The Carolina Hurricanes may no longer be legitimate contenders this year after a rough offseason. This should not be a surprise when you lose your top defenseman, trade away an up-and-coming young defenseman, and then overpay for Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Here are the major moves the Carolina Hurricanes made in the offseason:
- Traded Alex Nedeljkovic to the Detroit Red Wings for Jonathan Bernier, who left in Free Agency to sign w/ NJ and a 3rd round pick
- Traded Jake Bean to Columbus Blue Jackets for 2021 2nd round pick (Aleksi Heimosalmi)
- Acquired Ethan Bear from the Edmonton Oilers for Warren Foegele.
- Let Dougie Hamilton, Petr Mrazek, Brock McGinn walk in Free Agency.
- Signed Fredrik Andersen, Antti Raanta in Free Agency.
- Brought in Derek Stepan, Tony DeAngelo, Ian Cole, Brandan Smith for 1 year.
- Re-signed Andrei Svechnikov to an 8yr/$62 million contract.
- Signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi to a 1yr/$6M offer sheet.
Offseason Review:
While the Hurricane didn't have a terrible offseason, they lost their best defenseman to a division rival, yet didn't really didn't do enough to replace him. Tony DeAngelo may be a good offensive defenseman, but he is by no means the number 1 defenseman that Dougie Hamilton was.
Their goaltending took a step back because they lowballed Nedeljkovic and then traded him for chump change. While Fredrick Andersen and Antti Raanta will do a fine job in goal for the next 2 years, the Hurricanes no longer have a goalie of the future.
The Ethan Bear for Warren Foegele trade was a good one for the Hurricanes; I think Ethan Bear could potentially flourish being paired with Ian Cole.
The Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet was made as a revenge move for the Sebastian Aho offer sheet Montreal had made 2 years ago. The big difference is that Aho was worth that offer sheet, while Kotkaniemi was grossly overpaid for the performance he had in the first 3 years in the NHL.
Locking up Andrei Svechnikov to an 8yr/$62 million contract was an excellent move because he gets better every year.
What they need to do to improve the team:
Looking at the Hurricanes roster right now, they are a borderline playoff team, given the division they play in. If they want to become a legit contender again, they need to improve the defense at the deadline.
Carolina Hurricanes trade Ethan Bear, 2023 3rd round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for Josh Manson. If the Hurricanes make the playoffs, the 3rd round pick becomes a 2nd round pick.
The Hurricanes add Josh Manson, a physical, veteran presence on the blue line, while the Ducks get Ethan Bear and a conditional pick.
This is how the Carolina Hurricanes lineup looks like after the trade:
A.Svechnikov-S.Aho-M.Necas
N.Neiderreiter-V.Trocheck-T.Teravainen
J.Kotkaniemi-J.Staal-J.Fast
S.Lorentz-D.Stepan-J.Martinook
J.Slavin-B.Pesce
B.Skjei-J.Manson
I.Cole-T.DeAngelo
F.Andersen
A.Raanta
Spares: Br. Smith, J.Leivo
Looking at the Roster, if they can add a defenseman like Josh Manson, they should be a contending team, but if they don't they will stay as a borderline playoff team.
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