deal.

Cole was making $4million per year on his current contract with the team, and based on performance over the last few years I'm sure he will have to take a pay cut no matter where he ends up. I'm guessing anything more than $2.5-3 million would be significantly overpaying for the production he provides at this point in his career. I remember when he signed the contract for $4 million per 4 or 5 years ago, some folks thought the Canes were getting a discount. But with the way things turned out in the long run (injuries, inconsistency), he was probably overpaid. If he ends up in another sweater next season I would be bummed, but not distraught.

It also appears that UFA Ryan Bayda will be on the market, and not back with the team. The Canes offered him a two-way deal (after having him on a one-way this season), but I don't really blame him for trying to keep a one-way deal elsewhere.

Man I hope I wake up tomorrow morning to read about some sort of last minute deal for LaRose, or that Rutherford does not just slam the door shut on principle.

-m