Carolina Hurricanes

The most promising player on the Carolina Hurricanes' roster will remain in Raleigh for the next six seasons.

Justin Faulk, just one week removed from his 22nd birthday, signed an extension with the 'Canes on Monday for next half-dozen years. Per Michael Smith via Twitter:

Said current general manager Jim Rutherford via the team's official press release:

Justin has proven to be among the best young defensemen in the league as confirmed by his selection to the U.S. Olympic team. He has been and will continue to be the anchor of the Hurricanes’ defense for years to come.

Faulk has 24 points in 65 games in 2013-14, his third NHL season. He also ranks third on the team with 95 blocked shots, second in average ice time (23:21 per game) and first among team defenseman in Corsi rating.

But often, the statistics fail to capture the true stabilizing impact of No. 27. Despite his youth, Faulk has emerged as a true cornerstone of the defensive unit and a legitimate top-pairing blueliner who will only continue to improve.

The former second-round draft pick is much more of an offensive threat than his yearly stat line implies—he's suffered through a 2.5 shooting percentage, tallying only three goals on 119 shots.

It's in his own zone, however, where Faulk's reliability is most evident. Disregarding a few uncharacteristically weak performances since the Olympic break, Faulk has the speed to contain the fastest wingers, the positioning to shut down the most dynamic power forward and the stick placement to break up the most pinpoint passes.

With frustration growing around current captain Eric Staal and the Hurricanes generally underperforming offense, Faulk should soon grow into one of the club's leadership positions. He could be a strong candidate for the captaincy as he approaches his later 20s.

Not only does Monday's extension solidify the 'Canes inexperienced back end tremendously over the long term, it also resolves a monetary uncertainty that will allow the new management team make bolder, more decisive decisions this coming offseason. Rutherford is expected to step down from his position this summer.

The 'Canes now have approximately $18.4 million in projected salary cap space next season, according to CapGeek, with six forwards, five defensemen and two goalies under contract.

With Faulk and fellow first-pairing star Andrej Sekera along with 2011 seventh overall pick Ryan Murphy among those five, the 'Canes can focus more on defensive depth. The majority of that cap space, now that Faulk's chunk has been determined, will likely go toward a more well-rounded cast of forwards.

Monday, the 'Canes locked up a developing franchise cornerstone at a convenient time for a surprisingly affordable price.

The situation couldn't have worked out any better.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.

Despite the presence of Eric Staal, Alexander Semin, Jeff Skinner and others, the Carolina Hurricanes' offense has struggled to score with consistency this NHL season.

By sheer process of elimination, the onus for such struggles would seem to naturally fall on the team's depth contributors—and the statistics support such an assumption.

The 'Canes delivered a final knockout to their playoff aspirations via 5-1 and 2-1 losses to the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers, respectively, this past weekend. The pair of one-goal performances dropped their goals-per-game average to 2.47, ranking 20th in the league.

However, the Hurricanes' scoring leaderboard displays a surprisingly strong array of statistics. Skinner ranks 18th in the NHL with 26 goals, Andrej Sekera ranks sixth among all defenseman with 11 goals, Eric Staal leads the team with 52 points and Semin has 12 goals and 19 points in his last 21 games.

Even Jordan Staal has heated up recently.

Beneath that upper tier of stars, though, lies a messy, inefficient and coattail-riding landfill of depth contributors. 

A regression in shooting percentage has cursed Jiri Tlusty, dipping to 12 goals through 59 games after tallying 23 in 48 last season.

Patrick Dwyer has converted on a pathetic six of 118 shots on goal.

Radek Dvorak has lit the lamp once in his last 49 games.

Drayson Bowman, now in his fourth season with 20-plus appearances, still has never topped the six-goal milestone in a single campaign.

Elias Lindholm, the fifth overall pick last June, has just 44 shots in 45 games—for comparison, Skinner has 228 shots in 57 games—and only six goals to show for it.

