Carolina
Hurricanes

Hurricanes Team Report

Updated: May 29, 2012 06:17 EST

There was little question that the Hurricanes needed to keep defenseman Jamie McBain in the fold or risk losing the investment of playing time they've given him during a developmental stage.

McBain's continued growth on the ice will be one of the telltale signs during the coming season.

The Hurricanes and McBain, who had been a restricted free agent, agreed on a contract that will pay him $1.7 million next season and $1.9 million in 2013-14.

The Hurricanes like McBain's puck-moving ability, though at times finding him the right defensive partner has been an issue. But if the Hurricanes are going to run the type of system that they prefer, they need the kind of skill set that McBain can provide along the blueline. His work on power plays is among his strongest assets as five of his eight goals during the past season came on power plays.

At age 24, he could be part of the future core of the organization. He has completed three full professional seasons.

The signing of McBain for two seasons gives the Hurricanes some flexibility in assembling the defense. If not for the oft-injured Joni Pitkanen among the key defensemen, the organization might be even more inclined to allow defenseman Bryan Allen to go into free agency without hesitation.

But there's no doubt that settling with McBain puts another piece of the puzzle squarely in place.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT: The only four-game winning streak of the season came in March, capped by a victory against the Florida Panthers, a divisional rival trying to land a spot in the postseason. The fact that the Hurricanes had to wait so deep into the season for such an achievement was a disturbing situation. The streak began with G Cam Ward's 40-save shutout of St. Louis for his 200th career victory.

TURNING POINT: The Hurricanes knew from past seasons that autumn doldrums come back to haunt teams and yet it happened again. A November streak of seven regulation losses in an eight-game stretch were devastating and then -- amid a coaching change -- a seven-game losing streak bridging November and December put the Hurricanes in too deep of a hole right before D Joni Pitkanen was about to begin more than a two-month absence with multiple injuries.

--The Hurricanes continue wait for the emergence of some of their young forwards who've bounced between the NHL team and the Charlotte affiliate in the AHL. RW Drayson Bowman seemed to receive the most praise from general manager Jim Rutherford, though C Zac Dalpe has show enough signs that the Hurricanes haven't given up on him. But time could be running short for LW Zach Boychuk, who at one time a couple of years ago seemed like the best-suited candidate to grab a roster spot. Rutherford hasn't put Boychuk in the category with Bowman and Dalpe during some of his postseason assessments.

--The Hurricanes were honored by the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame's "greatest moments" category for the 2006 Stanley Cup championship during activities in May. This gave the organization, which hasn't been in the postseason since 2009, a chance for some positive spring publicity. It also served as a reminder of what the team has been missing out on the past few seasons. Several Hurricanes were around to represent the team when it was honored. Those included LW Chad LaRose and C Eric Staal, who were members of the 2006 championship team.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Start of every year, you're always excited. It's a lot of time to think. Sit back and find ways we can be better." -- C Brandon Sutter, on the extended offseason for the playoff-less Hurricanes.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: C Eric Staal's troubles were well-documented early in the season and there were constant analysis of what was wrong. As it turned out, a little time proved to be all the captain needed and he spearheaded the team's upgraded play in the final two months of the season on his way to becoming the team's points leader. He did this despite what seemed like a regular rotation of players on his wings, at times playing with teammates who had been fourth-line players one game and then suddenly on his line.

MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: There's good competition for this distinction, but LW Jussi Jokinen is among those at the top of the list. He had 65 and 52 points in his first two seasons with the Hurricanes, but he failed to reach the 50-point mark this time as he notched 46 points and he also lost his touch during shootouts and that had been one of his specialties. Now it might be fair to question if the best years are in the past for the 29-year-old, who also eclipsed the 40-minute mark in penalty minutes for the first time in his career with 54.

BIGGEST NEEDS: This team needs more top-line scorers to take the pressure off C Eric Staal and LW Jeff Skinner. There's not enough players on the top two lines who've proved they can produce consistently, so upgrades on the upper lines should be a priority. Look for the team to add some size among forwards because they tend to be a small group across the board with a couple of exceptions.

FREE AGENT FOCUS: The Hurricanes aren't at risk of many departures here, with D Bryan Allen the most notable of the unrestricted free agents and he has seemed like a good fit for the team. He could be given an offer, especially as he's an ideal partner for D Tim Gleason. There's no reason to expect the Hurricanes will offer much, if anything, to veteran D Jaroslav Spacek, who joined the team in a trade from Montreal during the season. The Hurricanes took care of business in this category with rare in-season contract extensions for would-be free agents Gleason and RW Tuomo Ruutu.

PLAYER NOTES:

--LW Jeff Skinner had a frustrating season, even though he put up respectable numbers in his second year. But coming off the 2010-11 Rookie of the Year season, he was targeted by opponents, and so finding space and scoring became much more difficult for Skinner.

Skinner's competitive nature and his quest to make a play out of every situation tended to cause an uptick in frustration-related penalties. That became a concern for the Hurricanes, with general manager Jim Rutherford pointing out that Skinner's retaliations were too frequent for a player with his star quality.

--D Bobby Sanguinetti remains in line to make an impact with the Hurricanes when he agreed to a one-year, two-way contract, paying him $700,000 at the NHL level and $105,000 in the American Hockey League. Sanguinetti, 24, played three games with the NHL club during the past season, spending the rest of the season playing 60 games with 10 goals and 40 assists for the AHL's Charlotte Checkers.

--D Jaroslav Spacek isn't going to be part of the long-term plans for the Hurricanes and after playing for part of one season with the organization there's not much of a deep-rooted connection. However, Spacek's history as a former teammate of coach Kirk Muller, who has less than a full season of experience as an NHL head coach, shouldn't be underestimated. "I can generally tell whether he's ready to go," coach Kirk Muller said of Spacek, who's an unrestricted free agent.

MEDICAL WATCH:

--LW Andreas Nodl (head injury) missed more than two weeks near the end of the season, but he returned to play in the season finale and so that eliminated what might have been offseason speculation about his status.