The Carolina Hurricanes had a great year, ruined by “one bad week,” as head coach Rod Brind’Amour put it today. The club won 52 games, cruised through the first two rounds against the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils, dropping just three games, and seemed poised to compete for the Stanley Cup. Four straight losses to the Florida Panthers turned the good vibes into a concerning tone, and will force them to reconsider what comes next.
Today, speaking with Brind’Amour at the season-ending press conference, general manager Don Waddell explained that the Hurricanes will explore the trade market “pretty heavily” before free agency opens a month from now.
That’s nothing new for the veteran GM.
Since taking over the day-to-day operations in 2018, the list of players Waddell has acquired through trade is extensive—and impressive. Dougie Hamilton, Jordan Martinook, Nino Niederreiter, Erik Haula, James Reimer, Joel Edmundson, Vincent Trocheck, Sami Vatanen, Brady Skjei, Max Domi, Brent Burns, Max Pacioretty, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Shayne Gostisbehere have all been brought in.
They even took a shot at trying to sign Adam Fox, though he would eventually spurn them as well, waiting to get to his preferred New York destination.
While not every member of that group has been successful in Carolina, it’s a testament to the creativity and courage that Waddell has when discussing trades. It also reflects how well their scouting and development system has worked over the years, churning out assets to swap while continuing to produce NHL-quality talent for the roster.
Pacioretty, for instance, was a home run cut that whiffed this year. He was acquired for nothing, as the Vegas Golden Knights needed to clear cap space, and had the potential to be a high-end goal scorer for the club. But two Achilles injuries would limit him to just five games (and three goals).
Waddell admitted today that there is interest in re-signing the pending UFA, but the team has to “make sure [they] don’t get caught counting on something that isn’t there.” It’s unclear when Pacioretty will be ready to play hockey and what kind of impact he can make if he returns.
With significant cap space to use but considerable gaps in the current roster, it should be a wildly entertaining offseason from the Hurricanes. Given the team still carries nine picks in this year’s draft, including their first-rounder, there could be fireworks on the horizon.
Would Matthews, Lafferty, Jarnkrok for Svechnikov, Nikishin, 1St pick in 23 and Kotkaniemi work?
That’s a big give for the hurricanes and doesn’t make them better at all.
Svechnikov didn’t play in the playoffs, and they still went further than the leafs did. Jarnkrok and Lafferty will total about 20-25 goals and Matthews likely around 50. Teravainen can be traded for additional help and there’s always FA to fill some holes. Necas moves to the wing and Aho is your #2 centre. I’d say it’s not a “bad” deal. Prob won’t happen but we’re all on here just giving opinions. Cheers.
Necas has always been a winger.
You are joking right?
Matthews isn’t getting traded.
Neither was Gretzky.
yes because I’m sure Matthews is sitting there thinking “how do I tell them I want to go to Carolina”
He doesn’t have to tell them anything. His no trade doesn’t kick in until July 1. He can easily be traded before then. Of course, Carolina does have to extend which would be a conversation to have with him before any trade would materialize.
This is not Peter I’m broke Pocklington’s franchise. Remember Gretzky was sold more than anything else.
Puljujarvi,Pacioretty, And Kase were all really bad Signings, If I’m smart enough to know that Kase and Pacioretty are always injured and that Puljujarvi isn’t good at hockey then Waddell should certainly know it.
If you were smart, you would know JP and MP were trades and not signings.
Who is the goalie they pair with Kochekov?
Gerry Cheevers.
I would have thought Ron Tugnutt
I dunno … the way Carolina’s goalies were playing, it was a good bit less “they had a bad week” and more that Bobrovsky was wearing a red cape and Tkachuk decided he wanted to usurp Mel Hill’s nickname.
Quick take: Sign Staal, Fast, MacEachern, Stastny, and possibly Gostisbehere and Pacioretty (???). Sign Andersen in goal.
Stepan, Puljujarvi, and DeHaan should NOT be re-signed.
Trade Necas, Teravainen, Drury, and/or the Canes’ 1st round pick. If all of them go, it will leave in the top six Aho at center with Svechnikov, Jarvis, and possibly Pacioretty on the wings. Bottom six will be Kotkaniemi and Staal at centers with Noesen, Martinook, Fast, and MacEachern at forwards.
Under the above scenario, the Canes would need a top-six center and at least one, maybe two, top-six wingers. That’s a tall order, probably not doable, but they might get one or two of those in a trade and sign another as a UFA.
Possible centers: Scheifele, Lindholm, Miller, Nugent-Hopkins. Possible wingers: Boeser, Nylander, Tarasenko, DeBrincat, Marner (!).
Bottom line is that the Canes need an elite goal-scorer in their top six to complement Aho and Svech. The off-season would be hugely successful if that could happen. An additional top-six forward would be icing on the cake.
Nikishin should not be on the table.
Lindholm is banned from coming back
If he returns and scores 35 goals, all will be forgiven.
The common misconception is that Carolina needs to add an elite goal scorer but all the elite goal scorers are sitting at home watching the Finals. Vegas had 3 guys score 20 or more goals and zero with 30 goals. Svech, Aho, Jarvis, Teravainen, KK, Necas, Staal, Martinook, Noesan are all coming back. We need to add 3 tough, gritty, forwards that don’t fold under pressure. Barbashev comes to mind, and we need a legit PP QB1 so Burns can run the 2nd unit. Our defense and goaltending is and has been good enough to win. We need some intestinal fortitude.
Why would the Oilers trade RNH when he just signed a team friendly deal?
Two points in response. First, Vegas’ top scorers missed a lot of games due to injury. Eichel had 27 goals but played only 67 games; Marchessault had 28 goals in 76 games; Stone had 17 goals in only 43 games. But for the injuries, Vegas would have had two or three 30+ goal scorers. We had one this year.
Second, I disagree that “all the elite goal scorers are sitting at home watching the Finals.” Is Tkachuk an elite goal scorer (40 goals)? How about Verhaeghe (42 goals) or Reinhart (31 goals)? Although Barkov only had 23 goals this year, he scored 39 last year. The reason WE’RE sitting at home is because of an elite goal scorer—Tkachuk.
I completely agree that we need a couple of “tough, gritty” forwards who don’t fold under pressure. This is not an “either-or”—we need both an elite goal scorer and a couple of tough forwards. I’m done with Teravainen (too soft and no fire in his belly) and with Necas (who seems all too worried about getting hit).