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Carolina Hoping For Darling Of A Season

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Carolina have been perceived as ’winners’ of this off-season, despite accomplishing only minor upgrades on paper. Outside of signing their own RFAs, Carolina acquired Marcus Kruger and Trevor van Riemsdyk in trades. In the free agent market, they acquired the services of senior Justin Williams via UFA. Although solid acquisitions, Carolina was nowhere near a contender prior to these transactions. So to what do we attribute the grand sense of optimism in and around Raleigh?

Summarizing Adam Gretz of NBC Sports: Scott Darling. Darling was acquired back in April after the Blackhawks were eliminated from playoff contention. Subsequently, the team relieved itself of Eddie Lack’s services by offloading him to the Calgary Flames, while relegating long-time Cane Cam Ward to the backup role. Gretz rightfully spotlights Darling as a potential saviour to the team in the short-term. Darling certainly has the credentials to backstop an NHL team, as his career .924 save percentage is quite impressive. Last year, he tallied a 18-5-5 record – he seems ready to perform. Gretz also showcases the fact that Carolina allowed the second-least amount of shots against in the past three seasons (behind Los Angeles), while the goals-against-average was on the lower end of the middle pack. He points to the success of Carey Price on a middling Canadiens squad as rationale to hope for a resurgence in the standings.

Although Gretz is correct in assuming Carolina will likely improve, it doesn’t necessarily ensure a playoff berth. In the Metropolitan division, even the Islanders’ 94 points were insufficient to land the team Spring hockey. Four teams (Washington, Pittsburgh, Columbus, NY Rangers) all finished above 100 points. The Hurricanes finished with 87. Although Victor Rask and Sebastien Aho are nearly certain to have improved outputs, the competition remains fierce. The team will need to avoid multiple game losing streaks and start the season off on the correct foot. Although impressive down the season’s stretch, Carolina couldn’t clinch their first berth since 2009. If coach Bill Peters is to remain in his current position, he will need quick, inspiring success in 2017.

Although an 8-point improvement is certainly within the realm of possibility, Carolina will need to rely on health and the steady progression of its young players. Elias Lindholm and Teuvo Teravainen could both push for 20 goals, and Aho could easily become a star. If tides turn for the worse, however, expect GM Ron Francis to be proactive in his approach, despite the re-assuring words provided to Chip Alexander of the News & Observer. Francis certainly has room to be active on the trade market as well, with 8 upcoming free agents (4 UFA, 4 RFA) in 2018, and a wealth of space to maneuver. With an astounding $17.2 MM in space, it will nevertheless be difficult for Francis to successfully lobby for the acquisition of a large contract, considering the tenuous owner situation. Still, ownership should allow its GM marginal leeway in the hopes of catapulting the Canes into the the post-season. If Francis does go on the hunt for additional roster players, it would likely take the form of additional scoring or a veteran defender. Those first few months in Raleigh very well could determine the season’s trajectory, so those who are hungry for movement might look toward the tar heel state for early action.

Hurricanes Waiting Before Dealing Defensive Depth

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After four years of being at or near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes are working hard to ensure that they team begins to make a turnaround. Their offseason spoke to that as they went out and acquired goaltender Scott Darling, signed former Hurricane Justin Williams to a two-year deal and traded for center Marcus Kruger and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk.

What the team is lacking however, is a top center that could help anchor their first or second line. The Hockey News’ Lyle Richardson writes the team should consider moving some of their young defensive depth to accommodate this need. While general manager Ron Francis has done an excellent job stockpiling talent, the team suddenly has quite a bit of it on defense and might be able to pull off a deal for a quality center, perhaps even being a good trading partner for the Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene.

The team already has three defensemen locked up long term. Justin Faulk had an excellent season last year and still has three years left on his deal at $4.83MM per season. The 25-year-old blueliner is coming off a 17-goal season. The team also inked two of their young defenders within the last month to long-term deals in Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce. Slavin finished the year with five goals and 29 assists, while Pesce tallied two goals and 18 assists, both in their second year in the league. Former fifth-overall pick in 2015 Noah Hanifin is also looking good and was picked as a third-year breakout candidate by PHR’s Gavin Lee. In his second year in the league as well, Hanifin had four goals and 25 assists. Throw in 26-year olds Klas Dahlbeck and van Riemsdyk as well as 2016 first-round pick Jake Bean and the team’s defense is deep.