I compared the the 'Canes' scoring breakdown to that of five other NHL teams—the St. Louis Blues (second-best offense), Boston Bruins (third-best), Columbus Blue Jackets (ninth-best), Vancouver Canucks (second-worst) and Buffalo Sabres (worst). A graphic of each team's rankings in goals per game (y-axis) can be seen below:

The 'Canes' top scorers (the leftmost data points) are among the league's better half, only slightly below those of the Blues and Bruins and well above those of the Blue Jackets.

Conversely, the 'Canes quickly taper into the regions of the Canucks and Sabres—the league's two worst offenses—when considering the scoring rates of players ranked sixth to 13th (the rightmost data points) on their respective teams.

The Blue Jackets surge miles above the 'Canes in this category and join the Blues and Bruins. Without a doubt, it is because of this strong secondary scoring that the Jackets rank ninth and the 'Canes rank 20th in offense.

Depth scoring was a critical issue in 2012-13 and one of the key factors in Carolina's collapse down the stretch—the team's top four scorers accounted for a whopping 52.8 percent of goals, and when injuries took down those top scorers, production caved in a hurry.

General manager Jim Rutherford attempted to fix the problem last autumn, bringing in Nathan Gerbe in free agency and adding veterans Manny Malhotra and Dvorak in September and October.

However, Rutherford's patchwork, fix-it-up method proved an inadequate solution for a lack of depth embedded deeply within the franchise's organizational framework.

As he and the entire front office attempt to restructure the 'Canes' roster this coming offseason for another, hopefully more successful run in 2014-15, an absolute bottom-six makeover must be a priority. 

According to CapGeek.com, Tlusty, Bowman, Nathan Gerbe and newly acquired Andrei Loktionov are all pending RFAs. Malhotra and Dvorak are upcoming UFAs. Dwyer and Riley Nash each have only one more season left on their contracts, and for an easily moved sub-$1 million cap hit.

Rutherford should analyze the models set by other clubs who have found the key component of depth scoring—teams like the Blue Jackets, who have transformed from a basement-dweller to intimidating bubble contender almost exclusively due to depth.

He should take radical action to completely re-imagine and revamp the 'Canes' lower lines.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more or follow him on Twitter.

A woeful post-Olympic slump has cursed the Carolina Hurricanes to their fifth consecutive spring without an appearance in the NHL playoffs.

For a franchise facing the triple obstacle of a small market, frustrated fanbase and lack of on-ice success, the disheartening fate of this once-promising 2013-14 season only increases a growing unrest brewing beneath the streets of Raleigh.

Since the miracle run of 2009, the 'Canes are among only five other teams without a single postseason berth—and two of those clubs, Columbus and Dallas, may well end their droughts in the next five weeks. They've won just 156 of 362 games over that time span, but they have also never dropped into a top-four draft pick as compensation for such poor play.

Hence, Carolina remains a team defined by some strong key players with little depth and nonexistent consistency.

The additions of now-cornerstones like Alexander Semin, Jordan Staal, Andrej Sekera and Anton Khudobin over the past two years have helped the team avoid the basement, but—despite a few promising months and generally strong advanced stats—their presence hasn't been enough to get the 'Canes over (or even onto) the playoff bubble.

That continual pattern of early-season optimism (the team held a top-five position in the East one month into both the 2012-13 and 2013-14 campaigns) followed by enormous collapse come March has strained the Hurricanes' fan support into a boiling pot of tension that soon threatens to overflow.

Ticket prices for the 2014-15 season were released last week, and ticket prices indeed could be the ingredient that sparks an eruption.

For the second consecutive year, prices reflect a sweeping increase throughout the arena. The state government isn't helping, either, with a new 6.75 percent sales tax on sports events being implemented in 2014.

Yet values are not rising in correlation with prices—and, as any economist can confirm, that's a problem.

