Mailbag #21: After The Deadline

WASHINGTON, D.C. -What a week.
There was the trade deadline,
a win over Tampa
with a dramatic ending,
a shootout loss despite
tripling Dallas in shots and then a
blow out of St. Louis
. Quite the seven-day stretch, huh?
Now with just 17 games remaining in the regular season the team turns their attention to a Monday night meeting with Washington, followed by a Tuesday tussle in Tampa.
Before we get there though, let's tackle some questions that you all were kind enough to send in.

(Please note, some questions have been edited for clarity)
So we outshot Dallas (who's fighting for a wild card spot) 47-15 and lost, but then get outshot 28-32 by St. Louis (a cup contender) and won BIG, what do you think the big difference maker for us was? - @baileyycurtis
Bailey starts us off with the big question of the week.
Honestly, my answer isn't going to be what people want to hear, but, here it goes... that's just the way the game goes sometimes!
If you break it down, what else could it really be? Were all 47 shots placed on Scott Wedgewood on Tuesday right at his chest? Absolutely not. He was moving post-to-post and sprawling out to make stops. Look at the

, sticking out the left pad to rob Sebastian Aho. Believe it or not, teams can play well and just not get the result they want.
Rod Brind'Amour said last night post-game that he thought the team played just okay, the puck just happened to go in. It's the ebb and flow of the sport. Heck, even life, right? Sometimes things just don't go your way, no matter how good you've been. Then, on the other end, sometimes you get rewarded for no good reason.
So, to bring it back around, I'm not sure there was a big difference in the games, I think the puck just happened to evade Ville Husso more than it did Wedgewood.
We saw Nino hit the 20-goal mark last night so my question is, how many Canes do you think finish the season with 20 goals or more? - @iankennedy1002
First things first, big congratulations to Nino! Sixth time in his career he's put up a 20-spot.
Friendly reminder,
the deal was one for one.
Quick round of applause for Don Waddell and crew.
We move on.
With Niederreiter, Aho and Svechnikov already in the 20-goal club, there are seven skaters that have double-digit goals currently.
Starting from the top, Vincent Trocheck has 18. He'll definitely net two within the next month. That's an easy one.
Teuvo Teravainen presently touts 16. Right now he's in a nine-game stretch without goals, but he's too good of a player for that to last much longer. So, do I think he gets four over the team's upcoming 17 games? I'll take the side of optimism here and say yes. A pair of two-goal games doesn't feel that lofty, does it?
Behind him is Seth Jarvis with 12 and while I'm not sure I can commit to saying he'll definitely hit 20, he has had two multi-goal games in the last ten games, so, it's definitely possible.
Ian, I'll go with five.
Given the nice run he has been on, do you see Jarvis remaining on a line with Aho and Teuvo? - @CaniacZach
Speaking of Seth! Boy was his goal sweet last night or what?
I can't get over how he not only didn't fear getting thrown to the corner by Colton Parakyo, who is seven inches and over 40 pounds heavier than him, he straight took him back to the inside for the shot. Gutsy. If you missed it, it's a good one.

The answer here, given what we've seen transpire with the lines over the course of the season, is that that line will be together until their production goes stale, or there's a close game and RBA decides it's time to bring the SAT line back together. That's almost always inevitable, right?
The nice part is now that Martin Necas is starting to get going again soon too, that's always an option as well. Svechnikov - Trocheck - Jarvis is a pretty dynamic trio.
Any way you slice it, the Canes have options right now, and quite frankly, the timing is perfect. Jarvis and Necas both contributing in the top six, you get to keep the Niederreiter - Staal - Fast line together and then you allow Domi to learn the system while playing with two players he is comfortable with. Beautiful stuff.
Now that Domi is in the lineup and Stevie Lorentz seems to be the healthy scratch do you see this being a recurring theme for the rest of the season? In other words, will Lorentz be sitting to allocate space for Domi in the lineup? - @asukhadolskaya
I'll put it this way, I would be surprised if Lorentz does not play over the course of the next 17 games.
Brind'Amour said this week that the addition of Domi means that unfortunately a talented player will have to sit. Call if healthy competition, if you will, but eventually Jordan Martinook will also be healthy and he'll too be chomping to get back in there. Both are very, very capable players in this league.
It's very similar to what Brendan Smith is going through. Solid player, just the odd man out right now.
Hopefully no more injuries happen, but as we know, they do, unfortunately. On the flip side, should one happen, the group will have full confidence in the man coming in.
Another positive way to look at the situation is that the group can afford to give guys some rest as we get closer to the playoffs. Which is the perfect transition to...
Is there any sort of strategy now to keeping players healthy going into the playoffs? - @JackFromDCCanes
Let's be frank for a second. I know some look at it as taboo and I've grown to understand that this fan base loves jinxes more than any other group of folks I've ever met, but right now the team is on pace to clinch a playoff berth in the first or second week of April.
There's something to be said for taking momentum into the playoffs, but there's also something to be said about having healthy and rested players.
Surely there will be jockeying for position as well, but the team could be in a position to rest some guys at some point too.
I keep coming back to the below in my mind:

So, while I can't map out a specific strategy for you of who sits when, I would just keep the above in mind. If we get to Monday, April 18 in Arizona and a high-profile player is out of the lineup (hypothetical, of course), don't be surprised.
That was a healthy mailbag filled with a handful of very fun questions this week. Thanks to everyone who took the time to ask a question and equally as important, thanks to you, the readers, for taking the time.
Here's to a big week ahead and I hope to see you all at PNC Arena on Thursday when Montreal comes to town!
Not a member of Twitter? We're always happy to take questions at [email protected] as well!
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