It may be a bold prediction, but it wouldn’t be audacious to say that the Carolina Hurricanes have had the best summer in the NHL so far.
Due to a blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames and some free agent signings, the Hurricanes have managed to navigate through the uncharted waters of the Rod Brind’Amour era with success to this point. Not to say that Carolina has truly captured success, but it certainly appears that way.
Who’s In?
The Canes opened the show with a massive five-player trade, with the Kinetico King himself, Bill Peters, getting some of his old weapons back. The Hurricanes sent defenseman Noah Hanifin and center Elias Lindholm to the Calgary Flames for defenseman Dougie Hamilton, forward Micheal Ferland, and prospect Adam Fox.
Hamilton is one of the most underrated players in the league and brings yet another elite defender to Carolina’s blue line. His offensive prowess and experience give coach Brind’Amour arguably the deepest defense in the league. While Justin Faulk is still in trade limbo, the 25-year-old provides a better option at the position and will fill any gaps left by Faulk’s exit. He played all 82 games for the Flames last year scoring 17 goals on the way to 44 points.
Ferland is an average forward who will bring some extra goals for the offense. Jeff Skinner is also in trade limbo, so this was merely collateral collected in case of his departure. Ferland has overcome challenges in his life to get to the pros and just had his best season yet with 21 goals and 41 points. He certainly was not the incentive in this trade but hopefully, he can continue to get better and make a difference.
The Canes have a small chance of holding onto the 20-year-old sensation Fox, who is returning for his junior year at Harvard University. The defenseman could go anywhere he wants in the current landscape of the NHL but if he goes with Carolina, the Hurricanes could very well have the best blue line in the NHL in a couple years.
In free agency, the Canes also cashed in, signing goalie Petr Mrazek and defensemen Calvin de Haan and Dan Renouf.
With Carolina legend Cam Ward packing his bags for Chicago, the Hurricanes needed to address the weakest link of the team (netminder). I’m not giving up on Scott Darling yet, but another option is obviously still needed and Mrazek was as quality a player the team could get on the market.
Spending most of his career with the Red Wings, the Czech shot-stopper once looked to be the legitimate replacement for Jimmy Howard until his numbers started to slip and he was traded to the Flyers for part of last season. Now, he is on a one-year contract for only $1.5 million and hopefully will find his footing again. He has shown glimpses of stardom in the past (.921% save percentage, 27-16 record in 2015) and has proved valuable in the playoffs before. This is still Darling’s team but we could see Mrazek bounce back to form in 2018.
Calvin de Haan brings the Hurricanes defense up in the ranks even further. A former player for the divisional rival New York Islanders, De Haan was signed to a four-year $18,200,000 deal and has had a productive career so far. A shoulder surgery limited him to only 33 games last year but he has reportedly fully healed.
Haan is a lockdown defender that has only posted a negative plus-minus rating once in his six-year career, recording a 15 +/- rating in 82 games in 2016. He brings excellent speed and shot blocking and arguably provides a better replacement for Noah Hanifin. The Hurricanes added Dan Renouf to fully sure up the defensive line, bringing the one-year player from the Detroit Red Wings in on a one-year deal. This was more of an insurance pickup.
Who’s out?
Starting with the trade, the Hurricanes unfortunately finally split ways with center Elias Lindholm. Once a 5th overall pick in 2011, he failed to ever live up to the maximum potential the front office expected of him. While always an above average player, he and the team could not come to terms on a long-term contract so the easy decision was to ship him off to Calgary. He leaves the club holding 124 assists and 188 points in 374 games.
Noah Hanifin was a little bit more of a surprise. The up-and-coming defenseman was just selected to his first All-Star game last year and is definitely on his way to becoming a top 15 defender. I don’t think the team was actively shopping him but when a chance presented itself to get Hamilton, Hanifin was a fine giveaway for the return. He leaves the club with 83 points and 220 blocked shots in 239 games.
Again, it was Bill Peters, former head coach of the Hurricanes, who got these players to continue developing them up North. We’ll see if either of them find their prime with the Flames.
Center Derek Ryan, who was the Canes’ most sought-after free agent, took his talents to Calgary along with his fellow teammates to continue his career under Peters. Ryan was a tough defender that did a lot of the dirty work that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. He was exceptional on faceoffs and with his departure, the Hurricanes now need centers like Victor Rask and Martin Necas to step up their game.
Left winger Joakim Nordstrom also left in free agency, joining the Boston Bruins. In 228 games with the Hurricanes, he only scored 24 goals, so I don’t think anyone will be particularly upset with his absence from the roster.
What it all means
The Hurricanes will again be relying on the youth to take them to promise land in 2018. Several Charlotte Checkers’ players are being re-signed and called up, including forward Valentin Zykov who will be expected to score plenty of goals. The Hurricanes gained some veteran experience through free agency and were able to shed some players and contracts that were hurting the team.
Of course, I say every offseason that the Hurricanes are winners, but with a new coach and some talent recognized by the rest of the league, Caniacs should be pumped.
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