How does Carolina's defense look?

The general consensus among those who follow the NHL is that while the Hurricanes appear to be a better team than they were last year, they still have some holes on defense. I've discussed this a few times over the prolonged off-season and came to the conclusion that it's probably going to take more than a season for the Canes to have a "great team." We're talking about a team who gave up more shots than any other club in the league last year and currently has only one player who most would consider a solid shutdown defenseman. It's going to take time for things to improve and that's especially true with the Hurricanes having so many defensive prospects in their system. They also lost two of their better defensive players over the summer in Brandon Sutter and Bryan Allen, so this could be another tough transition year for the Canes defense unless a few players outperform their expectations or their forwards make up for their problems on the blue-line.  ...