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Poll: Impact Of The Estimated Cap Increase

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Earlier this week, Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly spoke with the media about many different league topics. Perhaps the biggest news to come out of the press conference was Daly’s estimation of the salary cap for next season. Daly believes that the salary cap will fall somewhere between $78MM and $82MM, meaning that there will be a significant increase in the salary cap. The cap limit has increased by $2MM or less in each of the past three seasons, but the low point of the estimated range would already be a $3MM increase over the 2017-18 cap number. If it ends up near the top of the range, it will likely be the largest jump in the salary cap in league history.

Whatever the result, the cap increase will undoubtedly affect this off-season. Prior to Daly’s projection, teams like the Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Tampa Bay Lightning were going to face an immense cap crunch this summer and likely would have been forced to shed salary. Those teams can now breathe easier. However, teams on the lower end of the salary spectrum who don’t spend to the cap, such as the Carolina Hurricanes and Arizona Coyotes, will find it even harder to catch up in a market that that has lessened its grip on the stronger, higher payroll teams. With a higher cap comes salary inflation, which is another struggle for small market teams. The cap increase may also allow for some of the bigger talked-about trades and free agent movement – John Tavares, Erik Karlsson, Phil Kessel, ect. –  to happen. However, the flip side is that a salary cap increase gives teams incentive to add, but not subtract and could lessen the amount of total trades we see this summer.

What do you think? Is this potentially historic increase in the salary cap ceiling a good thing for the league?

How Do You Feel About The Estimated NHL Salary Cap Increase?
It is good for the league - it allows strong teams to stay together and allows big names to move freely 62.87% (430 votes)
No opinion - the cap increases every year and the estimated limit will not have a major impact 23.98% (164 votes)
It is bad for the league - it hurts small market teams and competitive balance and may hinder the trade market 13.16% (90 votes)
Total Votes: 684

Latest On Noah Hanifin, Carolina Hurricanes

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Last week Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet piqued quite a bit of interest with his inclusion of the Vancouver Canucks as a “stealth team” for Noah Hanifin, and this morning he was asked about his thoughts on the subject. Hanifin is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer but had previously been considered off limits thanks to his high draft pedigree and solid young career. Friedman’s comments though—as relayed by Sportsnet 650’s Rick Dhaliwal on Twitter—bring up the idea that a big package has been thrown around to try and pull the defenseman away from the Carolina Hurricanes:

I believe that the Canucks have shown interest in Hanifin, and I believe that whatever they’ve talked about the Hurricanes haven’t discounted it. 

Look, I know this is going to go bananas. I’m just going to say this is my guess. My guess is it involves the seventh overall pick, but I don’t know that for sure.

Obviously these statements leave plenty of room for speculation and shouldn’t be taken as a new report, but Friedman’s continued belief that the two have had discussions only raises new questions on the availability of Hanifin in the first place. Since new ownership took over the Hurricanes have been clear about their desire to make changes to the club before next season and could see their 21-year old defenseman as their best trade chip. Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk have also had their names floated in trade rumors, though nothing concrete has surfaced yet.

For Vancouver, targeting Hanifin makes a lot of sense. The team is building a young core around players like Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson, but needs to put together an effective blue line to experience any real success. With top prospect Olli Juolevi still yet to make his debut, and young players like Ben Hutton and Troy Stecher already getting expensive through restricted free agency, landing another top-4 option with plenty of club control could improve them dramatically.

Speculating about what the package would be is a fool’s errand at this point, as Friedman can’t even definitively report that the two have had negotiations. Still, it’s something to keep an eye on as the Hurricanes approach the June 22nd draft holding the second-overall pick and plenty of trade currency. It could be a very interesting few days for GM Don Waddell, as he looks to make his mark on the Hurricanes.

