For the first three offseasons of Carolina Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis’ tenure, he seemed content to mainly rebuild around the team’s young talent, making fringe additions to the NHL roster. For the first two, he made very few additions, still restrained by large contracts handed out by the previous regime, mainly to forward Eric Staal and goalie Cam Ward.
Last summer, freed of those financial albatrosses, he made a couple more moves, moving opportunistically to get young forward Teuvo Teravainen from the Chicago Blackhawks, in exchange for taking on forward Bryan Bickell’s bloated deal, and signing forward Lee Stempniak as a free agent. The 2016 offseason still lacked the urgent, aggressive moves to fill specific needs and push for the playoffs right away.
The 2017 season, Francis’ fourth as general manager, did not lack those moves at all, and was markedly different from the first three. Francis entered the offseason with a list of specific needs to make his team better right now, not just in the long run, and worked aggressively to fill them.
The Canes needed to upgrade their goaltending, with the duo of Cam Ward and Eddie Lack sinking the team with poor play the past two seasons. So, just weeks after the offseason began, he sent a third rounder to Chicago for the rights to goaltender Scott Darling, and a week later, he signed him to a four-year deal.
The third pairing on defense was another big issue for the Canes last year and needed to be stabilized. Francis filled that hole as well, sending a second-round pick to the Vegas Golden Knights for defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, adding to an already incredibly strong blue line.
Carolina struggled to score last season and needed a veteran voice with playoff experience for a young room. Francis responded to that need by bringing back a familiar face, signing former Hurricanes forward Justin Williams to a two-year deal with the opening of free agency July 1. Williams adds a still-productive veteran presence and three Stanley Cup rings to the Canes’ locker room.
Francis also shored up the bottom-six forward group, signing free agent forward Josh Jooris and sending a fifth-round pick to Vegas for shutdown center Marcus Kruger (adding another two cup rings with Kruger).
These moves send a clear message to head coach Bill Peters and his NHL roster: The time for rebuilding is past. The Canes still have a bright future with a strong prospect group, but the focus now shifts to ending the team’s eight-year playoff drought, the longest such active drought in the NHL.
Francis’ offseason transactions aren’t those of a general manager working with a five-year plan, ten-year plan, etc. They’re moves made by an executive playing for this season, to get back into the playoffs immediately.
Dropping over $4 million per year on a new goalie when Ward is only under contract for a little over $3 million, spending draft picks to upgrade the roster and adding a 35-year-old for whom missing the playoffs is a rarity are all hallmarks of a team playing for the present.
Williams in particular represents this notion clearly. Throughout his career, Williams has won. He likes winning. He’s used to winning. He would not have returned to Raleigh to help finish a rebuild. His decision signals that the rebuild is already finished, and he believes the Canes are ready to win now.
Darling, van Riemsdyk and Kruger are all also accustomed to winning, having been part of multiple championship runs in Chicago, and their excitement at joining Carolina is further evidence that good times are ahead.
In his fourth offseason as Hurricanes GM, Francis has made a clear shift from the patient, opportunistic approach he took with the first three. He made targeted, specific additions aimed at bringing playoff hockey to Raleigh for the first time since 2009, and with that focus in mind, it’s time for the new-look Hurricanes to deliver on the biggest offseason for Francis so far.