One holdup may be that Francis may want to see how each of these young defenders develop before trading them off. Any of them could have a breakout season in the next year or two. So while a deal may not be imminent, the Hurricanes do have the assets to pull off a major deal.

 

 

Snapshots: Stafford, Hurricanes, Johns, Stevens

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The Bruins have maintained communication with UFA right winger Drew Stafford, CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty reports.  However, it appears that at this point, a tryout offer may be what he ultimately winds up getting if he is to return to Boston.

Stafford, who rated 21st in our Top 50 Free Agents list, was an under-the-radar trade deadline acquisition for the Bruins and wound up being a serviceable player for the stretch run, where he collected eight points (4-4-8) in the final 18 games of the regular season.  He’s also only a year removed from a 20-goal season so it’s likely that he’ll continue to look for a guaranteed contract for the time being over accepting a PTO offer with still more than a month to go until training camp.

More notes from around the hockey world:

  • Hurricanes GM Ron Francis is still talking with other teams about possible moves, he told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. However, he is prepared to enter next season with the roster he has if nothing else pans out.  Carolina has already added several players this offseason including new starting goaltender Scott Darling, defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, and center Marcus Kruger while most recently inking blueliners Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce to long-term extensions.
  • Although center Cody Eakin was selected by the Golden Knights from the Stars in the Expansion Draft, they at one time had their eyes on defenseman Stephen Johns which played a big role in Dallas protecting him, notes Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. The 25-year-old was in and out of the lineup as part of their defensive rotation last season but since they ultimately decided to protect him from Vegas, that may give him a better shot at securing more of a full-time spot in the lineup in 2017-18.
  • UFA goaltender Colin Stevens, who was under contract the past two seasons with Florida, has signed a one year deal with the Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL team announced. The Panthers declined to tender him a qualifying offer in June after the completion of his entry-level contract.  Through his first two professional seasons, the 24-year-old has not yet played past the ECHL level despite a very strong run with Union College in his NCAA career.

Hurricanes, Flames Hire Analytics Experts

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The analytics movement in hockey is no longer a novel thing. Nearly every team has embraced advanced analytics, with some teams housing entire analytics departments even. Thus, it is no surprise when teams announce that they have hired an analytics expert to their front office staff. What remains interesting however is where some teams find these new additions. Last year, the Vegas Golden Knights hired General Fanager creator Tom Poraszka as a Hockey Operations Analyst to help get their player evaluations off an running ahead of the NHL Expansion Draft and Entry Draft. Now, it seems the Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames have taken a page out of that book.

The Hurricanes announced today that they have hired datarink.com creator Kevin Kan to join their staff. Kan will be given the title of Data Engineer and will surely have similar duties to the function of his website. Data Rink was a hockey statistics visualizations site, scraping NHL data and putting it into forms that better displayed the co-mingling of different stats and advanced analytics. Carolina has already put together a talented and extremely deep defensive corps, not to mention acquiring their presumed franchise goalie in Scott Darling, but need to find a way to boost scoring. Whether examining data from draft-eligible prospects or current pros, Kan can help GM Ron Francis in his search for that missing link up front that can take the ’Canes to contender status.

The Flames had a similar thought, hiring David Johnson, the mind behind both hockeyanalysis.com and puckalytics.com, which have already been taken down. Sportsnet’s John Shannon reported the hire, adding that Calgary has recently been focused on improving its analytics ability. Johnson is a good fit for the job, as he was one of the first to adopt and explore both Corsi and Fenwick, major advanced analytic statistics. Unlike Kan, who simply displayed data in creative ways, Johnson has used his analysis to often fight for or against the value of one player or another. Johnson has had his fair share of both hits and misses in that practice, but what he provides to the Flames is a knowledge base and different point of view on any projects and questions facing GM Brad Treliving, who has been plenty busy this off-season with the addition of Travis Hamonic, Spencer Foo, Mike Smith, and Eddie Lack already. Now that the championship window is open in Calgary, Johnson will come in handy when evaluation is necessary to make sure no further moves derail those title chances.

