Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford makes it a priority to avoid arbitration, and he had managed that again by signing center Chad LaRose to a one-year contract.

With that, the Hurricanes were probably ahead of most teams in nailing down a roster without a lot of loose ends by mid-July.

LaRose's situation might have been tricky because he played on the top lines for stretches of last season. But, in reality, the Hurricanes see him as a third- or fourth-line player and intended to pay him accordingly.

Most of the Hurricanes tended to think they had a core roster that's capable of being a playoff-caliber team. And with LaRose, there's another link to the 2006 championship team.

Still, the team that skates onto the ice will have some major changes from the team that was expected to be the regular unit at this time last year. Gone are Erik Cole, Cory Stillman, Glen Wesley, Bret Hedican, Mike Commodore, Craig Adams, Keith Aucoin and John Grahame. Of that group, Cole, Wesley, Hedican, Aucoin and Grahame were with the team when the season ended last spring.

It's not as if the Hurricanes have undergone an offseason shakeup. That might be a risk considering the team has missed the playoffs for back-to-back seasons. The Hurricanes are counting on the return of Rod Brind'Amour and Justin Williams from injuries making a major difference.

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