Summer Synopsis: Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes have been a good hockey team for a very long time now. Despite all kinds of regular season success, the current group of Hurricanes haven’t been able to sustain a long playoff run which has resulted in spring disappointment becoming a bit of an annual tradition in Carolina. Last year, through two rounds, the Hurricanes looked poised to be on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals, however, they ran into the white-hot Florida Panthers and were swept in the Eastern Conference Finals. Even the best teams stumble when faced with a hot goaltender, but for the Hurricanes scoring became an issue in the playoffs, as has been the case several times now. Carolina went into this summer with question marks in the crease, as well as on their blue line. They addressed both, however scoring could remain an issue once again for the Hurricanes as they head into another cup or bust season.

Draft

1-30: F Bradly Nadeau, Penticton (BCHL)
2-62: F Felix Unger Sorum, Leksands (Sweden U20)
3-94: F Jayden Perron, Chicago (USHL)
4-100: F Alexander Rykov,  Chelmet Chelyabinksk (VHL)
4-126: F Stanislov Yaravoy, Vityaz (KHL)
5-139: D Charles-Alexis Legault, Quinnipiac (NCAA)
5-158: G Ruslan Khazheyev, Chelyabinsk (MHL)
6-163: F Timur Mukhanov, Omskie Krylia (MHL)
6-190: F Michael Emerson, Chicago (USHL)

7-222: G Yegor Velmakin, Proton Novovoronezh (NMHL)

Carolina opted to hang onto their first round pick this past year rather than moving it for trade deadline help or in a potential Erik Karlsson trade. It was an interesting move given the timeline that they are currently on. Nadeau was one of the analytical darlings of the 2023 NHL entry draft and is a pure scorer. He is slightly undersized; however, he will have time to pack on size as he is committed to the University of Maine. Nadeau played Junior A in British Columbia last season, leaving some scouts wishing they could have seen him play in U-18s to assess him against the other top competition in his age bracket.

In the second round of the draft Carolina continued to demonstrate that they wanted to take swings at offensively talented players as they took Felix Unger Sorum. The 18-year-old Norwegian-born winger spent last season in Sweden playing for Leksands and had 10 goals and 46 points in 42 games. Sorum possess incredible hockey sense and projects to be a terrific puck distributor in the future. Carolina’s draft strategy of taking offensively gifted players has paid off in previous drafts and in 2023 they employed much of the same strategy. 

Trade Acquisitions

F David Kase (Philadelphia)

Kase was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in early August in exchange for C Massimo Rizzo and a 2025 fifth-round draft pick.  The 26-year-old hasn’t been overly productive in very limited NHL action thus far as he has just a single goal in seven career games. Kase hasn’t dressed in an NHL game since 2020-21 and has spent the past two seasons in Czechia where he has been somewhat productive posting 10 goals and 27 assists in 68 games.  Kase is still under contract with HC Litvinov for this upcoming season, making Carolina’s acquisition of him a bit curious given their logjam at forward and his lack of offensive punch.

UFA Signings

D Nathan Beaulieu (PTO)

F Michael Bunting (three years, $13.5MM)

D Tony DeAngelo (one year, $1.675MM)
D Caleb Jones (one years, $775K)

F Brendan Lemieux (one year, $800K)
D Dmitry Orlov (two years, $15.5MM)

Orlov was the prized defenseman of free agency and wound up opting for a short-term lucrative deal with the Hurricanes that leaves the possibility of cashing in once again in two seasons when the cap is expected to rise significantly. Orlov also gave himself an opportunity to take two runs at the Stanley Cup with a team that is sure to remain a contender through the duration of his two-year deal. The downside for the 32-year-old is the risk of injury or a drop-in play that could substantially impact his earning ability once his current pact with Carolina expires. From Carolina’s perspective, they get a terrific defenseman that can plug in on either of their top two pairings on the backend. Carolina already boasted one of the best defensive groups in the league and Orlov is sure to add to that distinction.

Bunting bolstered his free agent stock after a pair of terrific offensive seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, however he was likely hoping to cash in on a longer-term deal but may not have found the kind of money he was looking for. He settled on a three-year deal and will have every opportunity to continue to play with skilled players in Carolina. Something he has done a very good job of in Toronto. A suspension in the playoffs for a hit on Erik Cernak likely hurt his free agent stock a little bit as it further added to a reputation that was starting to develop around the league. Bunting had a few questionable plays last season including run-ins with the referees, taking bad penalties and some embellished falls. This may have hurt his market as some people in the media have speculated that Bunting has run out of runway with the NHL head office.

Tony DeAngelo resurrected his career last year with the Hurricanes before they dealt him to the Flyers for three draft picks. He was a model citizen in Carolina and fit in well with their offensive and defensive schemes. Never known to be defensively adept, DeAngelo managed to avoid a lot of his defensive shortcomings while a member of Carolina. However, once he was moved to Philadelphia, a lot of his defensive miscues began to re-emerge, and the 27-year-old once again found himself drowning in his own defensive zone. Now, he is back in Carolina and there is no reason to think he won’t be able to settle back in as a solid option for the Hurricanes. Carolina can shelter the Sewell, New Jersey native and allow him to focus more on his offensive side of the game. Something he excels in.

