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Hurricanes To Play As Scheduled Despite Winter Storm

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Whenever it snows below the Mason-Dixon line, panic is generally expected. Without the same means of clean-up as most areas in the North, as well as citizens unfamiliar with freezing temperatures and non-rain precipitation, Southern states seemingly shut down as a result of the rarely-seen snowstorm. So when Winter Storm Helena hit the South East over the past two days, dumping up to a foot of snow in some parts of North Carolina, there was naturally some doubt about whether or not the Carolina Hurricanes game, among many sporting events, would go on as scheduled today.

While the visiting Boston Bruins are likely laughing to themselves over the extreme response to the type of snowstorm that hits New England multiple times every year, they’ll be happy to hear that they didn’t rush to North Carolina after their game last night in Sunrise, Florida for nothing. The NHL has decided that it will not be necessary to move tonight’s Bruins-Hurricanes game, scheduled for a 5pm ET puck-drop. Although the state of North Carolina is in a State of Emergency as a result of the snow, both teams and officials are already in Raleigh and there is no extreme safety risk to those traveling to the game, now that the storm is over and clean-up has begun. For those who choose not to attend, the Hurricanes will allow them to swap tickets with another remaining home game.

While the Bruins wouldn’t have minded an extra day of rest on their current four-game road trip, as they are scheduled to play tonight just 19 hours after their game against the Florida Panthers last night ended, re-scheduling a game can be a difficult task, as the Hurricanes have already experienced this season when ice conditions caused a prior home game to be postponed. The Bruins may also want to keep their momentum going, as they played well in a 4-0 shutout of the Panthers last night following tough losses to the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers. A win over the Hurricanes tonight in front of rookie goalie Zane McIntyre may be the boost they need to take home wins against the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators before heading home to Boston, which also fell victim to Winter Storm Helena yesterday. Meanwhile, Carolina will look to reward their fans willing to brave the snow with a win tonight. The Hurricanes beat the Bruins 3-2 in overtime when these teams met in Boston on December 23rd, and since then Carolina has had quite a stretch of tough games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis Blues, and twice against the Chicago Blackhawks. It doesn’t get any easier after tonight, as the ’Canes face the Columbus Blue Jackets three times in their next six games, so they need a win wherever they can get one.

“Major” Juniors Trades: Dubois, Gauthier, Popugaev

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The Pierre-Luc Dubois trade has been completed. Nearly a month after it was originally reported that the 3rd overall pick in the 2016 draft would be moved to another QMJHL team, the details of the deal have finally been formalized, and on the league trade deadline no less. Dubois will move from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, whom he has played for in parts of three seasons, to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. In exchange, Cape Breton will receive 16-year-old forward Mathias Laferrière and the Armada’s first round draft pick in 2017 and second round pick in 2018.

The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect is quite a haul for Blainville-Boisbriand. Though Dubois had a less-than-stellar World Junior experience with Team Canada and has yet to find his rhythm since returning to juniors, he remains one of the top young two-way forwards in Canadian juniors. Dubois racked up a whopping 99 points in just 62 games with the Screaming Eagles last season, and his physical style earned him 112 penalty minutes as well. He’ll now bring that unique combination of high-end skill and grit to an Armada team that currently sits in second in the QMJHL’s West Division, just two points behind the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

