Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Hurricanes Rumors

Senators Receiving Strong Interest In Vladimir Tarasenko

at CDT | by 5 Comments

Senators winger Vladimir Tarasenko is widely expected to be on the move in the next few days with Ottawa well out of playoff contention.  It appears there are several suitors for his services as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Panthers, Hurricanes, Bruins, Rangers, Golden Knights, and Oilers are among the teams who have inquired about him with Florida being high on Tarasenko’s preferred list of options.

The 32-year-old has had a solid season with Ottawa, his first with them after signing a one-year, $5MM deal in free agency.  Tarasenko has 17 goals and 24 assists in 57 games so far, good for fifth on the team in scoring.  Notably, he’s putting up those numbers with a bit less playing time than usual; his 16:03 is his lowest ATOI since his sophomore campaign back in 2013-14.  Assuming Ottawa is willing to pay the contract down by the maximum of 50%, they’ll be well-positioned to land a quality return.

According to Garrioch, the return Sens GM Steve Staios is looking for a two-piece return in exchange for Tarasenko.  One is a second-round pick and the other is a prospect.

There are two things worth noting on Tarasenko’s side.  First is that he has full trade protection which means he has to sign off on wherever he’s going.  The second is that he recently switched agents for the second time in less than a year, leading to speculation that he might want a contract extension as part of any swap to avoid what happened back in July when teams didn’t meet his initial asking price which is how he landed with Ottawa on a one-year fall-back deal.

Some of the above potential suitors would be hard-pressed to fit an extension for Tarasenko onto their books with their cap flexibility being limited to the final six weeks of this season, not next.  If that’s the case, that could certainly whittle down the list of potential suitors in a hurry unless some of those teams decide to do that now and figure out how to make the fit work on the cap down the road.

A year ago, Tarasenko was viewed as one of the big fish heading into the deadline, resulting in the Rangers giving up a first-round pick to add him (and Niko Mikkola) for the stretch run.  He isn’t quite in that territory this time around but for a team looking to add some secondary scoring, Tarasenko, a veteran of 97 career playoff appearances, could certainly be an impactful addition for a postseason contender.

Hurricanes Sign Max Comtois

at CDT | by 11 Comments

With the trade deadline coming up, some teams will be converting players on AHL deals to NHL ones to make them eligible to play down the stretch.  The Hurricanes are the latest to do so as they announced that they’ve signed winger Max Comtois to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay $775K in the NHL and $250K in the minors.  GM Don Waddell released the following statement on the signing:

Max is a physical forward with lots of NHL games under his belt. His experience at this level will add to our organizational depth at that position.

The 25-year-old played with Vegas in the preseason but didn’t lock down a spot with them.  Instead, he signed with AHL Chicago in mid-October, Carolina’s old farm team.  He has fared relatively well down there, notching 12 goals and 16 assists along with 97 penalty minutes in 45 games with the Wolves in his first taste of AHL action since the 2018-19 season.

Comtois has played in 210 career NHL games, all with Anaheim who drafted him 50th overall back in 2017.  He had 19 points in 64 games with them last season but was non-tendered as the team elected not to give him a $2.445MM qualifying offer.  Now, he’ll look to get an opportunity with Carolina down the stretch in the hopes of securing a full-time NHL agreement for next season.  That said, it won’t come right away as TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that Comtois will be on waivers on Tuesday to return to the Wolves for the time being.

Waddell: Andersen Could Play This Week; Hurricanes Could Move Goalie

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

It wasn’t that long ago that the Hurricanes were looking to add to their goaltending.  Now, GM Don Waddell might be taking a different approach as he told Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer that there’s a possibility that they wind up moving one of their four netminders.  Frederik Andersen (blood clots) could be back sometime this coming week while Pyotr Kochetkov, Antti Raanta (currently on IR), and Spencer Martin are also in the mix, potentially creating a four-goalie rotation at some point.  While extra depth is nice to have, that might be a bit much for the stretch run, even without their own AHL affiliate to draw from.