Carolina Hurricanes Re-Sign Trevor Carrick

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The Carolina Hurricanes have brought back one of their best minor league players, re-signing Trevor Carrick to a one-year two-way contract worth $700K in the NHL. Carrick was scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer. In the release, new GM Don Waddell explained that Carrick might not be a minor league player for long:

Trevor had another solid season in the AHL and continued to be a steady leader for the Checkers. We expect to have a competitive training camp, and he will be among the players who have opportunities to step up and earn time on the NHL level.

Selected in the fourth round in 2012, the 23-year old Carrick has become an outstanding puck-moving threat for the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. Posting seasons of 32, 42 and 44 points in his three seasons not affected by injury, the left-handed defenseman has earned a bit of attention from the NHL club. In three career NHL games, Carrick has zero points, but he could push for a bigger role if the Hurricanes trade some of their defensive depth this summer.

If not, Carrick will likely find himself in another leadership role on the Checkers. He wore an “A” as an alternate captain the last two seasons and if his future lies in the AHL long-term he may end up as captain one day. Luckily for the Hurricanes, Carrick was born on July 4th and won’t qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency until the summer of 2020.

Snapshots: Canadiens’ Center Search, Huska, Carrier

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With the Montreal Canadiens looking to fill their holes at the center position this offseason and little immediate value at that position with their No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft, Montreal could find themselves looking long and hard to find a quality center to fit into their lineup this offseason. Assuming they don’t get star John Tavares to bite on July 1, the team might have no choice but to make a deal for a center to fill their need.

The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription required) writes that there are two legitimate possibilities for the Canadiens on the trade market, including Ryan O’Reilly of the Buffalo Sabres and Elias Lindholm of the Carolina Hurricanes. The scribe writes that after recent end-0f-the-season comments he made about being more accepting of losing, O’Reilly is trying to force his way out of Buffalo and might be a perfect fit in Montreal. While he would likely make a better No. 2 center, O’Reilly is very talented and the team might be able to package together a combination of picks and young forwards to take on O’Reilly’s contract of $7.5MM over the next five years. The 27-year-old still put up some of the best numbers in his career this year with 24 goals and 61 points.

With the Carolina Hurricanes open for business, Lindholm might be a player the Canadiens take a chance on. The restricted free agent has had a promising start to his career, but also an inconsistent one, but likely would get a big payday after a 16-goal, 44-point season. If Carolina would like to avoid handing Lindholm a big contract, Montreal might be able to step in and give them an alternative as a combination of Lindholm and Jonathan Drouin would give them a solid young core up the middle for years.

  • Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun writes that the Calgary Flames are on the verge of announcing their assistant coaches that will aid new head coach Bill Peters this season after the team let assistants Paul Jerrard and Dave Cameron go when they fired Glen Gulutzan on April 17. While he didn’t have any specifics other than the announcement will come some time next week, Francis did speculate that the team might be leaning towards promoting Stockton Heat head coach Ryan Huska.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights are likely to get one of their players back from injury for the Stanley Cup Finals as William Carrier practiced today in a non-contact jersey, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. In fact, Schoen writes that head coach Gerard Gallant announced that he expects Carrier to be available for the Stanley Cup Finals. Carrier didn’t play in the Western Conference Finals due to an undisclosed injury has been a key member of the team’s fourth line.

Latest On Carolina Hurricanes Trade Rumors

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The Carolina Hurricanes are expected to be big players this summer as they try to change their fortunes in 2018-19. With a new owner in Tom Dundon, new GM in Don Waddell and new coach in Rod Brind’Amour, changes have already occurred throughout the organization. On the ice, rumors have surfaced around players like Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk, with Waddell clearly wanting to shake things up. One name that is often included in trade speculation, but usually avoids being mentioned by anyone associated with the team, is Noah Hanifin.