  • Another QMJHL team getting much better on deadline day is the Maritime Division-leading Saint John Sea Dogs, who have acquired 2016 first-round forward Julien Gauthier. Gauthier comes over from the Val-d’Or Foreurs, who sit in last place in the West Division, at the price of a third-round pick in 2017, two second-round  picks in 2018 and a first rounder in 2019, as well as prospect Nathan Cyr-Trottier. It’s a steep price for the Sea Dogs, but well worth it for one of the junior league’s best power forwards. The 21st overall pick by the Carolina Hurricanes this June, Gauthier is back on his better than a point-per-game pace this year that he finished the season with in each of his first two campaigns with Val-d’Or. He’s also fresh off of a five-goal effort for Team Canada at the World Juniors. Joining fellow top prospects Thomas Chabot, Jakub Zboril, and Matheiu Joseph, Gauthier completes a formidable roster for Saint John, now likely the favorite to win the QMJHL this season.
  • Over in Western Canada, the WHL is approaching their own Trade Deadline on Tuesday and the Prince George Cougars have mad a major move. Headed to the B.C. Division leaders is 2017 top-ten hopeful Nikita Popugaev. The 6’6″ scorer already has 51 points in 40 games for the Moose Jaw Warriors in his second major junior season, good enough for a place in the top ten in scoring. The move is somewhat of a surprise as the Warriors sit in second place in the East Division, with just three points less than the Cougars on the season. However, Moose Jaw is getting their fair share in return, as  Prince George sends 18-year-old forward Yan Khomenko, 17-year-old forward Justin Almeida, a second-round pick in the 2018 Draft and a fifth-round pick in the 2017 Draft back in return.

 

Wednesday’s Waiver Wire Roundup

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Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston provides the latest updates on what has proven to be a busy day on the NHL’s waiver wire.

  • The Vancouver Canucks have claimed forward Reid Boucher off of waivers from New Jersey. Boucher recently returned to the Devils organization, albeit for only a short time, after they reclaimed the winger off of waivers from Nashville over the weekend. The Predators had earlier acquired the 23-year-old via waivers from New Jersey. All told, Boucher has one goal and three points in 12 appearances this season. It’s clear there is still much interest around the league in the former fourth-round draft pick and based on last season’s eight-goal, 19-point output in 39 games, it’s easy to see why. Vancouver currently ranks 23rd in the NHL in scoring and has been in the market for a scoring-line winger since this past summer. Boucher represents a low-cost, low-risk option to fill that need.
  • Ty Rattie is headed to Carolina after the Hurricanes were awarded their claim on the 23-year-old winger. Rattie was placed on waivers yesterday by St. Louis, the team that drafted the 6-foot, 195-pound forward in the second-round of the 2001 entry draft. Carolina ranks 19th in scoring this season and has just two players who have scored more than eight goals. The skilled Rattie has an excellent track record of offensive production at both the junior and minor league levels. He netted 105 goals over his final two junior campaigns in 131 games and has registered 69 goals and 137 points in 196 AHL games in the Blues organization. After appearing in just four NHL games with St. Louis this season, Rattie should be given a better opportunity in Carolina to show what he can do.
  • Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins have placed veteran goaltender Anton Khudobin on waivers this afternoon. Khudobin has struggled between the pipes in his second stint with the organization, winning just one of seven starts and posting a GAA above three. The net minder, now in his eighth NHL season, is in the first season of a two-year deal with an AAV of $1.2MM. If he clears waivers and is sent down to Providence of the AHL, Khudobin would still account for $250K against the Bruins cap. It’s possible another team in need of goaltending depth takes a chance on the 30-year-old back-up and if he is claimed the Bruins will be in need of a goalie with enough NHL playing experience to expose in next June’s expansion draft. Likewise, other club’s could have interest in Khudobin for the same reason if they don’t currently have a second goalie that meets that requirement under contract for next season. Should Khudobin be claimed or assigned to the minors after clearing waivers, the Bruins will likely recall Zane McIntyre to serve as the team’s back-up behind Tuukka Rask.
  • Joining Khudobin on waivers is four-year veteran left wing Matt Nieto. The 24-year-old has struggled to put up points this season, posting just two assists in 16 games this season for San Jose. However, Nieto scored 10 goals in each of his first two NHL campaigns and could provide another team with solid production in a bottom-six role should he be claimed. He will be a RFA next summer after earning $735K on a one-year deal and might represent a low-cost, low-risk acquisition for a club looking to add forward depth.

Minor Transactions: 1/4/2016

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A day after calling up Daniel Altshuller from Charlotte of the AHL, the Carolina Hurricanes have returned the goaltender to the Checkers, according to the team’s official Twitter account. Meanwhile, the club has recalled veteran net minder Michael Leighton from their top minor league affiliate to serve as the team’s back-up between the pipes behind starter Cam Ward.

