If you haven’t heard, I’ve been putting most of my time into the Tracking the Storm Podcast with Brandon Stanley and Alex Ohari. Even though we get to a lot of prospect content on the podcast, some of it gets left out for various reasons. Usually it’s not terribly important. Whether it’s speculation, extra details, or yours truly not wanting to shut up, some of it gets cut or left out entirely. Here, you’ll find some items that I thought about bringing up on various podcast episodes but ultimately decided to cut them at the last minute. Prospects Used as Trade Chips With the Hurricanes’ cap s ..read more

We’re less than four months away from the first deadline for teams to sign undrafted prospects, so it’s time to take a look at some pending free agents in the Hurricanes’ system. If these players are left unsigned, they will become free agents and will be free to sign NHL or AHL deals with whichever team suits them. The Hurricanes already locked up Jamieson Rees, who was going to be the biggest prospect on this list. There aren’t any major prospects on this list, but there are a few players that could find themselves signing an NHL contract before this season is all said and done. Let’s talk ..read more

After about four years of being on the fence about buying Eastside Hockey Manager, I finally bit the bullet and am the proud owner of my fourth game on Steam. That’s right, you’re looking at an MLG gamer over here and this GM mode simulation is going to be filled with big brain plays. Anything less than 500 IQ is a failure. If you don’t know, Eastside Hockey Manager doesn’t come with any NHL players at the start. It’s all randomly generated names, faces, and more. So we won’t have any familiar faces here. Instead, we’ll be starting anew and building a dynasty from scratch! Move over Don Wadde ..read more

Jamieson Rees is attending Carolina’s training camp after signing his entry-level contract with the team. The Hurricanes prospect was drafted 44th overall by the Hurricanes in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and set career highs in goals, assists, and points in a shortened 2019-2020 season. Jamieson, congrats on signing your Entry Level Contract with the Hurricanes. How does it feel to be one step closer to the NHL? It feels great! It took a long time but I’m happy that it’s done. I’m here with a bunch of guys that are great hockey players and it’s great to learn from them. They all have a lot of le ..read more

Seth Jarvis is currently attending his first NHL training camp after being selected 13th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He was kind enough to take some time out of his day to talk to me about his experiences at camp, life during the pandemic, and more! First of all, congratulations on signing your Entry Level Contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. How does it feel knowing that you’re one step closer to the NHL? It’s a really cool feeling. After getting drafted, that’s the first thing you want to do. I’m pumped to be a part of this organization and I can’t wait ..read more

The 2020 draft has come and gone, which means that it is now time to update the prospect ranking that I put together back in June. There won’t be too many changes to this list, though. Since we haven’t seen a whole lot of hockey played just yet, not too much should change in the rankings. Sure, some players are off to good starts in their respective leagues, but a small sample size shouldn’t affect too much in these rankings. If I do make a change, I’ll be sure to provide my thoughts as to why I decided to move a player up or down. The ranking system will remain the same. Each letter grade wi ..read more

It’s a weird season that is finally starting to get underway in for a handful of the Hurricanes’ prospects. There are plenty of prospects who are heading into this season knowing it’s their last chance to convince the Hurricanes that they’re worth a contract. For some, it’s a chance to develop and build on a successful 2019-20 season and to continue to develop. Each prospect develops differently and has a different set of skills that made them an NHL prospect in the first place. Most of these prospects will need to develop different skills in order to take their game to the next level this ye ..read more

Let me ask a serious question. How long are NHL teams going to let the Hurricanes get away with this? This is the second year in a row where the Hurricanes have drafted high upside players in nearly every round while other teams pick some kid that nobody has ever heard of. While some NHL teams clearly favor size and strength above all else, the Hurricanes are putting hockey sense at the forefront of their draft strategy. Who can blame them? If you can’t think the game at a high level, you’re not going to be a successful NHL player. The folks here at Calm Before the Storm (myself, Brandon, and ..read more

It’s NHL Draft day! Last week, Brandon Stanley and I went live on Twitch and did a mock draft for Canes fans. If you couldn’t make it, here are the results! New York Rangers (Brandon) – Alexis Lafreniere At least we start off with an easy one! Lafreniere is a first-rate playmaker, an elite passer and puck handler with next-level vision and hockey sense. Skating is just okay, but has every other tool needed to step into the NHL and be a top six player immediately. Will make the Rangers dangerous next year. 2. Los Angeles (Brandon) – Quinton Byfield I know there has been talk of Stutzle possi ..read more

We’ve officially reached the end of the bubble in Toronto and Edmonton, and I’m sure that hockey fans are curious to know how it went. Steven Lorentz was kind enough to share his own experiences from the bubble as well as some answers to other questions that I had for him. Steven was kind enough to talk to me during the Browns vs. Cowboys game, which he insists was going to drive his family members crazy. How was life in the bubble? Could you describe what your day would look like? The NHL did a great job putting it on and making sure everyone was safe and healthy. There wasn’t a time where t ..read more