The fifth-overall pick from 2015 stepped right into the NHL a few months after his draft, and is now three seasons deep in what has been an impressive young career. Just 21, Hanifin is now a restricted free agent for the first time and could be dangled as trade bait to try and land an even bigger fish. The Hurricanes have plenty of good options on defense, and even more coming with the likes of Haydn Fleury, Jake Bean and Roland McKeown. Still, it was hard to believe that the team would move on from Hanifin after taking another step forward offensively and looking like he could be a long-term core piece of the team. That’s why it was so interesting when Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet noted in his latest 31 Thoughts column that the Vancouver Canucks could be a “stealth team” in pursuit of the young defenseman. Friedman didn’t expand on it at all, obviously not wanting to reveal whatever made him observe the potential fit.

On the surface, it’s not clear what fit there would be. The Hurricanes are looking for scoring help up front, and other than Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser—both of whom aren’t expected to be dealt any time soon—there isn’t a lot of high-end talent on the Canucks forward roster. Top prospect Elias Pettersson is surely off limits, and Adam Gaudette isn’t enough on his own to land Hanifin.

An interesting thought though could be Waddell’s recent comments on the goaltending situation in Carolina. The Hurricanes struggled in net last season, with Cam Ward feeling the effects of age and Scott Darling not able to reproduce his success from Chicago. Though the latter is still under contract, it’s not clear where the answer is for the Hurricanes in the short or long-term. Vancouver could present an answer to that, as goaltending prospect Thatcher Demko is considered ready for the NHL and is expected to be of starting caliber for his career. The 22-year old is stuck behind Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson for the time being, but many believe he is the Canucks’ goaltender of the future. Interestingly though, the team also has Michael DiPietro in the system, who starred in the OHL again and even got to be part of Team Canada at the World Championship. Though he didn’t play for the team, his selection as the third goaltender just shows how highly he is regarded as a prospect. There’s no guarantee DiPietro even finds success at the AHL level, but so far he’s done nothing to show that he’s not deserving of the third-round selection Vancouver used last summer.

Even if Vancouver doesn’t land Hanifin, the idea that Friedman would need to reveal them as a “stealth” team lends credence to the idea that the young Hurricanes defenseman is available, at least for the right price. Though that return would have to be hefty, some team could land themselves quite the prize if there is a deal to be made. Hanifin should get a substantial raise this summer, but as a legitimate top-4 option that is still only 21-years old, it would be hard to find a team that wouldn’t accept him into their dressing room.

Hurricanes Open To Retaining Salary In Trades

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  • With the report last week that the Hurricanes are open for business when it comes to player movement, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted during a segment with Sportsnet 960 (audio link) that they will be willing to retain on contracts to improve their return, particularly with winger Jeff Skinner. They already have one of their three retention slots used up when they held back 10% of center Marcus Kruger’s contract in the trade with Arizona earlier this month.  He also suggested that while winger Sebastian Aho may be considered the lone untouchable off the active roster, center Martin Necas, their 2017 first-round pick, also has that distinction and that teams have been calling regarding his availability.

Offseason Keys: Carolina Hurricanes

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While the playoffs are ongoing, many teams have already started their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league?  Our Offseason Keys series continues with a look at the Carolina Hurricanes.

It has already been a busy offseason in Carolina.  They’ve made changes both behind the bench (Rod Brind’Amour replacing Bill Peters) and at GM (Don Waddell replacing Ron Francis) and even have made a trade with the acquisition of Jordan Martinook from the Coyotes.  Despite all of that, they’re still in for a busy summer; here are some keys to making it a successful one.

New Deals For RFAs

While the Hurricanes were active in locking up two key members of their back end a year early with the extensions handed out to defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce, there is still one more to lock up in Noah Hanifin.

The 21-year-old is coming off of his best season, one that saw him post career highs in goals (10), points (32), and average time on ice (18:52) which will certainly help in negotiations.  He also was named to the All-Star Game for the first time in his career.  While he hasn’t become the top-pairing player that Carolina envisioned when they made him the fifth overall pick in 2015 yet, he appears to be well on his way towards being an impact blueliner for years to come.  Both Slavin and Pesce surpassed the $4MM mark in their deals (Slavin checks in at $5.3MM) and a long-term pact for Hanifin would undoubtedly check in past that amount as well.  Assuming that happens, that means that Carolina will have four defenders over that price point (Justin Faulk being the other) which would be a drastic increase in spending for a group that had a combined cap hit of just under $9MM this season.

