Mailbag #44: Winning While Working Westward

RALEIGH, NC. -Welcome to the weekend, Caniacs.
Thursday night's victory in St. Louis
gives the team three in a row, a welcomed turn following a trying back half to the month of November.
Upcoming contests against the Kings and Ducks await before the team returns to Raleigh, so let's get to your questions.

(Note: Some questions have been edited for clarity.)
What was going on in the world when Jordan Martinook had his last hat-trick? - @Margaret\_Hogan
I love questions of this variety, so thank you for starting us off on a fun note, Margaret.
I think the club's digital team

, I'll follow in their footsteps.
November 23, 2018
#1 Song on the Billboard Top 100 (United States):Thank U, Next by Ariana Grande
Average Price of Gas In The US:$2.53
Most Popular Tweet:

1,470 days ago. Where were you? What were you doing in your life then? How much has changed since? Moments like this are always a nice opportunity to reflect.
Can we make it four wins in a row? - @spud\_tyler
To know me is to know that I'm an optimist, so of course I'm going to say yes, they can!
But beyond the hope, what I've liked most about the team's three-game win streak is that they've shown a willingness to battle through adversity in each game.
Entering Saturday against Calgary
they'd lost five in a row and the Flames had a response to both of Carolina's first two goals. However, they found a way to get it done in the end.
Tuesday night in Pittsburgh
it looked like they were about to close out the contest 2-1 before they were sent to overtime for a fifth time in seven games. And again, they found a way to get it done instead of crumbling.
Thursday it looked like it was going to be tough to beat Jordan Binnington
as they were already down 2-0. Not only did they dig in to get three in a row, they had to battle once more after St. Louis responded. They've found ways to win.
Brett Pesce and Pyotr Kochetkov certainly deserve a round of applause for their performances in the efforts, too.
Kochetkov looks to be developing at an alarmingly fast rate. What are your thoughts on his development? And do you believe he is the Canes future #1 moving forward? - @LothiasTwitch
My thoughts are that everyone involved in his drafting and development is worthy of high praise. All the scouts that put in the hours watching him before Darren Yorke and staff were able to select him in 2019, all the way through Goaltending Coach Paul Schonfelder, who has his work cut out for him as he works with the young man despite the language barrier.
It's exciting to be this excited about a prospect like this, isn't it?
While I do want to point out that he's still only played 11 NHL games, I think there's more reasons to say yes to your second question than no. There's some very real potential here, as I'm sure just about everyone feels. I'm excited to see how things unfold.
Also, I think the
newly signed four-year extension
is going to look like an incredible bargain in a few years.
The
average salary for an NHL goaltender right now is $3.32M AAV
(average annual value). The average AAV for starters, or goalies that play the majority of a team's games in a season, is much higher.
When you think about how much the salary cap is expected to increase the next over the next four seasons -
Forbes has it projected
as growing from the current $82.5M to $92M for the 2025-26 season - having Kochetkov locked up at $2M could benefit the organization in so many ways.
Even when Freddie and Raanta are 100%, do you see Kochetkov being the starter going forward? - @BornACaniac / @lognburns / @I\_Am\_DrMoran
While I don't have a crystal ball to reveal the answer for us, I could certainly see this developing into a situation where you ride the hot hand until the hot hand isn't hot anymore.
Why not, right?
Per Brind'Amour himself, Andersen isn't in the equation until he practices with the team. Raanta will be there, when healthy. Kochetkov has allowed just 17 goals in eight games played. When I think about that I can't help but think about the game in WInnipeg either, where three of their four goals came in the form of breakaways or odd-man rushes. And before I face the argument of a goalie needing to making those stops at times, I know. Kochetkov's made those stops at times too.
His
Goals Saved Above Expected per MoneyPuck.com
is 6.6, ranking 9th out of 75 goaltenders in the NHL this season. We haven't forgotten the below already, have we?

