[Amaxing Joni Jokel]

Originally Posted by There's only one 66

He hit 20 goals in his first season on the back of shooting better than 20%.... Considering that he's been shooting app. 6 percent the past two years and both Ottawa and Carolina, well....

He hit 14 goals and 32 points (while averaging 12:13/game) the next season with a 10.8 shooting %, so there's some scoring ability there even without an unsustainable shooting percentage.

Anybody who knows that 20% was likely to fall should know that 5.2% is likely to rise. You can pretty much throw out the 07-08 season as Eaves was playing hurt most of the time. After the Hurricanes acquired him, they played him for one game (I believe) before discovering that the shoulder injury was much worse than what the Senators had claimed and required surgery.

I'm not saying the Hurricanes should make such a trade either. Surely not. Eaves has upside, Dupuis does not.
My point is that its not Pittsburgh who should make a deal like this. We have to get Dupuis out of there for whatever and sign two 4th line specialists for the same price. Not because he isn't a decent player, but for cap reasons.

The problem is that nobody is likely going to take Dupuis without a contract coming back. As you said, you can sign similar fourth liners for half the cost.

I don't see why the Pens wouldn't take on a younger player with more upside on an identical contract (in terms of cap hit/years) while only sacrificing a "low pick."

We're the defending champions and ought to figure as a contender again. That's not a time to go out and make Eaves a gamble for the top 6 when he has shown NOTHING to warrant it over the past three years and only once graced such levels on the back of an unsustainable shooting percentage.

I'm not saying that Pittsburgh is going to suffer a similar downfall (any team with Crosby/Malkin/Staal down the middle and Fleury in net is going to contend), but I sure wish the Hurricanes had gambled on players like Eaves in '06 instead of bringing in garbage like Letowski/Belanger and over-trusting Gleason/Ward/Ladd (very good players now but they quite frankly sucked that year).

The one gamble the Hurricanes made was trading Vasicek (who at the time was thought to be a good third-line shut down center with "potential", albeit coming off a serious knee injury) for the hilariously injury prone Scott Walker, who was then able to put together a healthy 20-goal/50 point season. One more gamble like that and I doubt the Hurricanes miss the playoffs.

Again - we have a (for now) better player in Tyler Kennedy who cost half. We can upgrade him to top 6 instead if his play merits it and play Talbot on the third.

So if Maxime Talbot doesn't work out on the second line, you're going to play Tyler Kennedy there? No offense (as I know you've got the two best players in the league centering them), but that pretty much screams out a mid-season trade for a better winger.

Kennedy looks to be a very good player who has produced with limited ice time, but I think the Pens could still use another scoring winger. Then again that depends on who they re-sign.

Talbot had a great playoffs, but so did Jokinen and I doubt any Hurricanes fans would pencil him into the Top 6. Eaves has had two seasons higher than Talbot's 13 goals (granted, they were in the distant land of two years ago), not to mention he's a RH shot which the Pens lack if Guerin leaves.

If Eaves is given the opportunity somewhere (I hope it is here), I see him being a poor man's Justin Williams (similar skillset but less speed)...a guy who can get you 20 goals while playing on the first PK unit.