MillionDollarCam

Thank God, he’s not what this team needed.

The USL’s Charlotte Independence will feature a strong contingency from Charlotte FC this year: GK Adrian Zendejas, D Koa Santos, M Quinn McNeill, and M Chris Hegardt will all be with the Independence. Former Charlotte FC trial player, Gabriel Obertan, is also back with the Independence. Charlotte FC certainly has a few open spots should they want to bring in some transfers during the summer window. Their current roster is as follows: GK - Kristijan Kahlina, George Marks, Pablo Sisniega RB - Harrison Afful, Jaylin Lindsey RCB - Guzmán Corujo, Anton Walkes LCB - Christian Fuchs, Christian Makoun, Jan Sobocinski LB - Joseph Mora, Adam Armour (Injured) CDM - Brandt Bronico, Jordy Alcívar RCM - Cristian Ortíz, Alan Franco LCM - Ben Bender, Sergio Ruiz, Derrick Jones RW - Kamil Józwiak, McKinze Gaines, Yordy Reyna ST - Karol Swiderski, Daniel Ríos, Vinicius Mello (Injured) LW - Andre Shinyashiki, Kerwin Vargas A good LB, an elite CM, and an elite W would be nice adds during the transfer window.

I think it’s in the best interest for him to come back but with him turning 30 before the season starts, I’m not sure how interested the Canes will be. It’s highly unlikely they’d give Niederreiter a salary bump, I feel like they’ll offer him a 3x$5.25M and then Nino will test the market. The rest, we’ll have wait and see.

It does not sound like the Canes are interested in bringing Bear back. I’ve heard rumblings on other boards that he might not even be presented with a QO. I’d be happy with a third round pick if we are able to trade his RFA rights.

There are so many scenarios here: 1. The Canes could qualify DeAngelo at $1M and if no one offer sheets him then he’ll file for arbitration and it’s highly likely that he’ll be awarded $5M at the very least which would probably be too rich for Carolina, but at that point they’d be stuck for the year. 2. The Canes qualify DeAngelo at $1M and then DeAngelo receives an offer sheet from another team for less than $4.2M. The Canes then happily match the offer sheet and lock DeAngelo up long term. This is unlikely as DeAngelo isn’t required to sign an offer sheet that another team presents him and I don’t see him signing anything for less than $5M a year. 3. The Canes qualify DeAngelo at $1M and then DeAngelo receives an offer sheet from another team for more than $4.2M. The Canes then decide not to match the offer sheet and they receive a first round and third round pick as compensation. 4. The Canes trade DeAngelo’s RFA rights to another team as they are worried that they won’t be able to sign him and aren’t interested in possible arbitration should they not be able to agree to a contract extension after the qualifying offer is signed. 5. The Canes do not qualify DeAngelo because they are fearful of arbitration and they are also unable to trade him. This worse case scenario would see DeAngelo walk for nothing. And Finally 6. The Canes and DeAngelo play nice and DeAngelo signs a 6x$4.5 and everyone is happy as DeAngelo is locked up long term. Going to be a wild ride.

I’ll definitely catch a game in Miami and Atlanta.

I’d be hesitant to trade a lot for Turner. His recent injury history is concerning and the fact that he’s a big man with foot issues is even more concerning. I’d be okay with 15 and P.J. Washington but they’d also need to take Plumlee and Richards for salary purposes. All of our young guys (Bouknight, Jones, and Thor) should be off limits in a trade for Turner and I don’t think I’d be willing to include Oubre either. Trading Washington would theoretically open up playing time for Jones and Thor so I’d be okay with including him.

The last Calder Cup Final was back in 2019 and it was televised on NHLN, hopefully this years will be as well. Speaking of the 2019 Calder Cup Final, the Canes are probably looking at sort of some of history between then and now. In 2019, the Calder Cup was won by the Charlotte Checkers who at the time were the Canes AHL affiliate. A few players on that Checkers team are still in the Canes’ system today: Martin Necas, Steven Lorentz, Andrew Poturalski, Stelio Mattheos, Spencer Smallman, and Jesper Sellgren. The Checkers ended up beating none other than the Chicago Wolves in the finals. Fast forward a few years and things have changed a bit, the Calder Cup Playoffs took a two year break due to Covid and the Hurricanes elected to switch their AHL affiliation to the Chicago Wolves. Now in 2022, the Canes have a chance to see their AHL affiliate win back to back Calder Cup Finals though it would be with two different teams.

I feel like a lot of UEFA teams wouldn’t have even made the trip and made a petition for the game to be postponed, let alone play their star players like the USMNT did last night.