Altshuller did not see action in last night’s 3 – 1 loss to Carolina and has yet to make his NHL debut. The 22-year-old was selected in the third-round of the 2012 draft, 69th overall, by the Hurricanes and has appeared in 33 contests across the last two seasons with Charlotte, posting a record of 11 – 12 – 5.

Leighton, 35, has seen action in three games with Carolina this season, starting two, and has a 2 – 1 – 0 record with a GAA of 3.53 and a Save % of 0.875. He has appeared in 109 games over parts of 10 NHL seasons, spending time in the Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia and Hurricanes organizations during that time. He famously backstopped the Flyers to a surprising berth in the 2009-10 Stanley Cup Final, ultimately losing to the Blackhawks in six games.

  • The Florida Panthers have loaned blue liner Dylan McIlrath to the Springfield Thunderbirds on a conditioning assignment, the team announced on their website. McIlrath, a first-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2010, has appeared in four games with the Panthers since joining the team after being acquired from New York in a November trade for fellow defenseman Steven Kampfer and a seventh-round pick in 2018. The hulking defender has tallied a single goal and has 14 penalty minutes on the season, while averaging just 9:39 of ice time per game.
  • Yanni Gourde was reassigned by the Tampa Bay Lightning to their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, tweets Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. The 25-year-old pivot made two appearances this season, failing to register a point while seeing about nine minutes of action per night. The Lightning welcomed veteran forward Ryan Callahan back into the lineup last night and his return allowed the team enough roster flexibility to send Gourde to the minors.
  • In a procedural move necessitated by the activation of goaltender Michal Neuvirth from IR, the Philadelphia Flyers have placed blue liner Mark Streit on LTIR, according to CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio. Streit last played on December 11th and is expected to be out until sometime later this month due to a shoulder injury. By placing the veteran defender on LTIR, the Flyers are temporarily able to clear his $5.25MM cap hit from their ledger, thus allowing for the activation of Neuvirth. Had the transaction not been made, Philadelphia would have been over the salary cap by around $682K.

Metro Division Notes: Blue Jackets, Read, Hurricanes

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The Columbus Blue Jackets last night extended their remarkable winning streak to 16 games and the team undoubtedly qualifies as one of the league’s biggest surprises of the 2016-17 season. Expected to have a better chance of contending for the top pick in next June’s draft than a playoff spot, the Jackets currently have the best record in the NHL and sit at or near the top in a number of statistical categories. It’s gotten to the point where Michael Arace of The Columbus Dispatch wonders, “who are these guys?”

As Arace notes, the team is getting balanced scoring from throughout the lineup, excellent play between the pipes from Sergei Bobrovsky and have the ability to employ a stifling defense. The common refrain among Blue Jackets players, however, is hard work and a dedication to improving every day is the secret behind their success.

“The key thing is everyone works hard and for the team,” goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky said. “The leaders push the key players, and (it filters down). The most important thing is we work hard for each other.”

The team’s captian, Nick Foligno, who has 33 points in 34 games, concurs.

“We have won by hard work and continuing to play to an identity,” Foligno said. “You don’t win 16 by luck. That is something the guys in here can hang their hat on, but also know it has to continue.”

“We can’t just sit on it now. That’s what I’ve seen as the big difference in here. We’re not a team that is content with that. We want to be a better team. … We know who we are and we’ve played to that for the first 30 or so games, and it has to continue for the next 40.”

Head coach John Tortorella, much-maligned and thought to be on the hot seat following a horrible showing by Team USA’s entry in the World Cup of Hockey, is proving to again be among the top coaches in the game with his deft guidance of the Blue Jackets and should garner plenty of support for the Jack Adams trophy if Columbus can parlay their outstanding start into a playoff berth.