Prorated for the new tax, StubHub resale tickets for the Hurricanes-Islanders game on Mar. 25 can be found for $8.54, where non-resale tickets will be sold next season for $38, $18.39 where non-resale will be $64, $23.43 where non-resale will $107, and so forth.

Granted, the Isles are far from a high-interest opponent, and the 'Canes have temporarily extricated all bandwagon fans. But enormous disparities between original and secondary ticket sales exist year-round, revealing that—beneath the fancy charts and glossy print-outs—'Canes ticket demand is falling as prices are rising.

Writes Forbes contributor Darren Heitner:

The Carolina Hurricanes, which entered the season with the 3rd-lowest median ticket price in the league at $56, now own the league’s cheapest ticket ($35).  Many teams have worse records than the Hurricanes, which may prove just how deplorable Raleigh, North Carolina is as a market for professional hockey.

"Deplorable" may be on the harsh side, but the facts do hold somewhat true to Heitner's statement: Raleigh, in addition to its southern climate and college-centric sports following, boasts only the 21st-largest metropolitan population of the 27 cities occupied by the NHL.

In the final 16 home games of playoff-bound 2008-09, the 'Canes recorded sell-outs of 18,860 eight times and attendances above 18,000 on 14 occasions. In the final 16 home games of ultimately futile 2010-11, the 'Canes topped 18,000 five times and 17,000 11 times.

In their last 16 home games of 2013-14, the 'Canes have drawn more 17,000 to PNC Arena a mere two times. In 36 home games in the entire season to date, they've sold out only twice and topped 18,000 thrice.

Clearly, the Raleigh fanbase is growing frustrated with a pattern of failure—and its collective wallet is tightening at an equal rate. 

Forbes reports that the Hurricanes lost approximately $3.4 million in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season; this campaign isn't shaping up to be much better.

Owner Peter Karmanos has added new investors to cover losses left and right in the past four calendar years, but the ship hasn't yet righted itself.

The true state of Carolina's organizational finances, stability and confidence for the future will be revealed this summer.

The NHL salary cap is expected to rise an additional $6.8 million to $71.1 million next season. The Hurricanes, who have spent to the cap in recent seasons after many years well beneath it, will have to decide if maintaining such spending is still sustainable.

General manager Jim Rutherford will need to distribute the budget toward a whopping six pending restricted free agents (RFAs), including cornerstones such as Justin Faulk and Jiri Tlusty, who will both expect big raises.

Rutherford will also have to play his hand in the open market, for the 'Canes will not be able to compete in 2014-15 without a more experienced bottom six, versatile third-line center and well-rounded second-pairing defense, among other issues.

Following Sunday's 2-1 loss to Edmonton (the Hurricanes' fourth straight defeat at the hands of an Alberta team), Carolina's 67 points in 68 games rank sixth-worst in the NHL. They're six points ahead of fifth-worst Calgary, though, and might have to rely on draft lottery luck to sneak into the top five selections.

The upcoming offseason could be a telling one in many ways. 

Will the Hurricanes be able to end their playoff drought in 2015? How liberally are the Hurricanes willing to spend moving forward? And, most importantly, just how secure is the state of the Hurricanes franchise after a full half-decade of losing?

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.

As the two-year anniversary of the trade that brought him to the Hurricanes approaches, Jordan Staal is finally establishing his comfort zone in Carolina.

The 25-year-old center has two goals, five assists and a plus-five rating in his last four games, easily his most productive four-match stint since joining the 'Canes 114 games ago.

After recording the opening goal last Friday night and two assists in last Saturday's comeback attempt, Staal buried the game-winning goal to down the Rangers on Tuesday and assisted on both the game-tying and game-winning goals versus Buffalo on Thursday.

His line with Alexander Semin and Jiri Tlusty is clicking, too. After several games of gaining familiarity since its inception on Mar. 2 in Anaheim (per ShiftChart.com), the Semin-Tlusty-J. Staal trio has accumulated six goals in four games. The line's hot streak was highlighted by a 26-5 on-ice shot-attempt pummeling of the Sabres.