Here’s where we are heading into the finals. Updated Playoff Stats Josh Leivo - 11 goals, 9 assists Jack Drury - 7 goals, 9 assists Stefan Noesen - 7 goals, 9 assists Andrew Poturalski - 5 goals, 9 assists David Gust - 3 goals, 7 assists C.J. Smith - 3 goals, 5 assists Joey Keane - 7 assists Max Lajoie - 3 goals, 3 assists Jamieson Rees - 2 goals, 4 assists Richard Panik - 2 goals, 4 assists Jalen Chatfield - 1 goal, 5 assists Vasili Ponomarev - 1 goal, 4 assists Cavan Fitzgerald - 1 goal, 4 assists Stelio Mattheos - 2 goals, 2 assists Spencer Smallman - 1 goal, 3 assists Ivan Lodnia - 3 goals Jesper Sellgren - 3 assists Noel Gunler - 1 goal, 1 assist Josh Jacobs - 1 goal, 1 assist Alex Lyon - 8 wins, 2 losses, 1.96 GAA, .924 SV% Pyotr Kochetkov - 2 wins, 1 loss, 1.94 GAA, .941 SV%

That was a wild match last night against El Salvador, one of the worst pitches I’ve ever seen.

Congrats to the Wolves, bring it home!

I like Branham the best. If we could get a center for Bouknight then I’d be fine making a trade with the contingency being that we are able to draft both Mark Williams and Malaki Branham. Not exactly sure what Bouknight and Washington could land us but I’d explore that as a foundation for a trade.

I watched a bit of LIV on my computer during the end of the week, it was pretty interesting.

I could certainly see that being an option. MAR loved his South American born players but Lattanzio may prefer Europeans. One thing that I think will continue to hold true is that the majority of our players will be from overseas. Krneta seems to value talent outside of the MLS rather than players who have MLS experience.

Can we stop arresting people for possession of a fugging plant.

I’ll watch because there’s nothing else on TV right now, I’m just trying to find something to get me to Panthers and Tar Heels football season. I have Charlotte FC on the weekends but that’s about it.

It looks like Castro might be on his way to the Bundesliga to play for Eintracht Frankfurt.

I don’t buy this, they just agreed to terms with Atkinson who if he does nothing else right, he develops players well. They’ll draft Mark Williams and profit.

Mora was decent yesterday but overall I think the LB position is in dire needs of an upgrade. Fuchs doesn’t have the pace to play LB anymore and I personally like him better at at CB anyway. I don’t think Mora will be moved because there is no depth at LB but that position definitely needs an upgrade. Additionally, with Fuchs primarily being a CB, that creates an unnecessary logjam with Corujo, Walkes, Sobocinski, and Makoun. Makoun has been underwhelming in my opinion and I’d like to see him permanently moved but I’d be okay with a loan as well. Franco is another guy that I haven’t been impressed with. I’d be okay with his loan ending early. I’d like a LB and a creative #10 in the summer transfer window. I’d also hold one spot open for a bigger name should someone like Malik Tillman (USMNT/Bayern Munich), Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), etc. become available.

Agreed, there definitely needs to be an offload. I think they are giving Ortiz every opportunity to prove his value and there’s no chance that I’d offload Alcivar. However, I wouldn’t necessarily be upset to see Alan Franco’s loan end. Mora, Makoun and Franco are guys that I’m okay with moving on. The jury is still out on Reyna.

Updated Playoff Stats Josh Leivo - 10 goals, 9 assists Jack Drury - 7 goals, 9 assists Stefan Noesen - 7 goals, 8 assists Andrew Poturalski - 4 goals, 9 assists David Gust - 3 goals, 7 assists C.J. Smith - 3 goals, 5 assists Joey Keane - 7 assists Max Lajoie - 3 goals, 3 assists Richard Panik - 2 goals, 4 assists Jalen Chatfield - 1 goal, 5 assists Jamieson Rees - 2 goals, 3 assists Vasili Ponomarev - 1 goal, 4 assists Cavan Fitzgerald - 1 goal, 4 assists Stelio Mattheos - 2 goals, 2 assists Spencer Smallman - 1 goal, 2 assists Jesper Sellgren - 3 assists Ivan Lodnia - 2 goals Noel Gunler - 1 goal, 1 assist Josh Jacobs - 1 goal, 1 assist Alex Lyon - 8 wins, 2 losses, 1.96 GAA, .924 SV% Pyotr Kochetkov - 1 win, 1 loss, 2.86 GAA, .918 SV%

The Wolves absolutely live in the penalty box.

Fug the Rags. Tamp vs. Colorado in the finals.