Did Rants get hurt last night? Or pulled for performance? - @ashembee\_tv / @MattMerlucci
While this question wasn't directly addressed post-game last night (and unfortunately I'm not with the team on this trip to ask), what I will offer is that if there is an in-game injury,

will almost always share it.
Also, with there being only two goalies on the roster, if the team needed to recall a netminder ahead of their next game, that announcement typically transpires before morning skate of the upcoming contest.
Do you know what's going on with Coghlan? He's been a scratch for the past ~10 games. Is he injured or are players ahead of him playing better? - @GlepTrikozov / @loveinsilence / @krisinovak
Rod Brind'Amour was asked on Monday about this exact situation.
"We were playing him on his off-side (right-handed, but playing on the left side of the ice) when he was in and that really wasn't his best. It wasn't fair to him. One area of our group that is healthy is defense. We'll get him in there at some point, but right now I like the way that our defense is playing."
We also know that Brind'Amour, like most coaches at any level of hockey, doesn't like changing his lineup when the team is winning. So as for what the future holds for Coghlan, it remains to be seen.
Based off of the comments above, if Coghlan were to get in again, it would likely be on the right side, so that would involve something prompting Brent Burns, Brett Pesce or Jalen Chatfield to come out of the lineup. It feels safe to say there is a fewer than 1% chance that either of Burns or Pesce are pulled out of the lineup while healthy, and when it comes to Chatfield, don't let the statistics fool you. The primary responsibility of a defender is not to put up points. Brind'Amour and Tim Gleason have both been very complimentary of his play thus far this season.
Could you explain faceoff infractions? The Canes are a good faceoff team but I don't understand why players get tossed from the circle. - @RonnTarter
Sure thing, Ron. Below is straight from the NHL's rulebook.
76.4 Procedure - Centers
The puck shall be faced-off by the Referee or the Linesman dropping the puck on the ice between the sticks of the players facing-off. Players facing-off will stand squarely facing their opponent's end of the rink approximately one stick length apart with the blade of their sticks on the ice. When the face-off takes place at any of the nine face-off spots, the players taking part shall take their position so that they will stand squarely facing their opponent's end of the rink, and clear of the ice markings (where applicable). The sticks of both players facing-off shall have the blade on the ice, within the designated white area.
At the eight face-off spots (excluding center ice face-off spot), the defending player shall place his stick within the designated white area first followed immediately by the attacking player. When the face-off is conducted at the center ice face-off spot, the visiting player shall place his stick on the ice first. If a player facing-off fails to take his proper position immediately when directed by the official, the official may order him replaced for that face-off by any teammate then on the ice. If a center is not at the designated face-off area once the five (5) second time limit has elapsed, the Linesman will drop the puck immediately. If the center is back from the face-off spot, is "quarterbacking" or refuses to come into the face-off area when instructed to do so by the Linesman, or the center is simply slow getting to the face-off spot when the five (5) seconds has elapsed, the puck shall be dropped. If the center attempts to arrive at the face-off spot just as the five seconds elapses in an attempt to gain an advantage to win the face-off, he is to be removed from the face-off and replaced, resulting in a face-off violation.
If the face-off is a result of an icing infraction and the center attempts to arrive at the face-off spot just as the five seconds elapse to gain an advantage to win the face-off, he shall not be removed from the face-off. The center will be warned by the Linesman that he has committed a face-off violation. In the even the center then commits a second face-off violation or the action actually is the second face-off violation, a bench minor penalty shall be assessed.
When will the Stadium Series jerseys be released? - @CanesUniforms
While the exact details aren't for me to release, I would advise you to be on your toes in the near future.
adidas and the NHL
revealed the sweaters for the Winter Classic
between the Bruins and Penguins last week and in years past their next order of business is to share the Stadium Series jerseys.
For those who have been reading in the past, a benchmark I have used is that the
uniforms for last year's Stadium Series game
, which took place on February 26, were released one year ago today - December 2.
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