- In a pair of tweets, PuckPedia reports that the Hurricanes and Capitals will both take their full bonus overage penalties this coming season instead of amortizing them over two years which was a one-time option in the new CBA. As a result, Carolina’s cap space for 2020-21 will decrease by just over $1.367MM while Washington’s goes down by just under $420K.
Hurricanes Rumors
Sami Vatanen And Trevor Van Riemsdyk Expected To Test Free Agency
Hurricanes defensemen Sami Vatanen and Trevor van Riemsdyk are expected to test free agency when the market opens up on Friday, GM Don Waddell told reporters, including NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. Waddell did indicate that Carolina is interested in retaining them and the players could still potentially circle back once they’ve seen what other offers are out there:
We’ve made it real clear that we’d like both guys, but we also understand that we’re under a little bit more of a scrutiny with our salary cap. So if they go out to the market, whatever the market will bear, it might be something that if they do come back to us that we can talk about.
As things stand, the team has less than $8MM in cap space with only 17 players signed and while winger Warren Foegele and blueliner Haydn Fleury aren’t going to break the bank as restricted free agents, by the time they’re signed, there won’t be enough room to keep both UFAs by the time you factor in spending to fill out the rest of their roster.
Vatanen is the more intriguing of the two situations. The 29-year-old was brought in by Carolina at the trade deadline despite being injured at the time with the hopes that he’d help them down the stretch and in the playoffs. Of course, the pandemic shut things down and he was only able to play in seven playoff games.
While Vatanen’s offensive production has dipped in recent years compared to the 37 and 38-point seasons he put up in 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively, he’s still an intriguing top-four option that can help run a power play. He does, however, carry considerable injury risk as he has yet to play more than 72 games in a single season. With a thin UFA market though, there still should be a large number of teams interested in him and a deal around the $4.875MM AAV that he had the past four seasons could still happen even with the salary cap flattened out.
As for van Riemsdyk, the 29-year-old was in a limited role for most of this season, playing in just 49 games during the regular season and only two of their postseason contests. It’s unlikely that he’ll be able to command the $2.3MM AAV he played under the last two years but if he’s willing to sign for less, it’s plausible that he could be brought back at a rate that’s more commensurate with a sixth or seventh role.
Waddell also has to be mindful of two big-ticket deals on the horizon for 2021-22 in winger Andrei Svechnikov and defenseman Dougie Hamilton. Svechnikov is a restricted free agent next offseason and Waddell indicated that extension talks are ongoing while allowing for the possibility of the 20-year-old’s next contract being a short-term bridge. As for Hamilton, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency after next season, no talks have been held yet but he’ll be in line for a significant raise on his current $5.75MM AAV. Knowing that those contracts will be coming sooner than later will certainly affect Waddell’s willingness to spend big on multi-year deals in the weeks ahead which could very well take Vatanen off the table for them.
Fortunately for Carolina, even if both of their UFA blueliners don’t return, they’ll still be well-positioned for next season with Hamilton anchoring a top-four that also features Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, and Brady Skjei. Veteran Jake Gardiner is also in the mix as well as Fleury so the Hurricanes will still have a strong back end without Vatanen and van Riemsdyk in the mix.
Trade Rumors: Ekman-Larsson, Mrazek, Virtanen, Tampa Bay
Name a top trade target or impending free agent and they seem to be linked to the Edmonton Oilers. While the team clearly needs to help superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, they have cap constraints because of those players as well and holes to fill all over the roster. The team must be confident that they can perform some cap magic, as they have their sights set on making a big splash this off-season. TSN’s Darren Dreger backed up previous rumors today that the Oilers have been talking to the Arizona Coyotes about elite defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. In fact, Dreger notes that discussions have been preliminary, but the interest is serious. It’s a complex situation given the cap situations in both Edmonton and Arizona, but the teams appear to be working through their options when it comes to moving Ekman-Larsson, a proven top-pair commodity. Of course, it’s worth noting that Ekman-Larsson has a full No-Movement Clause and could nix a deal to Edmonton if he chooses. Dreger adds that the Boston Bruins also remain interested; Ekman-Larsson may very well prefer landing alongside Charlie McAvoy on the top pair of a perennial contender.
- The Oilers are also known to be eyeing an addition in goal and have kicked the tires on a number of netminders on the trade block. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the latest name on that list is the Carolina Hurricanes’ Petr Mrazek. LeBrun believes that Mrazek could be more of a fallback option if Edmonton cannot add Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray or Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper or can’t woo Jacob Markstrom in free agency. Of course, if Mrazek is even available for trade, it may mean that Carolina has already landed one of those three Oilers targets for themselves. Mrazek had a fine season for the ’Canes, but the team is looking to upgrade at starter. Unfortunately for Edmonton, Carolina’s castoff would still be an upgrade for them.
