After making a couple of trades in the week prior to Wednesday’s 3 p.m. NHL trade deadline, the Carolina Hurricanes had a quiet deadline day. Dead quiet, in fact. The Canes traded defenseman Ron Hainsey to the Pittsburgh Penguins for forward Danny Kristo and a 2017 second-round pick last Thursday and forward Viktor Stalberg to the Ottawa Senators for a 2017 third-round pick in the past week, but did not make a single trade on the actual deadline day.
On Jan. 17, the Canes were coming off four-straight wins and went into a road game against the Columbus Blue Jackets with a chance to move into an Eastern Conference wild-card spot. Carolina lost that game 4-1, and is 4-10-2 since the aforementioned winning streak. That has dropped the team to dead last in the Eastern Conference, 10 points out of a playoff spot with seven teams to climb over to get there.
Had the Canes managed to maintain their previous pace and stay in the hunt, today might have been a different day, with pieces added for a potential playoff run. Instead, it was a third-straight year of selling off players on expiring contracts for future assets.
“It’s very frustrating, very disheartening,” general manager Ron Francis said at his post-deadline media availability Wednesday. “We win a game five-and-half weeks ago, we’re in that wild-card spot and things are going in a different direction. I do have to pause and still look at the big picture.
“There’s a lot of positives in what we’re doing and the direction that we’re going. We’ve got some good young pieces. We’ve got to continue to build it the right way, and hopefully we can get over that hump sooner than later. It certainly is frustrating to be selling again when I was hoping to be in a different position.”
The Canes’ trades in the past week, along with some made last season, leave the team with a plethora of picks in June’s NHL Entry Draft. The Canes have 11 picks in the draft, including three second-rounders and three third-rounders. That gives Francis a variety of options, including packaging some of his picks and prospects for needed NHL help, such as an established scorer at forward. The coming expansion draft could potentially throw an extra wrinkle in as well.
The Vegas Golden Knights will begin play as the league’s 31st franchise next year. Before the entry draft in June, Vegas will have an opportunity to take one player from each existing team. NHL teams can protect either seven forwards, three defensemen and a goaltender, or eight skaters, regardless of position, and a goaltender.
“I think that’s part of our hope with the picks, especially with seven in what could be the top 85,” Francis said. “Interesting year this year with the expansion draft, there could be teams that are in trouble and maybe willing to move pieces rather than losing them in the expansion draft. We feel we can look at that with some of the picks we’ve accumulated. Certainly it’s something we can use to maybe try and accumulate pieces to try and make us better as we move forward toward next season.”
In terms of adding for next year, a problem that has plagued the Hurricanes for years has been an issue again this season. Simply put, the Canes struggle to score. The team currently sits 23rd in the league in goals for per game. There are only three other teams outside the top half of the league in goal-scoring currently in the playoff picture. If the Canes are looking to use their assets to add pieces for next year, a top-end scorer would probably top the wish list. The Canes will have competition in that market, however.
“I think every team’s looking for that guy, especially if he’s a centerman,” Francis said. “Look at what it’s done for the Oilers and the [Maple] Leafs, being able to get [Connor] McDavid and [Auston] Matthews in those positions that last couple years. I think everybody’s looking for that kind of high-end guys, particularly centers, to drive their team. We’ve got a lot of draft picks; we’ve got a lot of prospects in our system. If we’re able to move some of those to make our team better, then absolutely, we’re all for it.”
This may read like a broken record, but goaltending has been a big issue again as well. Starter Cam Ward has had his moments this season, but with little rest due to injuries and poor play from backup Eddie Lack, his play did not get the team where it needed to be. Goaltending is something the team will need to evaluate the rest of the season and have its eye on going into the summer as well.
“I think there’s a lot of areas we have to look at; certainly that’s one that we would look at again,” Francis said of goaltending. “There’s a lot of things that I think will play out between the end of the season and the expansion draft. There’s a lot of teams, whether they need guys to expose or they’re worried about losing guys to expose, so there may be some moves that happen in that time frame, and certainly leading up to July 1, leading to up the entry draft with potential trades that you can make. We are constantly looking at that and will continue to look at it a lot closer as the season progresses.”
The theme of the coming offseason continued throughout Francis’ availability. As a small-market team, money and a budget is always going to be at least somewhat of a concern for Carolina. Francis has not had a discussion with team owner Peter Karmanos Jr. yet on next season’s budget, but thinks the Canes will be able to make some additions this summer.
“I do feel we’re in a good position to add pieces, both with money coming off our books and some of our young guys still on their entry-level. We do have some of those young kids going into their last year and some guys going into the last year of deals. We may look at trying to extend some of those guys sooner than later. I do feel we’re in a good position that we can add some good pieces to our lineup.”
It’s been another frustrating season for the Carolina Hurricanes. The team came into trade deadline day in a familiar position it had hoped not to be in again, well out of the playoff picture and selling off expiring assets for future ones. With an eighth-straight season outside of the playoff picture looking all but certain, focus has turned to next season early-on once again. However, with the assets Francis has stockpiled, the team does have the ability to improve itself in the summer in the hopes of taking the next step and making sure an eight-year playoff drought doesn’t hit nine.