Hurricanes In Pursuit Of Forward Help

at CDT | by 2 Comments

  • The Hurricanes continue to pursue forward help as their top priority over the next seven days, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports. That includes smaller-scale additions outside of their reported interest in Canucks star center Elias Pettersson, which could very well flame out as extension talks between him and Vancouver continue. A quick scan of their forward group makes it clear they’d prefer to add a center above all else. 24-year-old Jack Drury is currently holding down the second line between Michael Bunting and Martin Nečas and, while he’s taken a step forward this season, still has only 26 points in 60 games – not at all the production you’d envision from the second-line center on a Stanley Cup-contending team.

Frederik Andersen On Track To Return Next Week

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen will hopefully return within the next week, per Hurricanes general manager and president Don Waddell. Andersen has been out since November 2nd, battling a deep-vein thrombosis with a subsequent pulmonary embolism. Andersen was cleared to resume skating on January 31st. Now nearly a month later, Andersen is progressing back to game readiness – a sigh of relief for a Carolina team that’s leaned on five different goalies this season.

Canucks, Hurricanes Discussed Elias Pettersson Trade Before Extension Talks

at CDT | by 23 Comments

The Vancouver Canucks came close to trading star centerman Elias Pettersson, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. Friedman shared that Vancouver was engaged in trade talks with the Carolina Hurricanes that advanced a serious enough point that Vancouver was forced to make a decision – ultimately opting to take another pass at extending the top-scoring 25-year-old. News of the trade talks was enough to inspire Pettersson to allow his representative Pat Brisson to continue discussing a new deal in Vancouver. The two sides remain steadfast on finding an extension, as reported earlier this week.

While Pettersson rumors have swirled around in light of few extension talks, there has yet to be serious weight to any trade talks. That’s now changed, as the Canucks inched towards dealing their star to one of the NHL’s premier teams. There’s no doubting that any deal involving Pettersson would go down in history. The young forward has 29 goals and 75 points in just 61 games this season, scoring at an 82-game pace of 39 goals and 101 points. That would fall just narrowly short of the career-high Pettersson recorded last season, when he managed 39 goals and 102 points in 80 games.

Pettersson’s scoring this season leads all U26 players in the NHL, ahead of major names like Cale Makar, Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Tim Stutzle. Speculating a price for such one of the league’s top players is never an easy feat – and Pettersson’s case is made even more difficult by the lack of clear assets on either side. The most recent comparable deal is likely when the Calgary Flames traded Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a first-round pick.

But that trade swapped one 100-point scorer for another, something that Carolina neither has nor would be willing to part with. The Hurricanes’ greatest value sits in 26-year-old Sebastian Aho, 21-year-old Seth Jarvis, and 23-year-old Andrei Svechnikov. One of these names would likely need to move in a Pettersson deal – both to add value and create lineup space – though Carolina would still likely need to add value. That could come in the form of reliable centerman Martin Nečas, who has come into his own in recent seasons, or defense depth such as Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, or Dmitry Orlov. Carolina also has their first-round pick in each of the next three drafts, all of which could have come into play.

Vancouver is, for now, aiming towards extending Pettersson – likely poised to offer him a record-setting contract. If they do, they’ll lock up their forward of the future to lineup alongside defenseman of the future Quinn Hughes, who has three more seasons left in a six-year, $47.1MM contract signed in October of 2021.

Jalen Chatfield Set To Return

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Hurricanes Notes: Necas, Rees, Webber

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

While the Hurricanes might not be shopping forward Martin Necas, it doesn’t appear as if they’re hanging up the phone either when teams call about him.  Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that the team has made it known that they’re willing to listen on the 25-year-old.  Necas had a breakout year last season with 71 points in 82 games and has followed that up with 42 points in 53 games so far this season.

While that’s not the type of player that they should even be listening to offers on while they’re sitting comfortably in a playoff spot, it’s worth noting that Necas will be a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration eligibility.  He’ll be owed a $3.5MM qualifying offer and could push for close to double that much; if they’ve determined they can’t afford him for next season, then they could decide that moving him now would yield the most value.  Of course, if they did so, they’d also have a big hole to fill in their top six.