Staal is, at last, playing with same physical presence and power forward confidence that formerly made him so successful in a third-line center role.

He's been credited with at least three hits in four of the last five games and 17 in total over that span; with Tuomo Ruutu now departed, Jordan Staal is taking over Carolina's checking niche—and, perhaps sequentially, his scoring is also increasing.

Update, Mar. 15: Jordan Staal assisted on Semin's third-period goal on Saturday in Boston, extending his point streak to five consecutive games. Staal also led the 'Canes with 14 wins on 23 faceoffs to improve his faceoff percentage to 72.9 percent over the last two games.

This stretch of prolific production has been a long time coming for Staal.

The 6'4" center was traded from Pittsburgh to Carolina in June 2012 to much fanfare, then tallied points in nine of his first 11 games in the red and white. Since, the journey to stability has been a bumpy and discouraging one.

With an ever-changing cast of linemates and exceedingly high expectations, Staal appeared doomed to under-satisfy in Raleigh. He entered last Saturday's game against the Rangers with just one goal, two assists and a minus-11 rating in his last 18 appearances.

The pessimistic comparisons to Brandon Sutter, Staal's role replacement with the Penguins and the key NHL player involved in the opposite side of the deal, seemed endless.

Then, suddenly, something changed.

Through the considerable help of Semin's flashy playmaking, Tlusty's opportunism and perhaps the pseudo-relief of vanished playoff aspirations, Jordan Staal began to light up the ice and the scoreboard.

Staal has not only had the most fruitful stretch of his Carolina career these past four games, he has been Carolina's best player—better than brother and captain Eric Staal, better than savior defenseman Andrej Sekera, better than abruptly revived goaltender Cam Ward.

Is the past week simply a periodic upturn in Jordan Staal's typically fluctuant production? Or is he finally learning how to thrive in a 19-minutes-a-night, top-six role?

The jury is still out.

But, if nothing else, the past four matches have provided the clearest image so far of Staal's potential stardom.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.

The Carolina Hurricanes conceded a shorthanded goal, a four-on-four goal and a power-play goal in the third period Friday night as the New York Rangers delivered a decisive dagger into their last lingering playoff hopes.

The meltdown was the lowest point yet in Carolina's special teams debacle, which, in recent weeks, has resembled less of the roller coaster that defined its first four months and more of an endless free-fall into nevermore.

In 28 power-play opportunities—although that word choice is generous—since the end of the Olympic break, the Hurricanes' man-advantage unit has scored zero goals and allowed four. Their season-long conversion rate of 12.6 percent ranks 29th in the NHL.

It's no longer a slump. It's a dysfunctional embarrassment. 

And that traces a thick line back to the coaching staff.

The 'Canes have offensive talent on this roster, an offensive roster that has excelled elsewhere and showed dominant flashes at even strength.

Plenty of personnel have also received their chances on power play, from out-of-town additions John-Michael Liles and Andrei Loktionov to minor contributors Jay Harrison and Drayson Bowman.

But somewhere, the equation isn't computing. Somewhere, mistakes are being made. Somewhere lies a fundamental flaw in this system.

With all the other variables seemingly tested, only one answer remains viable—and it's behind the bench.

Said head coach Kirk Muller about Carolina's power play Friday, which went 0-of-5, even on 43 seconds of five-on-three time, and allowed a devastating short-handed tally:

On the surface, Muller seemed justifiably disappointed and critical. But what did he really say? Power-play strategies are not described in cliches; analyses of those strategies' failures should not be, either.

The Rangers' short-handed goal to tie the game with 12:35 to play was not because the Hurricanes' power play "got outworked" and "didn't execute."

It was because the Hurricanes' power play lazily lost a board battle, had only two men even attempt to defend the ensuing counterattack, then got drawn mindlessly onto one side of the ice on the rush.