While it is tough for fans to see some of their favorite analytics sites continue to disappear, it is refreshing to see the game continue to embrace analytics and those leading the charge find employment at the highest level.

Snapshots: Clarkson, NMCs, Hurricanes

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have been rumored to be in discussions with the Vegas Golden Knights over a possible David Clarkson deal for some time, and today Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet again hinted at a possible trade between the two teams. The fact that Vegas might take on a bad contract is no surprise, but the potential return will shock many people. Friedman on Sportsnet 960:

Vegas is the epicenter of [all the trade talks]. I think they’re looking at a deal with Columbus, most likely for David Clarkson. They’ll get some nice pieces out of that, probably a first-round draft pick and maybe a prospect or two.

That would seem like an extremely high price to get Clarkson’s contract off the books, seeing as how he won’t even see the ice in Vegas as his injury has virtually retired him at this point. The Blue Jackets have already moved their second-round pick this season, so moving the #24 selection would mean they would be heading to the podium for their first selection at #86. That’s a long way down for any team to wait in a draft, even one with the solid young core that Columbus has built. Since Clarkson can be placed on LTIR when the season begins, the benefit for the Blue Jackets would be almost entirely in the offseason where they could spend more money re-signing their players and dabbling in free agency. If the salary cap stays flat, the team simply must move out some salary in order to retain Josh Anderson and Alexander Wennberg, both of whom are restricted free agents this summer.

  • The deadline for requests to waive a no-movement clause has come and gone, and we only know for certain about a handful of players. Michael Russo of the Star Tribune and Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun both report that their respective teams will not announce whether they’ve asked Jason Pominville or Toby Enstrom to waive their clauses. Both players would be doing their team a great favor for the expansion draft if they did waive them, but many in the game believe that if you’ve worked hard enough to deserve one you shouldn’t be asked to waive it for any reason. Earlier today it was reported that Marc-Andre Fleury waived his clause back in February, giving the Penguins some certainty at the position but still playing some of his very best hockey in the playoffs for the club. We’ll find out who all waived their clauses when the protection lists come out on Sunday morning.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have promoted two scouts in their organization, naming Sheldon Ferguson head North American scout and Robert Kron head European scout. Both will remain under the purview of Tony MacDonald who will continue in his role as Director of Amateur Scouting. These promotions come at a time just before a very important draft for the Hurricanes in which they hold 10 picks. Recently, GM Ron Francis had admitted that he hopes to move some of the picks for players before the draft, but is content in using them if he can’t find the right deal. With four picks in the first two rounds, Carolina could easily move up in the draft as well should a targeted player drop far enough.

Expansion Primer: Carolina Hurricanes

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Over the next few weeks we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

Going into the 2016-17 season, more people thought that the Carolina Hurricanes would be the worst team in the NHL than thought they would be a playoff team. Yet, the exciting, young ’Canes squad stayed in it until the end, only falling out of playoff contention in the final few games of the season. It was a completely unexpected performance from a team still lacking any major stars, but showed that their youthful nucleus can succeed without them.

Luckily for Carolina fans, perhaps no team in the NHL has a better chance of escaping the upcoming Expansion Draft unscathed than the Hurricanes. Not only does the teams youth protect many of their best players from being draft-eligible, but the team is in fact so young, that there are very few players total that can be exposed. With the league’s deepest young defense almost entirely intact with Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Noah Hanifin and pro prospects Haydn Fleury and Roland McKeown ineligible – each with two or fewer NHL seasons –  and star rookie Sebastian Aho also immune, the Hurricanes can use the rest of their protection slots to cover all their other important players and then some.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards
Jordan Staal (NMC), Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Lee Stempniak, Joakim Nordstrom, Andrej Nestrasil, Teuvo Teravainen, Erik Karlsson, Phillip Di Giuseppe, Brock McGinn