- From GM Jim Benning’s comments since his Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the postseason, it should come as no surprise that he is listening to offers for restricted free agent forward Jake Virtanen, according to Dreger. Virtanen has failed to live up to the expectations of being the 2014 sixth overall pick, but is still due a significant upgrade over his expiring $1.25MM AAV. The cap-strapped Canucks have greater needs than Virtanen’s third-line scoring totals and may be able to put his cap space to greater use via trade. Dreger reports that there is plenty of interest in the 24-year-old power forward, who could still grow into the dangerous scorer that he was in junior.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning are less than a day removed from taking home the 2020 Stanley Cup title, but GM Julien BriseBois is already back at work. LeBrun speculates that Tampa must clear at least $10MM in cap space in order to re-sign RFA’s Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, and Erik Cernak and to rebuild a defense with numerous pending UFA’s. As such, BriseBois can’t afford to waste any time with free agency approaching. LeBrun notes that the two most talked-about names on the Lightning roster right now are forwards Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde. However, he notes that both players have full No-Trade Clauses and would have to accept any trade. As a result, LeBrun believes there is a growing suspicion that the Bolts may trade a player or two that no one is suspecting in order to clear cap space. That could mean one of the RFA’s themselves is dealt, or perhaps it could be a player lacking trade protection, such as Brayden Point or Andrei Vasilevskiy. One way or another, the Cup-winning roster will look very different next season.
Hurricanes Not Expecting Justin Williams To Return
Last year, it took quite a while for Justin Williams to determine his NHL future. Instead of signing with Carolina, he took a step back to ponder his future in September before ultimately rejoining the Hurricanes in January. It appears as if things could be heading down a similar path this offseason as GM Don Waddell told Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer that they aren’t expecting the veteran to return although they haven’t ruled it out entirely yet either.
The 38-year-old picked up eight goals over his 20 regular season games with Carolina this past season despite playing just 13:37 per night which is strong production for someone that just joined the team midseason after not playing. Before that, he had four straight years between 48 and 52 points so it’s clear that Williams can still play at the top level. Instead, the question remains whether or not he wants to.
His agent, Thane Campbell, indicated that a decision won’t be coming before the start of free agency on October 9th and that he expects that it will once again take a while for Williams to figure out what he wants to do. Considering he was willing to sign a contract for the league minimum (plus $1.3MM in incentives, $500K of which was earned), this is a decision that can be dragged out for a while. At this point, it seems likely that he’d only rejoin the Hurricanes so as long as they leave themselves a bit of wiggle room in the coming months, they’ll be able to bring Williams back if he wants to return but for now, they’ll plan as if his time with the team has come to an end.
Trade Rumors: Laine, Dumba, Rust
While it is Frank Seravalli who produces TSN’s Trade Bait board, colleagues Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun backed up the trade statuses of a pair of players at the top of his board on this evening’s edition of Insider Trading. While he may be only 22 years old with four 50+ point seasons under his belt, don’t dismiss the rumors surrounding Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine as wild speculation, warns Dreger. He states that the Jets are “serious” and absolutely listening on the young scorer. In fact, the Laine noise has not been louder merely because the interest has been limited so far, either due to the asking price or other teams not truly believing that Laine is for sale. LeBrun notes that the Columbus Blue Jackets are one team that is definitely interested in Laine. The team sorely needs high-end talent up front as may have the top-four defenseman and young center that Winnipeg desires. Another team that also kicked the tires on Laine was the Carolina Hurricanes, but LeBrun believes that they balked at the asking price for the Finnish sniper and talks fell off after that. One team that hasn’t checked in on Laine yet? The Montreal Canadiens. While LeBrun acknowledges that the Canadiens could desperately use a player of Laine’s ability, they thus far have been hesitant to enter negotiations.
- The trade availability of Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba, No. 2 on the trade bait board, has been far more concrete, as teams and the media alike can look ahead to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft and see the conundrum coming down the line for the Wild. Yet, Dreger states that Dumba is on the block, but Minnesota is not in a rush to move him. He believes that the Wild will hold on to Dumba, perhaps even through the season, until the asking price is met. Right now, that price is believed to be a legitimate top-six center, which Dreger feels might be asking too much. The other option could be a high first-round pick and a young roster forward, which is a more likely return. The team will hold out for one of those two returns, as there is no urgency to move on from Dumba at a lower price.