After Rick Nash emerged out of the scrum, neither Eric Staal nor Elias Lindholm regained his senses in time to get back into the play.

Andrej Sekera pressured Nash, while Alexander Semin covered on Derek Stepan, leaving defenseman Ryan McDonagh wide open trailing the play on the reverse side.

Not only was the Hurricanes' backcheck effort weak, they also lost grip on usual defensive principles and committed too much on the possession side—a no-no when defending any three-on-two rush, at even strength or on the power play. 

But the 'Canes would not have faced this situation, would not have been drawn in to the board battle in the first place, if they learned to calmly carry the puck into the zone. Severe impatience has yielded to nonsensical and greatly excessive dump-and-chase on the power play.

Examine Andrew Cogliano's short-handed goal on Carolina in Anaheim on Sunday. Analyze Brendan Dillon's and Jamie Benn's short-handed goals on Carolina in Dallas last Thursday. Every time, it's the same story—a counterattack that stupefies the 'Canes, pries the defensive skills out of their minds and paralyzes them in a lasso of power-play frustration and hesitancy.

One of the most obvious jobs of a coach is to point out and work to fix mistakes. Not only have the 'Canes coaches evidently not done this, they don't appear to have even identified the mistake. 

As the Hurricanes' power play continues its increasingly historic run of uselessness, the responsibility to adopt a new approach falls on the coaching staff.

Not on the players stuffed into the same blatantly ineffective roles shift after shift after shift, man-advantage opportunity after opportunity after opportunity.

No, it falls on the stubborn men doing the stuffing.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.

After months of trade rumors, doghouse-sentenced Tuomo Ruutu was finally traded away from the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday afternoon.

For Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford, the deal salvaged a trade deadline day that was otherwise unexpectedly quiet in Raleigh. The return he garnered with Ruutu was miles more valuable than anyone expected.

Per the New Jersey Devils official Twitter account:

Yahoo's Nick Cotsonika followed with the baseline comparison between Ruutu and Andrei Loktionov:

Sportsnet's Chris Johnson added that the 'Canes did retain $0.95 million of Ruutu's cap hit:

In simple terms, the 'Canes saved up a remarkable amount of cap hit (up to $3.075 million in total), acquired a younger, better-suited player and tacked on an above-median draft pick, too.

It's a highly satisfying exchange for the Carolina front office.

Loktionov was drafted in the fifth round, No. 123 overall, by the Los Angeles Kings in 2008, and played his first multi-game NHL stint in 2010-11.

After finding the Kings' depth chart increasingly crowding him out of playing time, Loktionov requested a trade and was dealt to New Jersey for a fifth-round selection in Feb. 2013.

Loktionov, just 23, is eight years younger than Ruutu and has actually averaged a higher points-per-minute rate (.0203 vs. .0197) in 2013-14. 

Advanced stats also pointed to the Voskresensk, Russia, native's consistency.

Loktionov boasted the second-best Corsi rating (behind only Jaromir Jagr) on the Devils entering Wednesday at 57.3 percent. While undoubtedly boosted by his team-high 64.0 offensive zone-start percentage, Loktionov was certainly converting effectively on his opportunities.

Said Rutherford on Loktionov, per News & Observer reporter Chip Alexander:

We think he has a high skill level and he can play on the power play. We have to wait and see where he fits in best.

When he was in Los Angeles he played well. When he was with New Jersey and playing with (Ilya) Kovalchuk, he played well. This year his ice time was cut back. We don't know the reason why but he's certainly a very capable player.

In Carolina, Loktionov—who is expected to wear No. 8—should have ample opportunity to earn the third line center role.

The spot has proved a costly weakness for the Hurricanes since Manny Malhotra's mid-January hot streak faded, as neither Malhotra or Riley Nash are capable heirs to the role that has remained unoccupied since Brandon Sutter's departure.

