Friday Daily Puck: The Storm Brewing On Long Island

Around the Rink

Well, there's only one game on slate for Friday before the big opening weekend tomorrow, so we might as well write the hell out of this one, right? The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders aren't big draws on TV, especially going up against the ALCS opener, but there's still plenty to talk about. Let's give the minnows some love.

Both teams will make their 2014-15 season debuts tonight, the last two teams to do so, but while the Canes are stuck in no man's land as Ron Francis decides to either re-build or re-tool, the Isles and Garth Snow have been stockpiling talent and the payoff could be huge.

In their final season at Nassau, the Isles are making a strong playoff push. They're arguably the league's most improved team, once a bottom feeder and now a playoff contender. In a rare turn of events, it was hard to argue against any of the moves Snow made this summer. The Isles drafted fifth overall in the 2014 NHL Draft, and although their first-round pick in 2015 belongs to Buffalo, it is unlikely to be a lottery pick. (The biggest hater on the trades that sent Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy to Long Island was probably Tim Murray).

The Canes, meanwhile, after drafting defenseman Haydn Fleury seventh overall in 2014, are likely headed towards the lottery. Francis is undoubtedly look for some fresh blood, and it's been more than a decade since taking captain Eric Staal second overall in 2003. Playing 769 out of a possible 786 regular season games over his career, Staal has been consistent and productive, but all good things must come to an end, and you hope that he can bounce back from a poor season. He will turn 30 by the end of October.

Staal won't get much help from his supporting cast, unfortunately, with Jeff Skinner (concussion) and Jordan Staal (broken leg) out for an indeterminate period of time. That means the burden will fall upon Alex Semin, who is a magician with the puck and a dynamic offensive talent, but puts on his shows rather infrequently.

Semin scored 44 points in 44 games under the shadow of a show-me, one-year contract during the lockout-shortened season, and his strong performance landed him a five-year, $35 million extension. But in year one of the new pact, Semin scored just 42 points in 62 games. It's worth noting that Semin has been a long-time poster boy of the "enigmatic Russian" stereotype, and if you're an optimist and believe the Canes can motivate him, he will be an impressive offensive weapon. If you're a skeptic, then you're laughing at the Canes being on the hook for four more years and $28 million.

The Canes' biggest strength down the road might be it's blue line. They're led by U.S. Olympian Justin Faulk and Andrej Sekera, who played the best hockey of his life last year. Faulk isn't flashy and he'll never get national headlines playing in Carolina, but he's yet another in an increasing long line of sublime American skating defenseman. After Faulk, the Canes will need young Ryan Murphy to shoulder some of the offensive load. Under the previous regime, Jim Rutherford showed a strong distaste towards drafting and developing defensemen, but at this point, Carolina's best move may be to build from the blue line, with Faulk, Murphy and Fleury as the defensive core.

Meanwhile, on Long Island the 24-year-old Tavares enters the season as a dark horse candidate for the Hart Memorial Trophy, and after rumors he was displeased with the Islanders' lack of progress on the ice, now has a bevy of weapons and sidekicks at his disposal. Kyle Okposo is one of the league's most underrated power forwards, rookies Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome have point-per-game talent, and Nikolay Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski have proven they can play in the NHL. Tavares is probably the most skilled player around the net, and if all goes well, he should challenge Steven Stamkos and Alex Ovechkin for the Rocket Richard.

The Islanders defense, long the butt of many jokes, was shored up days before the opening puck drop with Boychuk coming from Boston and Leddy from Chicago. It'll take some time for the Isles' new top pair to establish chemistry, but combined with the improving Calvin de Haan and Travis Hamonic, the Islanders could have a formidable top four. Ville Pokka was a high price to pay, but Leddy is already one of the league's best skaters.

In net, Cam Ward enters the season on shaky ground. The former Conn Smythe winner still has the name recognition and often gets consideration for Team Canada due to the country's (relative) lack of depth in net, but there's a good chance Anton Khudobin emerges as the team's starter by the end of the season. Ward has battled injuries over the past two seasons, while Khudobin has been itching for a chance to be a No. 1 after getting his path blocked by Niklas Backstrom in Minnesota and Tuukka Rask in Boston.

On the other end, for once the Islanders will have some stability in net with Jaroslav Halak on a four-year deal. The former Blues netminder and Jennings Trophy winner is better than the three goalies the Isles used last year. Should Halak falter, Chad Johnson is actually a dependable backup, though he did post good numbers playing behind an indomitable Bruins defense.

