A pivotal offseason for the Carolina Hurricanes has already brought plenty of excitement. Owner Tom Dundon has already found his new head coach in longtime Hurricanes captain Rod Brind’Amour, and promoted Don Waddell to general manager.
First on the agenda for the Canes’ new brain trust should be what to do with the team’s in-house free agents. There are a few interesting decisions both of the unrestricted and restricted variety, so let’s take a look at them.
Forward Joakim Nordstrom (restricted)- This should be by far the easiest of the decisions. Nordstrom is a decent depth forward and strong penalty killer, but really does not bring anything special to the table. With a mere two goals and seven points in 75 games last year, Nordstrom is easily replaceable, and should be replaced by a younger player. The Canes should simply not tender him a qualifying offer and let him walk.
Forward Lee Stempniak (unrestricted)- After a solid first season in Carolina, the journeyman winger missed the first half of the season due to injury and ended up posting three goals and nine points in 37 games. Stempniak was at one point a useful middle-six forward, but it’s fair to wonder if the injury may have costed him much of his effectiveness as an NHL player. Even if he does find another NHL job, it shouldn’t be in Raleigh, and that’s another spot the Canes should leave open for a young player. Let him walk.
Forward Phil Di Giuseppe (restricted)- Di Giuseppe is an interesting case. He has the skill set to be useful as a bottom-six forward, and had a strong finish to the season for Carolina. However, the team does have a large group of players from Charlotte figuring to push for spots. Giving Di Giuseppe a one-year, two-way deal makes sense, but the Canes either letting him walk or trading his rights also wouldn’t be surprising.
Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk (restricted)- Van Riemsdyk was brought in to stabilize the Canes’ third pairing on defense, and did just that. He was steady and reliable in his own end, one of the Canes’ more reliable defenders last year. He paired with Noah Hanifin and rookie Haydn Fleury at different points, adding a steady hand for both young blueliners. Van Riemsdyk is a good piece to have on the backend, and Waddell and co should definitely look to re-sign him.
Forward Derek Ryan (unrestricted)- Ryan will perhaps be most remembered by Canes fans for former head coach Bill Peters overslotting him and shackling the team’s best natural goal scorer in Jeff Skinner to him. That’s too bad, because Ryan is a solid player with a great story of working his tail off to reach the NHL at a later age. Ryan posted 15 goals and 38 points in 80 games last year as a solid secondary contributor. While an argument could definitely be made for Ryan being brought back to be used in a more appropriate role by Brind’Amour, the team has a couple young centers in Lucas Wallmark and Martin Necas (last year’s first-round pick) that will be pushing for jobs as part of the youth movement.
Ryan definitely deserves an NHL job next year, and he’ll find it. It just shouldn’t be with the Hurricanes. Another spot to move on.
Forward Elias Lindholm (restricted)- No brainer here. Lindholm, while not having quite lived up to his billing as a top-five draft pick, has developed into a useful middle-six forward and playmaker for the Hurricanes. He even spent some time last year at his natural center position, which is an area of need for the Hurricanes. Lindholm posted 16 goals and 44 points last year, and may still have more to give offensively. The Canes should look to lock the Swedish setup man in long term with a deal of three-five years.
Defenseman Noah Hanifin (restricted)- This one’s tricky. Hanifin should definitely be re-signed. The question is for how long. The 2015 No. 5 pick has continued to grow and develop, posting 10 goals and 32 assists, and making his first appearance in the NHL All-Star game last year. It’ll be interesting to see how much Hanifin can really do offensively if Brind’Amour really turns him loose in that regard. However, he still has growing to do defensively. The Canes may be hesitant to give Hanifin a long-term contract until they see how his development continues, and may be better served to offer him a two-to-three-year “bridge deal” instead.
Goalie Cam Ward (unrestricted)- This is by far the toughest of these decisions. Ward has been a Hurricanes mainstay for years and is the team’s longest tenured player. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP when the Hurricanes captured the NHL’s ultimate prize in his rookie season. He is a great person to have around the locker room.
All that being said, Ward is past the point of being an effective starting goalie. He was far and away better than Scott Darling (not exactly difficult) last season, but his numbers still left something to be desired, with a .906 save percentage and 2.73 goals-against average. The Canes finished dead last in team save percentage last year, and simply can’t bring back the same two goalies. Darling’s three years remaining at $4.15 million per season makes him nearly impossible to move given his performance, so that likely makes Ward the odd man out here.
Another factor is that Ward has been in Carolina for so long. The Canes have the league’s longest-active playoff drought at nine years, and Ward’s the only player there for all of them. That’s by no means solely his fault, but it may be best for the team and for Ward for the veteran to seek a change of scenery. It’s time to move on here.