Despite Tuesday's overtime win in San Jose, the 'Canes still sport a mere 6.5 percent chance of making the playoffs, per SportsClubStats.com. As the last lingering postseason hopes inevitably fade away, Kirk Muller and the coaching staff will likely seek to integrate more youth into more significant roles.

Loktionov could benefit tremendously.

Few could have legitimately been dissatisfied with a direct Ruutu-for-Loktionov swap, but Rutherford was also, to his credit, able to receive a significant third-round pick in addition.

2017 may seem a long way off, but—impatience aside—it's just the same value as of any third-round pick. For comparison, consider that Ilya Bryzgalov, Dustin Penner and Stephane Robidas each garnered only single fourth-round selections in Tuesday's deals, and long-rumored Ales Hemsky only warranted third- and fifth-round picks Wednesday.

Outside of this favorable exchange, the 'Canes were oddly and perhaps unjustifiably inactive Wednesday. Trade deadline hesitancy and indecisiveness have long been complaints against Rutherford; 2014 was no different.

However, the veteran GM likely kept fans reasonably happy with just two moves— this trade, and Anton Khudobin's affordable two-year contract extension.

The weeks ahead will likely shed an even more conclusive light on the contrast between Ruutu and Loktionov in Carolina.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.

The Carolina Hurricanes ripped off 52 shots on goal Sunday night in Anaheim in a futile attempt to end a 23-day winless drought.

Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen shut the door with 49 stellar saves in a 5-3 win.

Yet Andersen's performance never should have happened—for the Ducks, at least.

On June 26, 2010, it was a red-and-white 'Canes jersey slipping over Andersen's shoulders. After choosing now-franchise cornerstones Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk in the first two rounds, Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford selected 20-year-old Andersen with a seventh-round flier, pick No. 187 overall.

The two seasons following that draft went quite well for Andersen, as he quickly advanced through European professional leagues. The 6'4", 230-pound youngster recorded a .941 save percentage in 39 appearances for prestigious Frolunda HC of the Swedish Elite League in 2011-12.

Then, well aware of rapidly rising prospect stock, Andersen found a more prominent agent to represent his upcoming contract negotiations. The agent's name was Ritch Winter, a well-known NHL agent who gained fame in the Alan Eagleson investigation and had formerly represented All-Star goaltender Dominik Hasek.

Shortly after, negotiations on an entry-level contract with Carolina fell through. Andersen announced he would re-enter the 2012 draft, citing "too much goaltending depth with Ward and Brian Boucher" (according to News & Observer reporter Luke DeCock).

Rutherford released a fairly standard press statement, save for the final sentence:

We tried to sign Frederik to a contract, and made him aware that we felt there was an opportunity here for him to earn one of our two NHL spots during training camp. We are very disappointed that he chose not to join our organization. Prior to him changing his agent, we had every indication that he was very interested in being a part of the Carolina Hurricanes.

And thus began a personal rivalry between Rutherford and Winter that, while hardly the subject of headlines, has remained rooted in the 'Canes ever since.

Winter also represented, according to Bob Wage of Canes Country (h/t to Pamela Cloud for the find), Hurricanes' 2011 fourth-round pick Gregory Hofmann, who failed to sign a contract with the franchise prior to last June's deadline but went undrafted upon re-entering in 2013.

In his press statement, Rutherford noted, "It is disappointing that we were unable to reach an agreement with his agent to keep him in our organization."

Winter works as an agent for international agency firm 4Sports & Entertainment, which currently represents 14 NHL players, including Marian Hossa, Mark Giordano and Brandon Prust.

Update, Mar. 4: This article previously misstated that Winter worked for The Sports Corporation, which he previously founded but has since left.

Not a single one currently plays, or has ever played, for Carolina.

Winter found himself in the headlines over a different dispute with Vancouver GM Mike Gillis in 2012.

In January, Winter lambasted Vancouver Sun blogger Daniel Wagner for implicating him in then-client Cody Hodgson's ice-time controversy.

One month later, Hodgson was traded to Buffalo for Zach Kassian in a blatantly rip-off deal for the Sabres.