Defense
Justin Faulk, Klas Dahlbeck, Ryan Murphy, Trevor Carrick

Goaltender
Scott Darling, Cam Ward, Eddie Lack, Daniel Altshuller

Notable Exemptions

Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Noah Hanifin, Haydn Fleury, Roland McKeown, Derek Ryan

Key Decisions

The ’Canes have few decisions to make here. Up front, captain Jordan Staal must be protected due to his No-Movement Clause and his supporting cast of young scorers – Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, and Teuvo Teravainen – will surely join him. With 16 points in 57 games in 2016-17, 22-year-old Brock McGinn has also likely earned his spot on the team. This leaves one forward spot spot left, as Carolina will almost certainly use the 7/3 protection scheme. The odd men out will probably be consummate veteran Lee Stempniak and two-way forward Joakim Nordstrom, who took a step back this season anyway. Those two are the only remaining players that meet the two-forward exposure quota of players with 70 games played over the past two years or 40 games played this past season that also have term remaining on their contracts. Should the Hurricanes want to protect either one, they still have the option of extending restricted free agents Andrej Nestrasil or Phillip Di Giuseppe or impending UFA Jay McClement in the coming weeks, as the trio are only short on term to qualify for the quota. If they choose not to, the choice comes down to Nestrasil, Di Giuseppe, or minor league winger Erik Karlsson for the final spot, with little on the line.

On the blue line the choice is even easier. By re-signing Klas Dahlbeck recently, the Hurricanes secured their sacrificial lamb for Expansion. Dahlbeck qualifies to be exposed in accordance with the quota for one defenseman, taking All-Star Justin Faulk off the hook. Young defenseman Ryan Murphy and Trevor Carrick are literally the only other defenseman in need of protection with exactly two defensive spots open to do so.

In net, the decision has already been made. The Hurricanes secured their goalie of the future earlier this month, trading for former Chicago Blackhawks backup Scott Darling and giving him a four-year, $16.6MM deal. In doing so, Carolina also guaranteed that he would be their protected goalie in the draft, as they would not waste their time with such an investment just to let Darling be drafted away to Vegas. Instead, they’ll let the Golden Knights have their pick of long-time starter Cam Ward, high-end backup Eddie Lack, and prospect keeper Daniel Altshuller. With over $10MM tied up in Darling, Ward, and Lack next season, the Hurricanes hope the Knights take the bait, but even if they don’t, both Ward and Lack will be free agents next summer anyway.

Projected Protection List

Scheme: 7F/3D/1G

Forwards

Jordan Staal (NMC)
Jeff Skinner
Victor Rask
Elias Lindholm
Teuvo Teravainen
Brock McGinn
Phillip Di Giuseppe

Defensemen

Justin Faulk
Ryan Murphy
Trevor Carrick

Goalie

Scott Darling

What is the worst case scenario for the Hurricanes? They could lose Stempniak and be left with over $10MM in goalies. That’s pretty much it. Yes, Stempniak scored 40 points last season, but he’s also 33 years old and has just one year left on his contract. The Hurricanes could replace him in free agency with ease. They also could simply re-sign another forward and protect him if they really want to. As for the goalie, Ward is a lifetime Hurricane and outplayed Lack by a slim margin last year. It really would not be all that bad to have him as a backup to first-time starter Darling next season. GM Ron Francis could surely sweeten a deal (if necessary) to have Vegas take Lack and, if not, should be able to find another suitor elsewhere.

