Thursday: Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that the Edmonton Oilers have asked the Hurricanes about acquiring Mrazek’s rights, but Carolina is still trying to sign the goaltender if possible. Oilers’ GM Ken Holland has been clear over the past few weeks that he is looking for another goaltender to help Mikko Koskinen next season.
Wednesday: At the end of the Carolina Hurricanes’ impressive playoff run, GM Don Waddell expressed an interest in bringing back his goaltending tandem. Both Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney played well for the Hurricanes when few believed in them, and set themselves up for new contracts this summer. Unfortunately, those contracts may not come in Carolina. Waddell spoke with Tom Gulitti of NHL.com and explained that both goaltenders may hit the open market in a few weeks:
We’re trying to sign them, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to get either signed. So, if not, we’ll go to the market and see what’s out there for July 1.
Sometimes guys test the market and then you find where we’re at. We’d like to have both guys back. I’ve publicly said that. But right now, we don’t have deals done with them.
Mrazek, 27, was the lead dog for Carolina this season after seeing his career crumble in Detroit and Philadelphia the last few seasons. He turned things around dramatically for the Hurricanes, posting a .914 save percentage in 40 games. He was the starter when the playoffs opened and helped Carolina all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, but eventually struggled to keep up with his Boston counterpart. Earning just $1.5MM on a one-year deal last season, Mrazek is likely looking for a multi-year pact to give him some stability.
McElhinney, 35, is in a different situation entirely. A career backup, he was snapped up by Carolina off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs before the season but made a positive impact on the Hurricanes. Through 33 appearances he posted a .912 save percentage, and was actually excellent in his short playoff stint. Still, it would be difficult for any team to commit to him for anything longer than a year, given that his contract will be of the 35+ variety. Interestingly, that would make McElhinney eligible for a bonus-laden deal, which could be a way for him to guarantee a raise if he ends up playing in a large amount of games once again.
There are several interesting options on the free agent market this season, though some may be re-signed before July 1 rolls around. Currently Sergei Bobrovsky, Robin Lehner and Semyon Varlamov are all scheduled to become unrestricted free agents, while other names like James Reimer have been tossed around as trade options. It’s important to note the Hurricanes still have Scott Darling under contract for another two years, and 23-year old Alex Nedeljkovic coming off an outstanding season in the AHL.
one is an aging backup and the other blew up in the playoffs. no surprise here.
No problem moving on from either. Mac was a good story, but we have Alex. Mrazek is headed to his fourth team at a young age. No thanks.
Jarry or DeSmith for Jake Bean.
Varlemov goes here or Islanders
Lehner as starter , good choice, he found a home there , now at Varlamov as back up , and move on from Greiss or package him in deal for bottom 6 forward, maybe throw Ho-Sang in package , #5-6 defenseman or 3rd rounder. ???
Jake Allen might be looking for a new home possibly.
I think Allen definately gets traded for cap relief, what would be a return from Carolina for Jake?
not much. its mostly cap relief for STL.