The 2021-22 playoffs saw the Carolina Hurricanes struggle to translate their first Metro division title into postseason success. Injuries in net and an out-of-form defense played major roles in the Canes’ postseason disappointment, so let’s look at how general manager Don Waddell shored up the defense this summer.
Are you experienced?
The Canes’ offseason moves emphasized acquiring veteran players with playoff experience, so it’s no surprise that Carolina pushed so hard to bring in defenseman Brent Burns from the San Jose Sharks.
Burns comes to Raleigh with 94 postseason appearances going back to 2006-07 with the Minnesota Wild, but the 18-year veteran draws the bulk of his playoff showings from his time in San Jose. Burns’ 83 playoff games with the Sharks included a 2015-16 trip to the Stanley Cup Finals which ended with the Pittsburgh Penguins hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Even though Burns carries a lot of mileage with 1,342 career games between the regular season and postseason, make no mistake: he can still play at a high level. At 36 years old, Burns played all 82 games for the Sharks last season while racking up 10 goals and 44 assists. Burns also finished second in voting for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the league’s top defenseman, not too long ago in 2018-19.
Of course, trading for an elite defenseman like Burns doesn’t come cheap. While the Hurricanes also scooped up center Lane Pederson in the deal, Carolina gave up center Steven Lorentz, goaltender Eetu Mäkiniemi and a conditional third-round pick in the 2023 draft.
Shipping Lorentz to the Sharks took a bite out of the Canes’ forward depth, Mäkiniemi’s departure carries a similar impact for Carolina’s goalies. The 23-year-old Finn notched 14 games in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves, going 11-2-1 with a .922 save percentage and a 2.06 goals against average.
For a Hurricanes organization thoroughly locked into “win now” mode, giving up Mäkiniemi was a necessary cost to acquire Burns. Carolina isn’t exactly hurting for netminding talent with the likes of Freddie Andersen, Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov around either.
While Burns was the main defensive prize of the offseason for the Canes, the wheeling and dealing didn’t stop there. As part of a trade to bring left wing Max Pacioretty to Raleigh, Waddell also swiped up defenseman Dylan Coghlan from the Vegas Golden Knights, all in exchange for “future considerations.”
Coghlan and Burns stand at opposite stages of their career. While Burns is a 37-year-old veteran with over 1,300 games of experience, Coghlan will enter his third NHL season in Raleigh with just 88 career games over two seasons in Vegas.
What he lacks in experience, Coghlan makes up for in youth. The 24-year-old will look to use his speed and agility to secure himself a spot in the Canes’ third defensive pairing, perhaps with Ethan Bear or fellow offseason acquisition Calvin de Haan.
Finally, the Canes parted ways with defenseman Tony DeAngelo during the 2022 NHL draft, trading him to the Philadelphia Flyers. In exchange for DeAngelo, Carolina acquired a fourth-round pick which it used to select Swedish defenseman Simon Forsmark, a conditional third-rounder in 2023 and a second-rounder in 2024.
While DeAngelo led all Canes defenseman in points last season and served as a stellar piece on the power play, his defending left a lot to be desired in the last several weeks of the regular season and in the playoffs. For a Hurricanes squad in need of consistently solid defense to make a run at the Stanley Cup, dealing DeAngelo for picks rather than letting him walk in free agency was the right move.
Cole and Smith moving on
While Burns’ arrival brings a ton of hype to a reloaded group of Canes defensemen, a few blue-liners and goalies changed sweaters over the summer as well. Defensemen Ian Cole and Brendan Smith were the most notable free agent departures from Carolina, signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning and New Jersey Devils, respectively.
2021-22 was Cole’s only season in Raleigh, but he made his time count with stout defense. Although Cole put up solid offensive numbers with 19 points over 75 regular season games, his main asset in Carolina was his ability to provide hard-nosed defense on essentially any pairing.
Cole’s ice time split fairly evenly between pairings with elite defensemen like Jaccob Slavin and on second- or third-line pairings with Smith or Bear. In either case, Cole meshed well with his teammates. Now the 12-year veteran will apply his skills with the Lightning on a one-year, $3 million deal.
Brendan Smith is more or less cut from the same cloth as Cole, showing a lot of grit and tenacity every time he hit the ice during his only year on the Hurricanes. While not as offensively prolific as Cole, one of the biggest highlights from his time as a Cane came in game two of the Eastern Conference Semis against the New York Rangers when Smith teamed up with center Sebastian Aho to bury a short-handed goal.
Still, Smith’s calling card is his defensive toughness. However, a Feb. 20 matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins tested that mentality. Smith took a puck to the helmet while trying to block a shot. Despite fracturing the mastoid bone near his left ear, Smith was back in action less than a month later. Now the 33-year-old Smith will look to contribute for a rebuilding New Jersey Devils franchise while on a two-year, $1.1 million contract.
Defenseman Joey Keane elected to hone his craft overseas by signing a one-year deal with Spartak Moscow of the KHL in Russia. On the goaltending front, Alex Lyon and Jack LaFontaine both left town during the offseason. Lyon converted his 1-0-1 record with the Hurricanes into a one-year, two-way contract with the Florida Panthers while LaFontaine signed a one-year deal with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.
Honka heads across the pond
Not content with just letting Cole, Smith and company walk, the Hurricanes were active in the free agent market as well. While many of the headline-grabbing moves came from forwards, the Canes also bulked up on defense.
“New arrival” would be a misnomer for defenseman Anttoni Honka, who signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Hurricanes. Carolina selected Honka with the 83rd overall pick in the 2019 draft, and now the 21-year-old Finn is making the switch from the Finnish Liiga to North America. Though he stands at just 5-foot-10, 179 pounds, Honka’s ability to move the puck with speed and efficiency shows potential for him to produce in the NHL.
Defenseman William Lagesson constitutes the other defenseman arriving in Raleigh. The 26-year-old Swede has 60 career NHL appearances to his name, mostly with the Edmonton Oilers. Lagesson was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens on March 21 and made three appearances with the Habs before the end of the 2021-22 season.
Finally, goaltender Zach Sawchenko enters the fray on a one-year, two-way deal. Coming off three starts and seven total appearances with the San Jose Sharks in 2021-22, Sawchenko will likely spend the bulk of his time in the minors with the aforementioned surplus of quality netminders anchoring the main squad, but he does add more depth to the ever-important goalie position.
Bear looks for rebound, LaJoie continues to develop
Although Cole and Smith are now gone, Bear and defenseman Maxime LaJoie return to Raleigh for another round. LaJoie returns as yet another one-year, two-way deal on the Canes’ payroll. A mainstay on the Chicago Wolves in 2021-22 with 33 points in 60 games, the 24-year-old French Canadian will most likely continue to develop in the AHL with so much talent coming in the Canes’ crop of blue liners.
Bear, for his part, enters the 2022-23 season looking for a bounce-back year. The 25-year-old Canadian logged 14 points in 58 games for the Hurricanes last season, both underwhelming totals for a promising player.
Bear put up nearly half of those points in his first 16 games, notching one goal and five assists, but his season got sidetracked when he tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 22. While he only missed a couple of weeks and returned to action on Dec. 4, Bear seemed to lose his groove for the rest of the year. Canes fans will hope that with a full offseason of rest, Bear will return to form this season.