RFA Re-Signings

D Dylan Coghlan (one year, $850K)

A year ago, Coghlan was a sweetener when the Vegas Golden Knights traded, he and Max Pacioretty to the Carolina Hurricanes for future considerations. It was a cap dump and it allowed Vegas to make room for other signings, and Carolina received two players for what essentially amounted to nothing. Pacioretty has since moved on to Washington, but Coghlan remains in Carolina. After going undrafted out of the WHL, Coghlan wound up in the AHL where he posted two solid offensive seasons with the Chicago Wolves before joining the Golden Knights. While he has never been able to carry his offensive production from the minors into the NHL, he has shown some glimpses while with Vegas and will now be given another look by Carolina.

Coghlan struggled in his first season with the Hurricanes as he posted just three assists in 17 NHL games, however, he continued to put up good offensive numbers in the AHL, albeit in limited action. At just 25 years of age, it is quite possible that Coghlan has more to give, but with the depth that Carolina has at the position, it’s possible that he may find himself on the outside looking in when the season begins.

Key Departures

F Max Pacioretty (Washington, one year, $2MM)
G Zach Sawchenko (Vancouver)*
D William Lagesson (Toronto)*
D Max Lajoie (Toronto)*
D Shayne Gostisbehere (Detroit, one year, $4.125MM)
F Mackenzie MacEachern (St. Louis)
D Calvin de Haan (Tampa Bay, one year, $775K)
F Ondrej Kase (HC Litvinov)
D Cavan Fitzgerald (Chicago Wolves, AHL)
F Malte Strömwall (Frolunda)

Up front, Pacioretty is the most notable loss, however, given how often he was injured last season, he is more of a never was. The Hurricanes obtained Pacioretty for a song, and unfortunately, he was never able to stay in the lineup for a sustained period of time. Pacioretty had three goals in five games with Carolina including two goals in his second game, but a series of unfortunate injuries led to a lost season for the 34-year-old.  A reunion seemed possible, but both the Hurricanes and Pacioretty opted to move in different directions.

Kase is another loss to the Hurricanes offense but much like Pacioretty he too was injured for almost the entire season. Kase was coming off a decent season in Toronto after posting 14 goals and 13 assists in 50 games and seemed like a good bet to provide middle six minutes for the Hurricanes. But injuries kept him from getting into the lineup and Kase has now elected to return home to play.

Carolina had equally as much turnover on the back end as they lost two regulars in Gostisbehere and de Haan.  Gostisbehere was a trade deadline acquisition from Arizona and was a good pickup at the time as he added some offensive punch to their backend in a sheltered role. However, given that the club signed Orlov, Gostisbehere was effectively replaced by a much better player, albeit at a much high cap number.

Calvin de Haan looked like a blueliner on the rise back in his New York Islanders days as he posted several solid seasons as a stay-at-home defenceman that could chip in on offense occasionally. As his career has gone on, he has seen his offense dry up and he has struggled at times to keep up with the pace of the NHL. He is still an NHL defenseman, but at this point in his career, he is best served as a seventh defenseman. He did find NHL work with Tampa Bay and will likely be counted on to serve as a 6-7 defenseman.

Lagesson and Lajoie both left Carolina for two-way deals with Toronto and both will most likely find themselves in the AHL playing for the Marlies. The story is the same for goaltender Sawchenko who departed Carolina for Vancouver and will most likely see time as a third or fourth option in the crease.

Salary Cap Outlook

Few teams have the ability to lose players in free agency and immediately replace them internally. Carolina has been able to do it over the past few years and may need to do it again next summer as they may face a cap crunch with Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Seth Jarvis and Teuvo Teravainen due new contracts. Carolina has almost $56MM committed to 10 players next season, and although they have over $30MM in cap space for next year, that money will dry up quickly when Carolina is locking up gifted free agents.

Key Questions

Can Carolina Score: The Hurricanes have a lot of offensively gifted players, but can they score when it matters the most? Carolina couldn’t solve Sergei Bobrovsky in last year’s playoffs, and it wasn’t the first time they’ve had that issue. Carolina has done little this offseason to bring in more offense, despite this being a fatal flaw. Can they address this in season, or do they even see this as a problem? DeAngelo and Orlov will provide more offense from the backend, and maybe it will be enough. Time will tell.

Will Pesce Re-sign? The Hurricanes have several high profiles pending free agents and none bigger than Pesce, who is a homegrown, beloved, rock-solid defender for the Canes. Defensemen are always in demand, particularly those who shoot right and provide a rare combination of size, skill, grit, and playmaking. There has been no shortage of trade speculation involving Pesce and it reached a point where a trade seemed inevitable, but it never materialized. It could still happen in season as Carolina can opt to move Pesce to shore up other parts of their lineup, or maybe they wait for a different kind of trade. The Hurricanes have options and have nearly eight months to decide what they want to do with the pending free agents on the backend.

Who Will Emerge In Net? Carolina opted to bring back the same goalie trio that they employed last season. The team re-signed pending free agents Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen and are now committed to run it back again with the same goalie pairing. This isn’t a knock on either goalie as they’ve both had terrific careers, but it has felt for quite a while like the Hurricanes were just a goalie away from being a true Stanley Cup contender. But given the low cost of the tandem and their track records of regular season success, it’s hard to argue with rolling in back rather than opting to roll the dice in the trade market or unrestricted free agency.  The Canes do have Pyotr Kochetkov waiting in the wings should either veteran netminder falter, and given the youngster’s track record he could very well be the goalie of the future in Carolina.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.