- One name that rival GM’s are asking about who isn’t necessarily on the block is Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust. Rust is coming off of a career year, but it seems like no one on the Penguins roster is safe, leading other teams to ask the question. GM Jim Rutherford tells The Athletic’s Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe that he will listen to any offer, but isn’t keen to trade Rust. However, another sources tells The Athletic that Rutherford would part with Rust for an NHL-ready prospect and another top prospect. That might be a heavy price to pay, but don’t rule out the possibility in an unpredictable off-season.
Free Agent Focus: Carolina Hurricanes
With free agency now less than a month away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. The Carolina Hurricanes already traded away the rights to one pending free agent but still have some tough decisions to make.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Warren Foegele – The journey to the NHL wasn’t smooth for the 24-year-old Foegele, who actually left the University of New Hampshire in 2015 to return to the OHL and continue his development back at the junior level. A few years later and it’s clear that that was the right decision for him after two full seasons as a member of the Hurricanes. After really making a name for himself in the 2019 playoffs where he nearly registered as many points as his whole regular season, Foegele came back in 2019-20 as an integral part of the Carolina machine.
In 68 games he scored 13 times and put up 30 points despite averaging just over 12 minutes at even-strength and not touching the ice on the powerplay. That level of production won’t land him a huge raise, but it should afford him a little more ice time and a bigger role moving forward. The question will be whether or not they can work out a multi-year contract or if either of the two sides would rather test arbitration.
D Haydn Fleury – It’s easy to forget that Fleury was the seventh-overall pick in 2014, because to this point in his career he frankly hasn’t lived up to that draft billing. Selected ahead of first-round talents like William Nylander, Nikolaj Ehlers, Dylan Larkin, and of course David Pastrnak (whose selection at 25 still haunts most of the league), Fleury has still played just 132 games in the NHL. That said, his talents did start to show themselves down the stretch for the Hurricanes, with the team even giving him a chance to play more than 20 minutes in four of his last five games before the season was canceled.
In the postseason, Fleury’s role with the team was still large enough to think that they will move forward with him as a full-time member of the defense. With Joel Edmundson traded and two other defensemen set to hit unrestricted free agency, there will be minutes to go around. Like Foegele, Fleury is arbitration-eligible but still might not be able to argue for much of a raise given he played just 45 NHL games this season.
Other RFAs: F Steven Lorentz, F Clark Bishop, F Spencer Smallman, F Jacob Pritchard, D Oliwer Kaski, D Roland McKeown, D Gustav Forsling, G Callum Booth
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Justin Williams – Does he come back for a 20th NHL season? It’s not clear at all what Williams’ plans are, but last time it took him until January to officially return to the league and it just so happens that that is when the next season is expected to start. Maybe the next few months will be enough time off for the veteran forward to get the itch again and if Carolina is willing, it seems like the only destination. Williams signed for just $700K (plus performance bonuses) this season and would likely do the same if he returns.
D Sami Vatanen – The bigger question is trade deadline acquisition Vatanen, who actually may have never suited up for Carolina had the playoffs not been delayed. The 29-year-old was injured when the Hurricanes acquired him at the deadline and tweaked it again meaning he never did actually play a regular season game for the team. That didn’t stop head coach Rod Brind’Amour from using Vatanen a lot in the playoffs, but even that postseason performance seems unlikely to land him a new contract with the Hurricanes this offseason.
Carolina already has five defensemen locked up for at least $4MM per season, a number that Vatanen will likely be trying to eclipse on a multi-year deal in free agency. He’s coming off a four-year contract that carried a $4.875MM AAV, and though the flat cap situation may squeeze middle-tier free agents like Vatanen, it’s hard to see how the Hurricanes could really justify bringing him back without a trade of someone else.
Other UFAs: D Trevor van Riemsdyk, F Max McCormick, F Brian Gibbons, G Anton Forsberg
Projected Cap Space
Hard to justify because the Hurricanes only have about $7.8MM in cap space going into the offseason and have more pressing needs than their third pairing. James Reimer and Petr Mrazek are both heading into their final seasons under contract and the Hurricanes have been included in plenty of goaltending speculation. There is also a new deal just around the corner with budding superstar Andrei Svechnikov, who will be a restricted free agent for the first time in 2021.
Promoting youngsters like Jake Bean can provide some more flexibility because of their inexpensive entry-level contracts, but the Hurricanes may end up more involved in the trade market than free agency given their current situation.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Canadiens Acquire Negotiating Rights To UFA Joel Edmundson
The Montreal Canadiens had a free agent target in mind for this off-season, but rather than wait until October 9th they have decided to pull the trigger now. The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that they have traded impending unrestricted free agent defenseman Joel Edmundson to the Canadiens. The return for Carolina is a 2020 fifth-round pick.