Elias Lindholm is another intriguing restricted free agent that they will need to make a decision on.  His bridge deal has come to an end and his numbers aren’t that much different compared to what they were at the completion of his entry-level deal.  He’s part of their core but it appears he will be more of a role player than a key, impact one.  Lindholm is only 23 but is just two years away from UFA eligibility so another short-term pact would come with some risk.

Goalie Upgrade

Around this time last year, Carolina struck early on the goalie market, acquiring the negotiating rights to Scott Darling from Chicago and they wasted little time signing him to a four-year, $16.6MM contract.  In doing so, they secured their goalie of the future, or so they thought.

2017-18 was not a pretty season for Darling whose first go-round as a starter is one he’d like to forget.  He struggled out of the gate and wound up ceding a lot of playing time to Cam Ward and at the end, his numbers (3.18 GAA and a .888 SV%) were both well below the league average.  Meanwhile, Ward is now 34 and hasn’t posted a save percentage above .910 for six seasons.  Suffice it to say, he’s not a long-term solution either.

It appears that Waddell has reached a similar conclusion as he stated earlier this week that the team can’t bring back the same goalie tandem.  With Darling being tough to deal at this point, that would appear to signal that Ward is on the way out.  While Alex Nedeljkovic is coming off of a nice season at the minor league level, he’s not going to come in and make a big impact right away either.

Accordingly, it looks like they will be looking outside the organization to fill that second spot.  Given how Darling struggled, it stands to reason that they will be looking to find a starter or at least some with some experience in that role.  The free agent market has some platoon options but no clear-cut starters so if they’re looking to bring an undisputed number one in, they may have to go the trade route to do so.

Determine The Shakeup

Carolina’s core has been intact for a while now with Francis preferring to build things up slowly.  With Thomas Dundon’s ownership, that’s widely expected to change.  The question is, who will the casualties be?

Winger Jeff Skinner is one year away from unrestricted free agency and is coming off of a bit of a down season as he failed to hit the 50-point mark for the first time in three seasons.  Despite that, he has been a fairly consistent goal scorer and there would be no shortage of suitors if he was to be made available.

Meanwhile, assuming Hanifin is locked up long-term, that could call into question Faulk’s future with the team.  He also had a down season in 2017-18 but has a long track record of success and he carries a cap hit of just over $4.8MM which is decent value for a legitimate top-four defender.  There would undoubtedly be plenty of interest if he hit the trade block as well.

Of course, it’s certainly possible that a different core player or two get moved and these two stick around.  However, regardless of who goes, it appears that even more changes are coming in Carolina and with most of the moves so far coming off the ice, it’s pretty much a guarantee that the next changes will be on it instead.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Carolina Hurricanes Sign Saku Maenalanen

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Friday: The Hurricanes have officially announced the signing.  The deal comes with an $832,500 salary in the NHL. New GM Don Waddell had this to say about his newest prospect:

Saku is a big, strong winger who can really skate. Our scouting staff has been tracking this player for a long time. He had options when it came to where he would start his NHL career, and we’re pleased he has chosen Carolina.

Thursday: According to a Finnish news source (and seemingly confirmed by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet), the Carolina Hurricanes have signed Saku Maenalanen to an entry-level contract. Maenalanen is currently playing for Finland at the World Championships, after a breakout season with Karpat. The 23-year old would be limited to a one-year entry-level contract due to his age.

Maenalanen was originally selected in the fifth round by the Nashville Predators in 2013, but never signed with the club and eventually became an unrestricted free agent. Some time developing in Finland did him well, as he scored 46 points in 59 games this season as one of the top offensive players in the entire league. That was followed by a solid postseason that concluded with a third Liiga championship for the young player. The performance on the biggest stage isn’t surprising, as many will remember his seven-goal performance at the 2014 World Juniors, where he won gold playing on a line with fellow Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen.