Elsewhere in the Metro Division:

  • Not long ago, the Philadelphia Flyers found themselves in the midst of a 10-game winning streak and comfortably residing in a playoff spot in the competitive Metro Division. However, after dropping six of seven with their lone win coming via shootout, the Flyers are clearly scuffling and in need of a spark. As Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post writes, the team is hopeful that winger Matt Read, recently activated from IR, can help get the Flyers back on track. Read returned to the lineup Sunday in the team’s shootout loss to Anaheim and was held off the score sheet while skating on a line centered by Sean Couturier and with Dale Weise on the other side. Head coach Dave Hakstol liked what he saw from his reconstituted third line: “I like that group the other night,” coach Dave Hakstol added. “I thought Dale Weise played, the last two games, really well. In Anaheim he was in on forechecks. He was in and heavy on pucks. That whole line was. I thought that line was effective the other night.” As Isaac notes, the Flyers have roughly 40 games left on their 2016-17 schedule but with other team’s in the division playing well, the team needs to start stringing some wins together.
  • Ron Smith, who spent seven seasons coaching in the Carolina Hurricanes minor league system, recently passed away at the age of 72. Luke DeCock of The News & Observer details the impact Smith had not only on the Hurricanes organization, but on the development of video analysis and statistical tracking. Smith helped develop Erik Cole, Eric Staal, Mike Commodore and Craig Adams, players who would be go on to help Carolina win a Stanley Cup in 2005-06. He also tracked scoring chances for and against long before anyone had heard of possession metrics such as Corsi or Fenwick, as DeCock notes. After his coaching career ended, Smith spent another decade as a pro scout for the Hurricanes before retiring from hockey altogether.

Minor Transactions: 1/3/17

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Joining whirlwinded New Jersey Devils winger Reid Boucher on waivers today is St. Louis Blues forward Ty Rattie. The 2011 second-round pick has been trying to carve out a role for himself at the NHL level for years, but to this point has just eight points in 30 games with the Blues over the past four seasons. After finally showing some pro potential with four goals and two assists in 13 games in 2015-16, coupled with the loss of David Backes and Troy Brouwer up front for St. Louis, many expected Rattie would finally take over as a starter in 2016-17. However, halfway though this campaign, Rattie has dressed for just four games, averaging about seven minutes of ice time, and has been held scoreless to boot.

The Blues are hoping to move Rattie through waivers and get him some playing time at the AHL level with the Chicago Wolves. It may not be that simple though. The shine of Rattie’s early draft status may have worn over the last five years, but at this point in the season with injuries piling up and under-performing depth causing frustration, teams are likely to give the two-way right winger some consideration. Rattie had 231 points combined in just two seasons to finish his junior career with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks, and has followed that up with three straight 40+ point AHL seasons to begin his pro career. It’ s no question that Rattie (4 NHL games, 3 AHL games) desperately needs some play time this season, but if a team can commit to letting him see the ice, they may just find that he rekindles his scoring touch. Insiders from the Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, and Boston Bruins have already speculated that their teams may be interested.

In other minor transactions:

  • Rather than dress an equipment manager again, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled goalie Daniel Altshuller from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL to serve as the backup to Cam Ward while Eddie Lack remains sidelined. Altshuller, a 2012 third-round pick, has been called up to the NHL level before, but has yet to make his debut. Since turning pro, Altshuller has spent time in both the AHL and ECHL. While his ECHL numbers have been impressive, he has yet to perform at the AHL level. So far in 2016-17, Altshuller has an .884 SV% and 3.44 GAA when playing with the Checkers. Those uninspiring numbers indicate that that Altshuller is unlikely to make his first NHL appearance this time around. His call-up is likely just as much about having a body on the bench as signing the equipment manager was. However, 2014 second rounder Alex Nedeljkovic has been even worse than Altshuller this year, and veteran Michael Leighton has been far from reliable in his few appearances for the ’Canes. If Lack remains out, Altshuller may be forced into service to relieve the overworked Ward.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have demoted forward Tyler Motte to the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs. Motte was expected to step in and be an impact rookie this season, but has fallen short of those expectations. He has played in 33 games for the Hawks, but has just seven points in one of the league’s most prolific offenses. Chicago hopes that a trip to the minors helps Motte to rediscover the instincts that excited fans this preseason and made him nearly a goal-per-game player at the University of Michigan last year. For now, Spencer Abbott has been recalled to replace Motte. The former UMaine star currently leads the Ice Hogs in points this season.
  • The Minnesota Wild have brought forward Kurtis Gabriel back into the fold, after sending him down to the Iowa Wild of the AHL last week. Gabriel is a cut-and-dry energy line player, but brings a welcome tenacity and checking ability to the Minnesota lineup.
  • Chris Wagner is headed back to the Anaheim Ducks yet again. The veteran forward has been shuffled between the Ducks and the AHL’s San Diego Gulls all season, with a move seemingly every week. With Ryan Getzlaf expected to be out for a game or two, Wagner will draw into the lineup. He has two goals in 21 games with the team this season.
  • The New York Ranger have recalled winger Nicklas Jensen from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. The young Danish forward was set to take a starting job with the Rangers this season, but was pushed out by free agent depth additions. Jensen has played in four games in New York this season, but has been held scoreless. Jensen showed flashes of a bright future when he was in Vancouver, but has been used sparingly since arriving in the Big Apple.

