Heading into the 2017 offseason, the Carolina Hurricanes had three glaring needs: an upgrade in net, an improvement for the third pairing on defense and some added scoring punch.
Check and check on those first two. General manager Ron Francis sent a 2017 third-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for goaltender Scott Darling and signed him to a four-year contract to upgrade one of the league’s worst goaltending units, and flipped a second rounder to the Vegas Golden Knights for blueliner Trevor van Riemsdyk to fill out his defense.
With both the expansion draft and entry draft in the rearview mirror, however, an addition or two up front remains on the to-do list. Francis entered the offseason with plans to trade some of his plethora of draft picks for current NHL help. While he was able to do that with Darling and van Riemsdyk, none of his picks were able to yield an NHL forward.
The expected trading frenzy ahead of the expansion draft never materialized, and the entry draft was likewise light on transactions, with a grand total of four NHL roster players moved during the actual draft (a few more were moved in the early afternoon of the day of the first round). The prime piece in the rumor mill was and continues to be Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene, but by all accounts, Avs general manager Joe Sakic’s asking price remains sky high.
Francis being unable to land current help for one of his picks was certainly not through lack of trying, and the architect of the Canes’ roster expressed regret after making eight picks over two days that he was not able to land immediate help for his club.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was hoping to maybe take a few less picks, Francis said after the draft’s conclusion. “We had an awful lot of discussions in the last little bit about trying to move picks for players. They just didn’t pan out the way we had hoped.”
While the Canes were not able to add a scorer or two during what has perhaps the biggest window to do so, it certainly remains a glaring need for the team. Goaltending was the primary culprit in Carolina extending its league-leading, eight-year playoff drought last season, but a lack of offense was also a major issue.
The Canes ranked 20th in the league in goals per game at 2.59 in 2016-17. Among playoff teams, only the Ottawa Senators finished lower, and 12 of the top 15 teams in terms of goals per game qualified for the postseason. The Canes saw some nice individual seasons, including forward Jeff Skinner putting up a career-high 37 goals and rookie Finn Sebastian Aho having a very productive debut season, but the forward ranks could use some veteran reinforcements.
The top-nine group up front for the Canes figures to feature Skinner, Aho, Jordan Staal, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Teuvo Teravainen and Lee Stempniak. The team could use at least one, and possibly two acquisitions in that regard. In addition, the Canes still need to spend approximately $4 million to reach next season’s salary floor, and that number will go up when one of the three goalies currently on the big-league roster is subtracted.
So, the Canes should still be in the market to add a forward or two with the opening of free agency Saturday, July 1, and Francis confirmed as much after the draft Saturday.
“I think we’re still in the same boat,” Francis said. “If we can add something to our lineup, we’re open to doing that. Whether it’s free agency or teams that go into free agency and sign guys that need to move contracts [in a trade], we’re still in a strong position in that regard to be able to do that. We’re still talking and looking at things.”
While, as Francis noted, a trade this offseason is still possible, with the window to talk to players now open, and teams being able to sign those players officially starting at noon Saturday, the focus likely turns to the free agent markets.
Craig Custance of The Athletic reported that Carolina was “in the mix” for veteran winger Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks. Joe Thornton, also of the Sharks, Patrick Sharp of the Dallas Stars, Patrick Eaves of the Anaheim Ducks, Justin Williams of the Washington Capitals, Radim Vrbata of the Arizona Coyotes and Sam Gagner of the Columbus Blue Jackets are all also pending unrestricted free agents that fit the bill as point-producing forwards.
Francis and the Canes have filled two-thirds of their shopping list, but as the offseason continues to move along, the all-important goal of adding a scorer or two remains. What the team is able to do in that regard will go a long way in determining whether or not Carolina’s 20th anniversary seasons ends in its first playoff berth since 2009.