That familiarity may come in handy if Maenalanen cracks the Carolina roster, as he likely would be used in an offensive role in the NHL. The 6’4″ winger has great hands around the net and can find weak spots in the defensive coverage. There’s no guarantee that he’ll jump right to the NHL, but his solid performance at the current Worlds is only helping his case.

Carolina Hurricanes “Can’t Bring The Same Two Guys Back” In Goal

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The Carolina Hurricanes went out in the spring of 2017 and brought in who they believed could be the answer in goal. After a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, the Hurricanes signed Scott Darling to a four-year $16.6MM contract to be the team’s starting netminder. Unfortunately, Darling never really found his game in Carolina and ended up with a disastrous .888 save percentage on the season. Cam Ward, the tenured backup, didn’t perform much better with an .906 save percentage, leading many to question how the team would go about fixing the problem this summer.

With Ward scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in July, new GM Don Waddell has made it clear that he’s in the market for an upgrade in net. On Sirius XM NHL Network today, Waddell explained the Hurricanes’ position:

We know we have to make change there, we know we can’t bring the same two guys back. Scott Darling came to camp last year probably not in the best condition, and we never got him to where he was in Chicago…

…we feel there is still something there, we’re going to do everything we can to put Scott in the best situation to have success. In saying that we are in the market, and I’ve made it very clear to all the GMs I’ve talked to that we are going to try to address our goaltending. If there is a guy that makes sense for us out there, we certainly are going to look to make that move.

It’s not clear who the Hurricanes would be targeting, but Waddell was open that changes will be made. When asked about Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk—two players who have drawn plenty of interest and speculation—potentially being on the block, Waddell noted that he’s in discussions about not only those players but several others.

While nothing seems imminent in Carolina, there is a big offseason brewing as they try to reinvigorate the franchise. After winning the second-overall pick in the draft lottery the team will likely be able to push Andrei Svechnikov (or perhaps one of the other top players) directly into their lineup and try to reestablish themselves as a contender in the Metropolitan Division. To do that they need goaltending, but they certainly haven’t overlooked that fact.

Carolina Hurricanes Open For Business As Offseason Nears

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The Carolina Hurricanes have already undergone massive changes to their front office and coaching staff since new owner Tom Dundon took over. Ron Francis and Bill Peters have been moved out, while Don Waddell and Rod Brind’Amour have taken over. Now it sounds like the playing roster might be next. On TSN 1050 yesterday, Bob McKenzie opined about the Hurricanes and how they will approach this offseason, explaining that there could be big changes coming for several players.

There’s one guy on the team that they’re not prepared to trade—Sebastian Aho. Everybody else, everybody else is available. [Jeff] Skinner, you name it. Skinner’s getting moved, I would think.

Everybody except for Aho. I think [Justin] Faulk’s very much in play, I think Skinner’s very much in play. Hey listen, there’s some guys who whenever they say there’s only one untouchable, obviously there’s a sliding scale of value where the price coming back the other way has to be off the charts. 

It’s not the first we’ve heard of Skinner being available, as several different reports have indicated that teams are expressing interest in the three-time 30-goal man. Headed for unrestricted free agency in 2019, Skinner could be a target this summer for a team looking to improve their goal scoring. The 25-year old had a down year in 2018-19 with only 24 goals, but has proven he’s one of the best in the league at putting the puck in the net.

Faulk on the other hand is an interesting option, as he carries two years on his contract with a reasonable cap hit. The Hurricanes have been expected for years to move one of their surplus defensemen, with Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and others already able to carry the load. If Faulk was to be traded, he’d fetch quite a price from a team looking to upgrade their right side, though he does come with his share of inconsistencies. The 26-year old scored just eight goals this season after racking up at least 15 in three consecutive seasons, but is still a capable offensive puck-mover that could thrive in the right situation.

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