Offseason Keys: Carolina Hurricanes

While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Slow and steady has seemingly been the mantra in Carolina over the past few years and at the end of the season, they started to show a possible sign of things to come with a very impressive late push for a playoff spot.  While they ultimately fell short of making the postseason, things are starting to look up for the Hurricanes who will be heading into next season with a new starter between the pipes in Scott Darling.  Here’s a look at what else may be on tap for GM Ron Francis.

Sort Out The Goaltending

Darling’s acquisition and new four year, $16.5MM contract solidifies him as Carolina’s starter for the foreseeable future.  However, the team still has both of their goaltenders from 2016-17 under contract for one more year in Cam Ward and Eddie Lack.  Carolina, a team that tends to hover near the bottom of the league in payroll, is highly unlikely to carry three goalies for next season, at least willingly.

Ward, who played the bulk of the games this season, has the higher cap hit of the two at $3.3MM while Lack is at $2.75MM.  Ward also has a partial no-trade clause that could get in the way of being moved as he can block a deal to 15 teams while Lack has no such protection.

Both will be exposed in the expansion draft but assuming they go unclaimed, it sets up a situation where one will need to be dealt or bought out.  Ward would carry a buyout cost of $1.23MM next season and $1.03MM in 2018-19 while Lack would have a cap charge of $750K and $1MM over those seasons.  It’s worth noting that in terms of actual dollars to be paid, Ward’s buyout would only cost $66K more despite the higher cap hit.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Lack – who was called out by coach Bill Peters late in the season – be the odd man out.

Deal For Teravainen

Francis has very few NHL restricted free agents to deal with.  In fact, there are only two of them but one of them – Teuvo Teravainen – is a notable one.  The versatile forward has finished his entry-level contract and is coming off a career year with 42 points (15-27-42) in 81 games.  There’s no doubt he’ll be in line for a nice raise for the $925K in salary he earned (before factoring in potential performance bonuses) over these last three seasons.

Back at the trade deadline, it was reported that Francis was looking into trade possibilities involving Teravainen.  There’s no word as to whether they were close to finding a deal or if enough traction was made to reignite talks this summer.  The suggestion that the Hurricanes, a team that has been in a rebuilding phase for a while now, would consider moving a 22 year old who was a first round selection was certainly noteworthy.  Whether it’s a deal in the form of a second contract (bridge or long-term) or a deal in the form of a trade, Francis will have a big decision to make with Teravainen this offseason.

Dangle Defense For Offensive Help

The Hurricanes don’t have a well-known group of defensemen but they have quietly assembled a strong group of young and mostly home-grown talent.  It has become a major strength for the organization and the time may be right to deal from a position of strength.  Quality defenders with multiple years of team control remaining aren’t available too often and it’s something that pretty much every team covets.

Meanwhile, Carolina was in the bottom third of the league in terms of goal production and while they have some quality talent up front, they’re lacking in depth and could certainly stand to add a top six forward as well.  If they wanted to dangle one (or more) of those blueliners, they would be well-positioned to get that impact forward in return.

Noah Hanifin, Ryan Murphy, Brett Pesce, and Jaccob Slavin happen to be on cheap contracts below $1MM for next season with all being eligible for restricted free agency next summer.  Their cheap back end is going to become more expensive before too long.  Accordingly, if there was ever a time to move one of their promising young defensemen, this may be it before most of those players get big raises in 2018.  To that end, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Francis open up extension talks with several of these players once that window opens up in July.

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