More from Carolina:

  • The Hurricanes have re-assigned forward Jamieson Rees from AHL Springfield to Charlotte, per a team release from the Checkers. Carolina doesn’t have its own affiliate this season and Rees had been quite limited with Springfield where he had just three assists in 30 games after putting up 42 points in 65 games last season.  The 23-year-old is in the final season of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent without arbitration rights this summer.
  • Prospect defenseman Cade Webber is in the final season of his college career and has to sign with Carolina by August 15th or become an unrestricted free agent. According to Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link), the 23-year-old is leaning toward the latter option of the two.  The 6’7 Webber was a fourth-round pick by the Hurricanes back in 2019 (99th overall) and while his offensive game is quite limited) he has just one goal in his four seasons with Boston University, he’s leading Division I in blocks with 107 and is a true stay-at-home shutdown type of defender.

Jalen Chatfield Remains Out Sunday

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

  • Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield is absent from tonight’s ongoing contest against the Sabres with an upper-body injury, according to the NHL’s roster report. Chatfield remains listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and has now missed his fourth straight contest. The 27-year-old Michigan native last suited up on Feb. 17 against the Golden Knights, and Carolina is 2-1-0 in his absence. The rock-steady bottom-pairing defender has five goals and 14 points in 49 games this season while averaging a career-high 14:52 per game. In line with the rest of the team, the undrafted free agent has a strong 59.3% Corsi share at even strength, tracking similarly to his previous two seasons in Raleigh. Chatfield is in the back half of a two-year, $1.525MM extension and will be a UFA this summer.

Frederik Andersen Expected To Return Within 2 Weeks

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Hurricanes netminder Frederik Andersen is expected to return to play within one to two weeks after missing most of the season with blood clotting issues, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports Wednesday.

Andersen, 34, last played in a 2-1 loss to the Rangers on Nov. 2. Four days later, GM Don Waddell announced the Dane would be out indefinitely after medical tests uncovered the clotting problems.

Team doctors then cleared him to resume “limited on-ice conditioning” at the end of January, ending a nearly three-month recovery period. Waddell also confirmed that Andersen’s clotting issues stemmed from a deep-vein thrombosis and subsequent pulmonary embolism, which is life-threatening without emergency care.

The Hurricanes did not issue a timeline for Andersen’s return, but he’s steadily ramped up his conditioning over the past few weeks. He was far enough in his recovery to face shots from teammates in the starter’s crease during Monday’s practice as a fill-in for de facto starter Pyotr Kochetkov, who was taking a maintenance day.

The updated return timeline should allow Andersen to start at least one game before the March 8 trade deadline, which could further dissuade Waddell from acquiring another veteran netminder to supplant the struggling Antti Raanta (12-7-2, .872 SV%) in the backup role. Waiver claim Spencer Martin has helped alleviate Carolina’s goaltending concerns in limited action, posting a .920 SV%, 2.00 GAA, and 3-0-0 record in three starts.

Kochetkov, 24, has rebounded nicely after a slow start and is now up to a .905 SV% on the season with two shutouts. He’s started the most games out of any Hurricanes netminder this year with 26 and two relief appearances. However, his poor showings in limited playoff action (5 GP, 1 GS, 1-3-0, .858 SV%) likely give Waddell pause about entering the postseason with him as the only starting option.

Andersen’s .894 SV% through the campaign’s first month is far from impressive, but it’s easy to give the two-time Jennings Trophy winner the benefit of the doubt. He’s two years removed from a spectacular 2021-22 campaign with Carolina that saw him fall just short of a Vezina nomination, and he was excellent in nine playoff games last year to help backstop the Hurricanes to an Eastern Conference Final showing with a .927 SV% and 1.83 GAA. A healthy version of Andersen changes the Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup aspirations dramatically, and they’d ideally like to get him into game action as soon as possible to assess his readiness before leveraging Raanta or Martin at the deadline for a minor depth upgrade in the crease.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top