Atlantic Notes: Erne, Farnham, Mantha

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The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday, putting them just two points behind the Boston Bruins for the final divisional playoff spot with one game at hand. As they welcome in the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night, they’ll have a new face in the lineup. Adam Erne has been recalled by the team, and likely will make his NHL debut against the Jets. The 2nd round pick (33rd overall) has earned his stripes in the AHL this season and last with 47 points in 90 games. After scoring 86 in his final year of junior, the American-born Erne will look to make an impact at the NHL level.

The callup is likely to replace Bryan Boyle, who left last night’s game with a lower-body injury and did not return.

  • The Montreal Canadiens have also made a roster move, bringing up tough-guy Bobby Farnham from the AHL for the second half of their current 7-game road trip. Farnham has played in 64 NHL games and has just ten points and 121 penalty minutes.
  • Anthony Mantha is finally showing why he was picked 20th overall in 2013. The big winger has extended his current point streak to six games with a goal in the Centennial Classic in Toronto. That makes it seven points over that stretch, and 14 for the season in 22 games. If he can turn into the dominant power-forward he was projected to be for the Red Wings, perhaps it won’t be too long at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
  • After Johan Larsson suffered a dislocated wrist in Thursday’s game against the Boston Bruins, he has remained in a local hospital nursing the injury. Jourdon LaBarber reports that it’s also an elbow injury for Larsson, who will be out “long term” for the Sabres. He’ll travel back to Buffalo with the team on Monday for further evaluation.

Hurricanes Sign Equipment Manager To Serve As Emergency Back-up Goalie

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In what is shaping up as the year of the emergency goaltender, the Carolina Hurricanes have become the latest team to extend a PTO to an inactive player to ensure the have two healthy netminders for tonight’s game. Unlike Chicago, who earlier this season famously inked Eric Semborski to a PTO an hour before a game in Philadelphia, the Canes didn’t have to search too hard to find their emergency fill-in. Jorge Alves, Carolina’s equipment manager, is suiting up this evening to back up starter Cam Ward with Eddie Lack battling an illness and unable to go tonight.

Apparently Alves is no stranger to taking the ice with Carolina. According to the team’s official Twitter account, he often practices with the club. Even though the Hurricanes are utilizing Alves in a different role tonight, the team isn’t allowing him a break from his normal responsibilities. He painted his own goalie mask while a fellow equipment manager drew the caricatures.

The team’s Twitter account is having some fun with the event. They’ve posted several pictures of Alves performing his normal duties, including sharpening skate blades and taping stick blades. They’ve also created the hash tag “#HipHipJorge” which was trending in Raleigh earlier this evening.

Alves actually does have professional playing experience, appearing in seven ECHL league games over parts of the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. That would seem to give him a slight edge should the Hurricanes have the need to go to their back-up at some point this evening.

Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Sixth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?