The Canadiens now have nearly a month to negotiate exclusively with Edmundson on a new contract. A relatively young UFA at 27, Edmundson would be a great addition for the Habs. Edmundson showed this season that he is more than just his 6’4”, 215-lb. frame, posting both a career high 20 points and showing he is reliable defender with a career-best 55% defensive zone starts. Edmundson was less a rugged stay-at-home defender and more of a refined, two-way contributor for Carolina and the Canadiens hope that he can continue to grow in that role. Edmundson has also shown back in his days with the St. Louis Blues that he is capable of playing big minutes, which would provide even more value to Montreal moving forward. Given the lack of high-end talent on the Montreal blue line behind aging Shea Weber and 2021 free agent Jeff Petry, Edmundson could land a long-term deal with the Canadiens to lead a new generation of defenders, such as Victor Mete and Alexander Romanov.
On the other side, the Hurricanes have to be happy with landing a decent pick (No. 140 overall) for a player they seemed unlikely to re-sign anyhow. Edmundson was acquired by Carolina just last summer as part of a package from the St. Louis for Justin Faulk. While Edmundson was a valuable member of a very good ‘Canes team this year, prospect Dominik Bokk was always seen as the true prize in the return for Faulk. Edmundson was on an expiring contract and was joining the deepest defense core in the league, making him a likely rental candidate. The Hurricanes’ impressive blue line depth only improved this season as well, as the team acquired Brady Skjei and saw flashes of brilliance from young Haydn Fleury, who will join Jaccob Slavin, Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, and Jake Gardiner as the likely starters next year.
Hurricanes Loan Dominik Bokk To Krefeld
While Hurricanes prospect Dominik Bokk intends to make his North American debut next season, he’s not finished with his time overseas just yet. Krefeld of the DEL announced via their Facebook page that they’ve added the winger on loan from Carolina for the start of their season.
The 20-year-old was a first-round pick (25th overall) of St. Louis back in 2018 but he wasn’t with the Blues for long. He was moved to Carolina as the centerpiece of the Justin Faulk trade back during training camp in September but remained in Sweden which meant that his contract slid another year and will now expire following the 2022-23 season.
Bokk has spent the last two seasons in the SHL where he has produced well for a youngster. He spent this year on loan with Rogle and managed to pick up a respectable 11 goals in 45 games despite averaging less than 13 minutes a night of ice time. He was also quite productive in the World Juniors as he led Germany in scoring with six goals and two helpers in seven games while helping to keep them in the top division and avoid relegation.
As has been the case with many of these international moves in recent weeks, Bokk is expected to rejoin Carolina when training camps open up as his deal with Krefeld does contain an NHL out clause. In the meantime, he’ll get a chance to play closer to home and stay in shape while waiting for a chance to push for a roster spot with the Hurricanes a few months from now.
Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes Announce AHL Affiliates
The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers have both officially announced their new AHL affiliates, continuing the domino-effect changes that have followed the relocation of the Henderson Silver Knights. Carolina, who had been affiliated with the Charlotte Checkers, has now signed a three-year agreement with the Chicago Wolves starting in 2020-21. The Panthers, who previously used the Springfield Thunderbirds as their AHL affiliate, have inked a multi-year agreement with the Checkers.
When the Vegas Golden Knights purchased the San Antonio Rampage and moved them to Henderson, the St. Louis Blues were without an AHL affiliate and the Wolves were without an NHL parent. The Blues then affiliated with Springfield, continuing the musical affiliate chairs and forcing the Panthers to look elsewhere.
The biggest shock is still the breakup of the Hurricanes and Checkers after the two had been so closely linked by affiliation and obviously geography for so long. The Checkers owner, Michael Kahn, even invested in the Hurricanes and became an ownership partner back in 2011.
In terms of details, the Hurricanes announced that Ryan Warsofsky will continue to serve as AHL coach, moving over to lead the Wolves after the new agreement. His entire staff will come with him to the new organization. The move to Charlotte is a big first announcement for new Panthers GM Bill Zito, though the agreement was in place long before he came on board earlier this month.
Offseason Keys: Carolina Hurricanes
As teams are eliminated from the playoffs, it means that the offseason has arrived for several more squads. Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return and the ones ousted in the Qualifying Round, we shift our focus to the ones that were eliminated in the official first round. Next up is a look at Carolina.
