The canes have signed defenseman Tim Conboy, center Scott Kelman and left wing Mike Angelidis. Conboy is a former pick of the sharks. He's a big, tough and physical defenseman. His signing is mostly a depth move. Angelidis played an overage season in the ohl last year putting up 53 goals (3rd best in league) and 78 points. He's a gritty guy who'll go to the net and score on a lot of rebounds. Kelman is a former first round pick by Phoenix who'll give the team some depth in prospects up the middle.

http://carolinahurricanes.com/news/news....cleid=1590

looks like they're trying to get some help for the guys they lost (like aaron ward and matt cullen) and i think that's good. it shows that they are still contenders for the playoffs and the stanley cup

You're joking, right? These guys aren't replacements for Cullen and Ward at all. None of them have ever played in the nhl and Conboy may never especially with the depth of the canes defense. Kelman and Angelidis will be project players the organization hopes one day could play for the team but for the next year they will surely be in Albany or Florida as their are already 4 forwards ahead of them who are further along in terms of development. The replacement for Ward was already on the team, no one new was needed. The defensemen the canes have in the system right now are:

Frankie Kaberle
Oleg Tverdovsky
Bret Hedican
Mike Commodore
Nic Wallin
Glen Wesley
Anton Babchuk
Andrew Hutchinson
Derrick Walser
JD Forrest
Tim Conboy

Conboy is at the very bottom. Everyone in the last above Forrest has nhl experience and is skilled enough to play in the nhl. Forrest and Conboy would need tons of injuries to the canes defense to ever see ice time. In no way are Angelidis or Kellman replacements for Matt Cullen. The canes forward lines are complete and doesn't include either of those two. Trevor Letowski and Scott Walker were brought in to try to replace some of Cullen's offense. In Albany, David Gove, Keith Aucoin, Patrick Dwyer, Shane Willis and possibly Kevin Estrada and Vince Bellissimo are ahead of these guys. The canes didn't show they're still contenders with these signings, they did that already by locking up the core of their team long ago. I probably wasted my time writing all this. Did you even bother to look up who these players were before commenting? Seriously, to come in and suggest a few minor leaguers were brought in to replace two nhl players who were major contributers is pretty funny.