This will be a key season for Jack Capuano, who draws positive reviews but lacks the big-game experience and household name to put the Isles on the map. But if there's any sign that the Islanders are waiting to bust through, look no further than their wild matches against the Penguins. A perennial Cup contender with Sidney Crosby, the Pens never have an easy time with the Isles, who can really turn up the intensity and cause disruptions all over the ice. This started happening two years ago, and the Isles are moving up while the once mighty and deep Pens have made sideways steps. The Islanders fourth line of Casey Cizikas and Energizer bunny-type hitters Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin should set off fireworks all year long.

Bill Peters enters his first season as coach after spending years with Detroit, but can he be the next Todd McLellan? Peters doesn't have much to work with, and even when healthy, the Canes just don't provide the same caliber of depth and talent to make them competitive in a wide-open Metro Division. At least for the Islanders, if all the wheels fall off they can look forward to joining Jay-Z in Brooklyn under the bright lights of the Barclays Center.

Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)

Islanders (Jaroslav Halak*) at Hurricanes (Cam Ward*), 7:00 PM

For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.

Injury News For Teams Playing Friday

Islanders
Calvin de Haan, D (upper body) – retroactive to Sept. 23
Michael Grabner, RW (hernia) – retroactive to Sept. 26, 4-6 weeks
Lubomir Visnovsky, D (back) – hasn't skated yet
Matt Carkner, D (back) – no timetable for return

Hurricanes
Jordan Staal, C (broken leg) – expected to miss 3-4 months
Jeff Skinner, LW (concussion) – no timetable for return

Just two days into the season there's really no way to tell who's hot or not yet. How about four guys from the Canes and Isles who are trending up?

Hot

Jaroslav Halak, G, NYI
He's firmly entrenched as the starter but he's never appeared in more than 57 games in the NHL. If the Islanders want to sniff the playoffs, they'll need him to play 60 solid games. The Metro Division is wide open, so consistency will be key. Historically, Halak has played his best when starting around 40-45 games, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles the workload. The upside here is that the Isles are poised to score a lot of goals, something Halak never quite benefitted from in St. Louis. He's a risky play as a first goalie for fantasy players but has lots of upside as a second goalie. Carolina is a good way to ease into the season.

Nick Leddy, D, NYI
A player this good shouldn't have been traded twice already. The first time, when he was swapped for first-round bust Cam Barker, brought skepticism. The Wild gave him up and received so little in return it made people think there was something wrong with Leddy. It turns out there wasn't and he's developed into one of the league's finest skaters and a strong candidate for the 2018 Olympic squad. Without Lubomir Visnovsky, the Isles will need Leddy to move the puck up the ice and get it to their scoring forwards. Starting on a brand new team with a new partner in Boychuk will take some time to establish chemistry, but Leddy's potential and already impressive skill set vaults him to the top of the Isles depth chart.

Victor Rask, C/RW, CAR
A relative unknown, Rask will enter the season as the Canes' second-line center. A product of the WHL, the Swedish sniper scored 47 goals in 110 games with the Calgary Hitmen and 16 goals in 76 games with the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL last year. The Canes' prospect pool isn't very deep, but Rask represents one of their more talented players. There's no shielding Rask from teams with deep defenses with Eric Staal and Semin loaded on same line, so the onus will be on Rask. He was very impressive during the preseason, so much so that he has bumped Elias Lindholm to the wing. The two youngsters will play together for the time being. Rask is a very high-risk play, but someone other than Staal and Semin has to do some scoring, too.

Anton Khudobin, G, CAR
As previously stated, there's little confidence in incumbent starter Cam Ward. Khudobin's jumped from team to team, but only because he's looking for an opportunity to win the starting job and he'll get a good chance to do so in Carolina. He sports a career .928 save percentage and went 19-14-1 in 36 games. Russian goalies are making a strong comeback (Khudobin is Kazakh-born but represents Russia internationally), and Khudobin is one of the more under-the-radar guys compared to Semyon Varlamov or Sergei Bobrovsky.

Recommended Pickup

David Desharnais, C, MTL
The little guys never get any credit. Despite having a nice bounce back year with 52 points in 79 games, the Habs' 1B center still doesn't get any love, owned in just 33.7% of ESPN pools. Desharnais is the Habs' number one option at center on the power play with Tomas Plekanec handling penalty killing duties, and most importantly, will serve as Max Pacioretty's primary setup man.