It had been almost a month since a higher-profile player in the NHL had been traded, and most would argue that it was the domino that needed to fall to open up the trade market for defensemen. This summer, we have seen names such as Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex DeBrincat, and Taylor Hall all moved in trades, but a big-name trade had not been made for a defenseman since the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired Damon Severson on June 9th.
For the most part, there are two defensemen that may have seen their market open up due to the Erik Karlsson trade, and that would include Brett Pesce of the Carolina Hurricanes and Noah Hanifin of the Calgary Flames. Both players’ trade availability is surrounded by different circumstances, and both of their current teams have much different outlooks for next season.
Starting with Pesce, back in June, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported that the Hurricanes were intent on moving Pesce this summer if they were unable to come to a contract resolution past this season. About a week later, Cory Lavalette of The Athletic noted that Pesce would likely be seeking a contract in the eight-year, $52MM ($6.5MM AAV) range, something that Carolina could easily afford, but with Teuvo Teravainen, Martin Necas, and Brady Skjei, among others, also needing contracts past the 2023-24 season, may not be in the team’s best interest.
Although it would be a prudent move both financially and for the future success of the club to move on from Pesce, questions should arise as to if it is in the best interest of the current Hurricanes team in accordance with their goals for the 2023-24 season. Carolina is one of the most well-set-up teams to make the Stanley Cup Final next season, and their defensive depth is one of the main reasons for that. For most of the foreseeable contenders in the NHL, teams could do a lot worse than having Anthony DeAngelo as their sixth-best defenseman on the roster.
One of the best comparables to Pesce’s situation might come from a division rival in Severson. Severson had spent a total of nine seasons in New Jersey, and even though he was heading towards unrestricted free agency, the Devils held on to Severson as he gave them a much better chance to win. This summer, the Devils executed a sign-and-trade, inking Severson to an extension and receiving a third-round pick for his services from the Blue Jackets. This may not be the haul that Carolina would be hoping for, but it’s undeniable that Pesce gives them a better chance to win for 2023-24, and may have to seek a sign-and-trade next summer.
Unlike Pesce, Hanifin has already been vocal about his unwillingness to sign an extension in Calgary and would like a change of scenery heading into next year. A solid defenseman on both the powerplay and penalty kill, Hanifin should likely have a decent market as a two-way defenseman. Currently making just a tad under $5MM this season, it’s going to be difficult for a lot of contending teams to absorb that contract even for a short time.
Just to theorize, there is one team that has their eyes on contending next year and could certainly use an upgrade on the left side of their defense. The Buffalo Sabres have already improved their defensive core with the additions of Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson this summer, but an acquisition of Hanifin may put them over the top to get back into the playoffs. The main drawbacks from Buffalo’s perspective in acquiring Hanifin are the current glut of defensemen already on their roster, and the pressing extensions of Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
With Calgary already having a murky future on their blue line, the Sabres could certainly move back a defenseman or two with team control, and with it all but known that Hanifin wants out, the price may not be too high for his services. If they are able to acquire Hanifin and extend him, Buffalo could be well served in having Dahlin, Power, Hanifin, and Mattias Samuelsson in their top four for the foreseeable future.
All-in-all, we are getting to the point in the summer where the most likely scenario is both Pesce and Hanifin will start the season with their current clubs, but there are some signs indicating changes will be coming soon. All we know for certain, the trade for Karlsson has helped set the market, as well as open it up for any future moves.
You could also add Carlo, Forbort and Griz to available trade options because the B’s need to dump add some salary
“need to dump add some salary”
Crap sorry
MTL Will surely trade a D as well
Yea i onow it wont happen but what if mtl traded petry and a yound man to the canes for pecse if he signs an extension?
Interesting but i think Mtl would rather give some playing time to their young guys instead
Lol! Why would Carolina want Petry with 2 yrs left on contract?
He’s been horrible the last 2 yrs, and I’ll bet the next 2 will be too!
I can’t understand MTL in this trade to get Petry.
Why not just pay a 2-3rd round pick to dump Hoffman to SJ? It wasn’t going to happen until after EK was gone first though.
Now you have a worst contract with another yr left on it to try and dump!
With the upcoming Dahlin extension & Power extension (bridge/long term) Buffalo could be looking at over $20mil per on 3 Dmen (Samuelson). With Tage, Cozens, Skinner & Tuch over the next 3 seasons those 4 contracts are a tad under $29mil per for Buffalo. I can also see another extension with Mitts starting next season & few bridge deals after that (Peterka, Quinn, Levi). That’s about $49mil on 7 players on Buffalo’s books.
Yeah, but I think Buffalo will still be ahead of the game if the goaltending settles down as projected; the cap is likely to take two big steps after the next two season, and the Sabres have an outstanding power center in Tage Thompson who is already providing excess value on the contract and locked up for his prime years. Skinner’s resurgence has also provided value on what looked to be a disaster deal. So yeah, I’d take Buffalo the next three seasons over PIT, much less WASH, the NYI, the Bruins, any day. I think, barring injuries, the Sabres will make a Devils-like move in the standings.
Hey Brennan, just because Hanifin is asking to be traded doesn’t mean “the price may not be too high for his services”.
Tkachuk also said he would not re-sign with the Flames. He asked to be traded and with a very high qualifying offer and only a handful of teams he would agree to sign with long term still netted the Flames a handsome return of a 1st round pick, 2 top roster players and a decent prospect. Treliving turned down offers of high end prospects and picks in order to take a run at the big prize. At the time most pundits thought Calgary won the trade, in hindsight it has not worked out.
A player’s value is determined by the market, not whether he wants to be traded.
Although that may be true, Tkachuk did originally sign his extension with Calgary, not Florida. Two expiring contracts (Florida could not have foreseen Huberdeau and Weegar extending with Calgary at the time), a slightly above-average prospect, and a conditional first-round selection did not seem like a high price to pay for a fully extended Tkachuk, even at the time of the trade.
Nothing to say the same type of thing can’t happen again. My point is Hanifin saying he doesn’t want to re-sign has little to do with his value in the market.
Many players that have publicly or privately asked to be traded have commanded good returns.
TDA is the seventh-best dman on the Canes roster. Chatfield is definitely ahead of him on the current depth chart despite not getting as much fanfare league-wide.
Wrong.
Compelling argument.