After what many would call a Cinderella playoff run a year ago, the Hurricanes picked up where they left off this season and found themselves in a postseason position before the pandemic hit. From there, they made short work of the Rangers, a popular sleeper pick, in the Qualifying Round and it looked like they might be on their way again. However, Boston stopped them in their tracks to end their season. While it ended on a sour note, it seems unlikely that Carolina will make a bunch of changes but some tweaks may be on the menu. Here’s what GM Don Waddell should be looking to accomplish over the coming months.
Look Into Goalie Upgrade
On the surface, suggesting that a team that allowed the sixth-fewest goals in the league this season needs a goalie upgrade would seem a little strange. However, it’s certainly an area that could be improved upon and it’s looking like this could be an offseason where there is more goalie movement than usual so the timing may be right.
Petr Mrazek and James Reimer have both been starters for stretches of their careers and backups for others due to their inconsistency. Mrazek had the larger share of the workload but only managed a .905 SV% this season which is well below average for a starter. Reimer fared better at a .914 mark but in 15 fewer games. Between the two of them, they combined for a .908 SV% which isn’t great and looks a bit worse when you consider they play in front of one of the better defense corps in the league and allowed the second-fewest shots during the regular season at 29.3 per game.
Both netminders are also a year away from unrestricted free agency. At this point, it doesn’t seem likely that both would be brought back and the team still has hopes for Alex Nedeljkovic to be part of their future plans as well.
With that in mind, why not look to try to upgrade? At the very least, they’ve been linked to Toronto’s Frederik Andersen already and there will undoubtedly be others as well. With Mrazek and Reimer, the Hurricanes have a reasonable floor to work with between the pipes but even finding a small upgrade during the offseason goalie shuffle would be an important step and it’s something that should be attainable.
Extension Talks
Late last month, Waddell indicated that there’s no timetable to work on contract extensions for two of his top players but that he hopes to work on new deals for winger Andrei Svechnikov and defenseman Dougie Hamilton sooner than later. Knowing that both are in line for considerable raises, getting early extensions done would go a long way towards providing some certainty towards what they’ll have to spend beyond 2020-21 which could have an impact on what types of other additions they target in the coming months.
The 20-year-old Svechnikov took a big step forward offensively this season, finishing third on the team in scoring with 24 goals and 37 assists in 68 games. He did so without a major jump in playing time as well as he logged just 16:44 per night. There’s room for a bigger role and with it, the potential for another offensive jump next season. Accordingly, it’s reasonable to think that a long-term deal will cost more a year from now if one of the two sides opt to wait. On the other hand, with the salary cap projected to only increase minimally for the next few years now due to the pandemic, Svechnikov becomes a candidate for a bridge contract which is something they could try to work out now to get that cost certainty in place.
As for Hamilton, he was in the midst of a career year before fracturing his fibula on mid-January. Before that injury, he was just shy of a point per game (40 points in 43 contests) while logging 23:17 per game, a new career best. He also got into five playoff games (after missing the Qualifying Round series against the Rangers with another injury), picking up a goal and an assist while playing nearly 25 minutes a night. With his performance this season, Hamilton has shown himself to be capable of being a top-pairing defenseman which makes his current $5.75MM cap hit look like quite a bargain. He’ll be 28 when he hits the open market and will be in the prime of his career so even with the cap projections not being what they were earlier this season, he’s going to be in line for a big raise. Hamilton is a big part of Carolina’s back end and locking him up on a long-term deal would be a big win for them this offseason and ensure that another foundational piece sticks around.
Add A Secondary Scoring Upgrade
With Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, and Teuvo Teravainen, the Hurricanes have a strong top line offensively. All three managed to pick up more than 60 points in the pandemic-shortened campaign which is quite good. However, they were the only three forwards to have more than 37 points. Only two players managed to reach the 20-goal mark while Martin Necas (who was fourth in points with 36) may have had a shot at it had the regular season not been ended early.
On paper, Carolina has quite a few players that should fit that bill. Nino Niederreiter was great in his first season with the team but tapered off this season while Jordan Staal’s output has dropped in recent years as well. Ryan Dzingel was brought in to replace Justin Williams (who eventually came back) but he wasn’t even able to hold down a regular spot in the lineup. Vincent Trocheck was added at the trade deadline but was quiet in his first action with his new team.
Optimistically speaking, some of those players should be better next season and that in itself should help. But adding someone to replace Williams and do the job that Dzingel hasn’t would go a long way towards helping secure a reliable second offensive trio which is something they will need to get back to being a playoff threat for next season and beyond.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.