If Stempniak does end up off the board though, is there really any other option for the Knights beyond goalie? At forward, Di Giuseppe gets the nod for the last protection slot over Nestrasil and Karlsson. Nestrasil is already on the outs in Carolina and Di Giuseppe has already passed him up on the depth chart. Karlsson has signed on to return to Sweden next season and will have no impact on the 2017-18 Hurricanes. Carolina is deep enough in prospects, such as Julien Gauthier, Nicolas Roy, Janne Kuokkanen, Warren Foegele, Aleksi Saarela and more that they can risk losing Karlsson without risking losing any sleep over it. On defense, Dahlbeck is the only contracted player that can be taken. While he did play in 43 games with Carolina last season, GM George McPhee will have plenty of quality defenseman to choose from in the Expansion Draft, and Dahlbeck simply doesn’t stand out as worth taking. The Hurricanes are so well protected from the wrath of the expansion process that even unrestricted free agent center Derek Ryan, who quietly put up 29 points in 2016-17 to the tune of $600K, is also exempt from selection, having come over from Europe just two years ago. Goalie seems to be the only real option and even if Altshuller is the pick, he is far from a promising prospect and not at the top of the Hurricanes’ prospect rankings in net. The Knights have few options when selecting a player from Carolina and none of them pose any threat to a team that is on the rise.

Carolina Hurricanes Will Use Expansion Draft To Their Benefit

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Though the Carolina Hurricanes finished the season out of the playoffs once again, it’s clear that the team is on the rise. With a deep young defense corps, and an improving forward group, they could easily vault themselves into the postseason as soon as 2017-18. Now, because so many of their key players are young and ineligible for the expansion draft they plan on using the threat of Vegas to target some help up front. Luke DeCock of The News & Observer spoke to GM Ron Francis, who made it clear that he’s on the phones working to try and improve his club.

We’ve got the open for business sign out there. We’re in a unique situation with the amount of picks we have and the amount of prospects we have. It’ll be interesting. Really what it comes down to is what teams want: Do they want a player back for the asset they don’t have to protect or are they willing to take some picks and prospects?

When Francis refers to the number of picks he has, he’s speaking about the 10 picks the Hurricanes have in this summer’s entry draft, including six of the first 73 selections. Those picks, combined with prospects like Haydn Fleury, Julien Gauthier, Jake Bean, Warren Foegele, and the room the Hurricanes have to protect additional players in the expansion draft make them a perfect trade partner for teams afraid to lose someone for nothing.

The Hurricanes could easily dangle a prospect or ineligible player like Noah Hanifin in front of teams like the Rangers or Lightning who may be facing expansion draft issues up front.  Carolina clearly wants to upgrade their forward group, looking for both a top-line center and power winger to add for next season. They also could do nothing, and keep all of their assets for the draft floor and use them to move around and select the players they want. But with so much young talent already coming through, they could afford to move some of their prospect and draft pick capital to go after a big name or two in trade.

Offseason Keys: Carolina Hurricanes

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While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Slow and steady has seemingly been the mantra in Carolina over the past few years and at the end of the season, they started to show a possible sign of things to come with a very impressive late push for a playoff spot.  While they ultimately fell short of making the postseason, things are starting to look up for the Hurricanes who will be heading into next season with a new starter between the pipes in Scott Darling.  Here’s a look at what else may be on tap for GM Ron Francis.

Sort Out The Goaltending

Darling’s acquisition and new four year, $16.5MM contract solidifies him as Carolina’s starter for the foreseeable future.  However, the team still has both of their goaltenders from 2016-17 under contract for one more year in Cam Ward and Eddie Lack.  Carolina, a team that tends to hover near the bottom of the league in payroll, is highly unlikely to carry three goalies for next season, at least willingly.

Ward, who played the bulk of the games this season, has the higher cap hit of the two at $3.3MM while Lack is at $2.75MM.  Ward also has a partial no-trade clause that could get in the way of being moved as he can block a deal to 15 teams while Lack has no such protection.

Both will be exposed in the expansion draft but assuming they go unclaimed, it sets up a situation where one will need to be dealt or bought out.  Ward would carry a buyout cost of $1.23MM next season and $1.03MM in 2018-19 while Lack would have a cap charge of $750K and $1MM over those seasons.  It’s worth noting that in terms of actual dollars to be paid, Ward’s buyout would only cost $66K more despite the higher cap hit.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Lack – who was called out by coach Bill Peters late in the season – be the odd man out.

Deal For Teravainen

Francis has very few NHL restricted free agents to deal with.  In fact, there are only two of them but one of them – Teuvo Teravainen – is a notable one.  The versatile forward has finished his entry-level contract and is coming off a career year with 42 points (15-27-42) in 81 games.  There’s no doubt he’ll be in line for a nice raise for the $925K in salary he earned (before factoring in potential performance bonuses) over these last three seasons.

