Ben Shelley: Hurricanes have options on blue line after major offseason additions

Nice write up. I'm not all that familiar with how CAR has handled the roster in the past. Have they ever (or often) carried 8 defensemen? do they play 11F 7D more than other teams? If not, I'd be surprised they carry 8 during the year.

Re Jones: He did play better toward the end of last year when paired with his brother (something I did NOT see coming), but he is definitely an adventure in his own zone. I think the reason he got so much ice time last year was that there really weren't many other options available. The Hawks wanted to keep their prospects in Rockford to keep pushing for the playoffs and Ian Mitchell kind of fell flat.

I'm jealous of that D group, but the Hawks have a ton of D prospects that should be coming up in the next three years. Hopefully, they come close to your group!

Nice write up. I'm not all that familiar with how CAR has handled the roster in the past. Have they ever (or often) carried 8 defensemen? do they play 11F 7D more than other teams? If not, I'd be surprised they carry 8 during the year.

Re Jones: He did play better toward the end of last year when paired with his brother (something I did NOT see coming), but he is definitely an adventure in his own zone. I think the reason he got so much ice time last year was that there really weren't many other options available. The Hawks wanted to keep their prospects in Rockford to keep pushing for the playoffs and Ian Mitchell kind of fell flat.

I'm jealous of that D group, but the Hawks have a ton of D prospects that should be coming up in the next three years. Hopefully, they come close to your group!
- Chunk

Thanks for reading!

They carried 13F and 8D to begin last year as well - not to go 11/7, just in terms of roster makeup, it made sense. I think it's a similar case this year, where the Canes have 13 clear NHL forwards and eight clear defensemen, and there wouldn't be a clear choice for a 14th forward, but there would be a clear 8th defenseman.

I'm not against them using Jones, I just can't see him getting much ice time. As you noted, it's a really strong group.