Victor Rask was having a miserable season for the Carolina Hurricanes. Since returning from a hand injury suffered while cutting sweet potatoes in the offseason, the Swedish center had just one goal and five assists in 26 games, coming off a down year with just 14 goals and 31 points last season.
What’s more, Rask is signed for three more seasons after this one at $4 million per season. One could have made an argument for the Canes putting him on waivers and sending him to the American Hockey League. In order to trade him, the team would need to take back another bad contract, minimal return and/or retain salary.
Trading him for a young winger with at least 18 goals in each of the last four seasons and signed for three more at a reasonable rate? Unthinkable. Or so one would have thought.
But that’s just what general manager Don Waddell did last week, sending Rask to the Minnesota Wild for Nino Niederreiter.
While Niederreiter wasn’t having the best season in Minnesota, with nine goals and 23 points in 46 games, those numbers are still solid, and blow Rask’s out of the water. With two goals in the Canes’ win over the Edmonton Oilers Sunday, Niederreiter has already surpassed Rask’s Carolina total this year.
When looking at the larger bodies of work, it’s an even bigger disparity. Rask’s career high in goals is 21, and it came in 2015-16. Other than that, he’s never scored more than 20. Niederreiter has eclipsed that mark three times, with a career-high 25 in 2016-17.
While Niederreiter is a little more expensive than Rask, with three more seasons after the current season on his deal at $5.25 million per season, he’s arguably worth it. This trade is a no-brainer for the Hurricanes, and a curious decision on Minnesota’s part.
Moderate savings? Change of scenery? Need for a center? That’s anyone’s best guess for the Wild, but for the Hurricanes, Niederreiter does more than give them a valuable addition in the here and now.
He also is in line to replace a key cog going forward. Winger Micheal Ferland has been a great fit for the Canes since coming over from Calgary, with 13 goals and 25 points playing primarily on top forward Sebastian Aho’s wing. He’s also a pending unrestricted free agent, and is likely outside the Hurricanes’ price range.
With Carolina 7 points back off of a playoff spot at the time of this article’s publication, it makes most sense to deal Ferland to the highest bidder at the NHL’s Feb. 25 trade deadline. If and when that happens, Niederreiter is the perfect fit to take his place on the top line with Aho and Teuvo Teravainen, both for the rest of this season and in the years to come.
Niederreiter did step into that spot Sunday with Ferland out with an injury, and promptly scored his first two goals as a Hurricane. While the sample size is obviously small, Niederreiter looks perfectly suited to play the role of finisher to the chances Aho and Teravainen create.
While not every move Waddell has made in his brief tenure as Canes general manager has paid off so far, it’s pretty easy to appreciate this one. Getting out from under Rask’s contract was something Carolina needed to do, and they were probably prepared to give something up to do so.
Instead, Waddell moved one of the problem contracts he inherited to fill a need and added a good piece for the future.