Here are the results of our redraft so far:

1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
6th Overall: Tuukka Rask (Columbus Blue Jackets)
7th Overall: Bobby Ryan (Chicago Blackhawks)
8th Overall: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose Sharks)
9th Overall: Ben Bishop (Ottawa Senators)
10th Overall: James Neal (Vancouver Canucks)
11th Overall: T.J. Oshie (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Keith Yandle (New York Rangers)
13th Overall: Paul Stastny (Buffalo Sabres)
14th Overall: Marc Staal (Washington Capitals)
15th Overall: Patric Hornqvist (New York Islanders)
16th Overall: Niklas Hjalmarsson (Atlanta Thrashers)
17th Overall: Anton Stralman (Phoenix Coyotes)
18th Overall: Jack Johnson (Nashville Predators)
19th Overall: Matt Niskanen (Detroit Red Wings)
20th Overall: Justin Abdelkader (Florida Panthers)
21st Overall: Martin Hanzal (Toronto Maple Leafs)
22nd Overall: Andrew Cogliano (Boston Bruins)
23rd Overall: Kris Russell (New Jersey Devils)
24th Overall: Darren Helm (St. Louis Blues)
25th Overall: Cody Franson (Edmonton Oilers)

Now we move forward to the 26th pick, which was held by the Calgary Flames.

To recap how this works:

  • We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
  • The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.

Back in 2005, the Flames took defenseman Matt Pelech from the Sarnia Sting. Since being drafted, Pelech played a total of 13 games in the NHL, tallying four points (1-3). Of those 13 games, Pelech spent five with the Flames and the other eight with San Jose. During the 2013-14 season, Pelech spent time in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies after playing for both San Jose and its AHL affiliate Worcester. A season later, Pelech recorded 39 games with the Rochester Americans. Last season, Pelech appeared in 49 games for the Schwenningen Wild Wings in the DEL (Germany) and has played the current season with Graz EC in the Austrian league.

With the 26th pick of the 2005 NHL Redraft, who should the Flames select?  Cast your vote below! Mobile users, you can vote here!

With the 26th overall pick, the Calgary Flames select...
Benoit Pouliot 27.96% (144 votes)
Devin Setoguchi 20.00% (103 votes)
Vladimir Sobotka 15.53% (80 votes)
Mason Raymond 8.54% (44 votes)
Steve Downie 7.57% (39 votes)
Sergei Kostitsyn 6.60% (34 votes)
Jakub Kindl 5.83% (30 votes)
Nathan Gerbe 2.72% (14 votes)
Jared Boll 2.14% (11 votes)
Jack Skille 1.75% (9 votes)
Gilbert Brule 1.36% (7 votes)
Total Votes: 515

 

 

Carolina An Appealing Trade Partner

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In a recent article by ESPN’s Craig Custance titled “The NHL’s All-Trade-Candidates team“, his top line includes Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene, Toronto Maple Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk, and Detroit Red Wings winger Gustav Nyquist. The common denominator between all three of those struggling teams? They need defense. The team that Custance mentions as being willing and able to trade away a reliable top defenseman for one of these big-name forwards is the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes have quietly put together one of the deepest group of blue liners in the entire league over the past few years. Even excluding All-Star defenseman Justin Faulk, the team is still loaded with talented youth on the back end. The team’s second pair of 22-year-olds Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce have established themselves as legitimate NHLers, and 19-year-old Noah Hanifin, the 5th overall pick in 2015, continues to develop into a star. Former first rounder Ryan Murphy has been pushed out of the starting lineup and is surely available. Top prospects Haydn Fleury, Roland McKeown, and Josh Wesley are ready to contribute at the NHL level, and Trevor Carrick has been ready for a while now. 2016 first-rounder Jake Bean projects to be an NHL playmaker in the near future as well. Something has to give in Raleigh, as they have more talented defensemen than they have room for on the roster.

However, their forward core is still a work in progress. The Hurricanes are performing much better than many expected they would, but they are still a long-shot for a playoff berth in 2016-17, playing in the Metropolitan Division “group of  death”. They could be better if it wasn’t for a middling and inconsistent offense. The re-build is coming along much faster than expected, and Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho and their second 2016 first-round pick, Julien Gauthier, comprise a solid group of young scorers. However, the addition of a player in his prime like Duchene or van Riemsdyk may put them over the top, turning a rebuild into a contender. A mutually beneficial trade seems to be right around the corner.

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