Nov 12, 2016; Raleigh, NC, USA; Carolina Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen (86) skates with the puck against Washington Capitals at PNC Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals forward 5-1. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY SportsBack at the trade deadline, it was reported that Francis was looking into trade possibilities involving Teravainen.  There’s no word as to whether they were close to finding a deal or if enough traction was made to reignite talks this summer.  The suggestion that the Hurricanes, a team that has been in a rebuilding phase for a while now, would consider moving a 22 year old who was a first round selection was certainly noteworthy.  Whether it’s a deal in the form of a second contract (bridge or long-term) or a deal in the form of a trade, Francis will have a big decision to make with Teravainen this offseason.

Dangle Defense For Offensive Help

The Hurricanes don’t have a well-known group of defensemen but they have quietly assembled a strong group of young and mostly home-grown talent.  It has become a major strength for the organization and the time may be right to deal from a position of strength.  Quality defenders with multiple years of team control remaining aren’t available too often and it’s something that pretty much every team covets.

Meanwhile, Carolina was in the bottom third of the league in terms of goal production and while they have some quality talent up front, they’re lacking in depth and could certainly stand to add a top six forward as well.  If they wanted to dangle one (or more) of those blueliners, they would be well-positioned to get that impact forward in return.

Noah Hanifin, Ryan Murphy, Brett Pesce, and Jaccob Slavin happen to be on cheap contracts below $1MM for next season with all being eligible for restricted free agency next summer.  Their cheap back end is going to become more expensive before too long.  Accordingly, if there was ever a time to move one of their promising young defensemen, this may be it before most of those players get big raises in 2018.  To that end, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Francis open up extension talks with several of these players once that window opens up in July.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trade Deadline Summary: Winners & Losers Of The Metropolitan Division

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The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and while it wasn’t the most exciting deadline day in recent memory, there were quite a few notable moves. Here are the winners and losers of the dominant Metropolitan Division:

Winners

Carolina Hurricanes:

Not all that much happening in Raleigh, but what GM Ron Francis did do, he did well. Both Hainsey and Stalberg brought back returns that were greater than their market value. It was also nice of Francis to send Hainsey to a team where his career-long playoff drought would definitely be snapped. Not sure why Jay McClement wasn’t moved, but there simply may not have been interest. The Hurricanes have a ton of salary cap space and have to dip into their depth on defense sooner or later, but this year’s deadline was definitely not the time for big moves. Expect Carolina to be a major player in the off-season trade market.

New Jersey Devils:

The Devils didn’t really have any trade capital today other than Quincey and Parenteau, so good on GM Ray Shero for doing what he could with what he had. It’s strange that New Jersey was able to get a higher pick from the Predators for Vernon Fiddler earlier this season than they did for Parenteau, but injuries may have played into that. A full season of production and a draft pick in compensation isn’t that bad a return for an early-season waiver claim. The Quincey deal was the real star of the show though. The Devils went from taking a risk on an older, washed-up defenseman this off-season to trading him for a young, strong defensive defenseman who can be a starter for years with the team. Shero played the long con on the league this year, and it paid off.

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Deadline Primer: Carolina Hurricanes

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With the trade deadline now just a week away, we continue to take a closer look at each team.  Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?

If the Carolina Hurricanes as deadline sellers wasn’t a foregone conclusion before, it is now after today’s trade of Ron Hainsey to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Although Hainsey, who will finally get to play in the first postseason game of his 14-year NHL career, was a candidate to be traded regardless, the move is even less surprising given Carolina’s recent performance. After shocking many who believed they could be one of the worst teams in the NHL this season with a strong first half, the wheels have fallen off in Carolina since the calendar flipped to 2017. The Hurricanes are just 8-11-1 in the new year and haven’t had a regulation win since February 3rd. Facing an uphill battle as it was in the powerhouse Metropolitan Division, it didn’t help that Carolina was unable to get consistent play and fell from a playoff spot into the basement of the Eastern Conference in short order.