In March, Winter took to Twitter to attempt to clear up the situation, which had evolved into a enormous blame game as the trade's imbalance became evident. Yet he spoke of a player-coach meeting that then-Canucks HC Alain Vigneault denied happened, then deleted and denied the existence of a tweet which contained his cell phone number, then deleted all tweets on the matter altogether.

Winter's Twitter account, @hockeyagentdad, no longer exists.

Winter's conflict-ridden history doesn't end in Raleigh and Vancouver, either.

In November 2011, Winter tweeted that Washington was "quickly becoming a graveyard for good NHL players." In seemingly characteristic fashion, he deleted the tweet abruptly.

In January 2012, Winter ripped then-Edmonton coach Tom Renney for not giving the Oilers' young defensemen enough ice time.

In June 2013, after client Ilya Bryzgalov's tumultuous time with the Flyers ended, Winter called Philadelphia "terrible...for a goaltender," claiming that then-coach Peter Laviolette "doesn't listen to" goalie coach Jeff Reese.

Andersen's spectacular effort in Anaheim's decisive win surely filled the Hurricanes front office's collective mouth with a bitter taste, if only with regret over how close the Danish netminder came to being a 'Cane.

After all, Andersen is a whopping 15-3-0 in his first 19 NHL appearances. He's not yet eligible for the league goaltending leaderboards, but his 2.12 GAA and .929 save percentage would rank eighth and fourth, respectively, if he were. 2013-14 is shaping up as a jaw-dropping rookie campaign for the mere 24-year-old.

Two years later, it seems unlikely the public will ever truly hear the full story behind this controversy. 

However, as Rutherford watches his job security slowly decline in tune with Carolina's on-ice struggles, there exists little doubt that the Ritch Winter-Frederik Andersen fiasco is one he won't soon forget or forgive.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.

Many assumed the trade acquisition of John-Michael Liles on New Year's Day would finally boost the Carolina Hurricanes' chemistry-flashing but largely unreliable power play over the hump.

Instead, the man-advantage unit has only further devolved into a utterly useless and momentum-killing mess—and it's dragging the Hurricanes' once-promising postseason optimism down to the cellar with it.

In two arguably season-killing losses this week to Buffalo and Dallas, the Canes have gone a fruitless 0-for-10 on the power play. Despite five opportunities in both games—well above their average per-game average—the unit has yet to find the back of the net since the Olympic break.

The dry spell knocks the Hurricanes to 28-for-207 on the season; that 13.5 conversion rate ranks 29th in the NHL, ahead of only Florida and behind such bottom-feeders as Calgary, Buffalo and Edmonton.

By comparison, the Canes have scored on a goal in 8.2 percent of their 1,770 total two-minute segments of play (59 games of 60 minutes each) at all situations this season.

The addition of Liles, who came to Raleigh with a reputation as a capable power-play quarterback, has actually worsened the unit's efficiency—an impressive feat, considering just how ineffective they were beforehand.

On Dec. 23, I wrote a column about the Hurricanes' potential for special teams improvement, noting that the team still "must work on their finishing abilities under pressure."

If anything, their finishing abilities have become even shakier in the two months since.

Unsurprisingly, Carolina's wins in 2013-14 also correlate to power-play success. In 26 victories, they boast a 16.9 percent (15 for 89) power play conversion rate. In 33 losses, they have an 11.0 percent (13 for 118) conversion rate.

Now trailing the third Metropolitan Division automatic seed by five points and the second Wild-Card seed by seven points, and entering a hellish California road trip through Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose, the Canes' playoff chances look slimmer by the day. Only a roughly 16-7 record down the stretch could squeak into the postseason.

At this point, they can only look back on all of the one-goal losses that have sent the team into this situation and contemplate the effects that just a few more power-play goals could have had. 

Special teams, yet again, have proven a fatal shortcoming in the Canes team design.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.