The ’Canes are loaded with talented young defensemen and some great young depth up front as well. They also hold a king’s ransom in draft picks and have an inordinate amount of cap space going into next season. There’s good reason behind the rumors connecting them to big-ticket trade bait like the Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog. However, deals of that magnitude typically occur in the off-season. Don’t expect any different this year. The Hainsey trade either signals the beginning of a small-scale fire sale or potentially could be the only move for the Carolina at the deadline.

Record

24–24–8, last in the Metropolitan Division/Eastern Conference

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

Current Cap Space: $63,619,668

Deadline Cap Space: $71,572,127

46/50 contracts, via CapFriendly

Draft Picks

2017: CAR 1st, CAR 2nd, NYR 2nd, PIT 2nd, CAR 3rd, conditional NJ 3rd, CAR 4th, BOS 5th, CAR 6th, CAR 7th
2018: CAR 1st, CAR 2nd, CAR 3rd, CAR 4th, CAR 5th, CAR 6th, CAR 7th

Trade Chips

Carolina’s best trade chip at the deadline was Ron Hainsey and GM Ron Francis did a great job in getting a strong return for the defenseman in a second-round pick and a prospect. Hurricanes fans should be happy about that haul, because that may be all they get. The reason that the Hainsey trade may be the only move that the ’Canes make at the deadline is because they lack a wealth of attractive veterans on expiring contracts. Among their impending free agents are Viktor Stalberg, Jay McClement, and Matt Tennyson and it’s doubtful that any of that trio have drawn much interest around the league. Stalberg and McClement have just 17 points combined despite playing in nearly every game and Tennyson is hardly even an NHL-caliber player. The one outlier is Derek Ryan. Seemingly out of nowhere, Ryan has finally developed into an NHL regular in Carolina at the age of 30 and would cost almost nothing against the cap with a salary of just $600K (about a $125K pro-rated cap hit on March 1st). For cap-strapped contenders facing difficulties adding players, Ryan could be very attractive as a bottom-six depth forward. He has eight goals and ten assists in 42 games and has shown some versatility within the lineup. However, are the Hurricanes willing to let their diamond in the rough go that easily? Unless Ron Francis is given a fair-value offer, he may look to bring back Ryan for next season instead as a nice complementary player.

Players To Watch

F Derek Ryan, F Viktor Stalberg, F Jay McClement, D Matt Tennyson, F Andrej Nestrasil

Team Needs

1) Franchise Forward – The rebuild in Carolina has been much faster and more successful than anyone could have expected and the organization has put together a solid young core of forwards and defensemen. The list of impact starters age 24 or younger is unreal: Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Teuvo Teravainen, Justin Faulk, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Noah Hanifin and more. That doesn’t even include top prospects on the blue line like Jake Bean, Haydn Fleury, and Roland McKeown, 2016 first-round forward Julien Gauthier, and a near-guaranteed top-five pick this June. It’s an embarrassment of riches in the youth department in Raleigh, but if the ’Canes want to climb the ranks of the Metropolitan, they need to move some young pieces to add a top forward. Not just a nice top-six player either; a star scorer. Colorado’s Duchene or Landeskog have specifically been mentioned, while Jordan Eberle, James van Riemsdyk, or Evander Kane, all reportedly available depending on who you ask and when, might be a nice addition to the “Redvolution” as well. With that said, a mega-deal like this seems very unlikely to form in the next week and could instead happen this summer.

2) Depth Defenseman – So what of the deadline? Don’t be surprised to see the Hurricanes sneak another defenseman on to the roster as part of any other moves they make. As discussed earlier this month, Carolina is in an Expansion Draft predicament with their blue liners, most of whom are so young that they don’t qualify for exposure. As of now, only the All-Star Faulk would fill the quota, and that certainly won’t be happening. The simplest move for Francis is to re-sign Tennyson or Klas Dahlbeck and simply expose one of them, but if Tennyson is traded or the team doesn’t want to keep either player around, a small trade to bring in a qualifying veteran would make sense.

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