Carolina Hurricanes Should Target Familiar Faces in Free Agency
By Ryan Ritchie
Carolina Hurricanes Should Target Familiar Faces (Eric Staal, Andrew Ladd, etc.) in Free Agency This Summer
Carolina Hurricanes finished 6th in the Metropolitan Division in 2015-16 with a record of 35-31-16 (86 points). Heading into June’s NHL Draft in Buffalo, the Canes are set to pick 13th overall.
GM Ron Francis now has a couple of seasons under his belt at the head of the table.
He did a good job this year accumulating draft picks/prospects for players headed to free agency. Some pieces are still a few years away from having an NHL impact (i.e. Alex Nedeljkovic), but there’s reason to believe this team can start battling for a playoff spot in 2016-17.
Strong Defense
The Carolina Hurricanes lone positional bright spot this year was their defensive group.
Somewhat surprising when you consider the Canes lost their big offseason acquisition James Wisniewski to a season-ending injury 47 seconds into his first game. It also didn’t help that highly regarded prospect Ryan Murphy struggled immensely.
Several players managed to step up though in 2015-16. Led by arguably the top PP quarterback in the NHL, Justin Faulk was an offensive juggernaut for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Stepping in as an 18-year-old, Noah Hanifin had the poise of a veteran in year one – he has elite no.1 potential, and his left-handed release would fit nicely alongside Faulk’s right-handed shot.
Two unsung heroes on the blueline were Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce, both logging north of 18 minutes/game. Carolina Hurricanes actually assembled the NHL’s first All-American defensive group in 2015-16.
The scary part, the Canes have more blueliners on the way in the near future. Trevor Carrick had a monster year in Charlotte, while Haydn Fleury and Roland McKeown are highly-regarded defensive prospects.
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Questions in Goal
32-year-old Cam Ward is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. He’s coming off a lucrative$6.3 million dollar cap hit. When healthy, Wardo is generally worth every penny; only problem, he can’t keep off the IR.
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This is a tough situation for Ron Francis. On the one hand, Cam Ward was a large reason for the franchise’s only Stanley Cup Win, and a Conn Smythe to prove it. On the other hand, he’s failed to get the job done ever since.
The Carolina Hurricanes can bring back Ward to team up with Eddie Lack as a tandem, but it would have to be a) an affordable contract, and b) a third option would need to be signed that is capable of short NHL stints (i.e. bring back Justin Peters).
28-year-old Eddie Lack has a new contract kicking in next season. He made $1.15 million dollars against the cap in 2015-16, but is set to earn $2.75 million dollars/year for the next two seasons (’16-17-’17-18).
Top prospect Alex Nedeljkovic was a standout for Team USA at the World Juniors back in January, and had a good run in the OHL Playoffs, but he’s still two or three years away (minimum) from having an NHL impact.
Short-Term Free Agency Options (to tandem with Lack):
James Reimer, Karri Ramo, Carter Hutton, Chad Johnson
Potential Trade Options:
Short-Term Solutions: Mike Smith ARZ, Kari Lehtonen/Antti Niemi DAL, Jaroslav Halak NYI, Marc-Andre Fleury PIT, Jonathan Bernier TOR, Ondrej Pavelec WPG
Long-Term Solutions: Semyon Varlamov/Calvin Pickard COL, Zach Fucale MTL, Andrei Vasilevskiy TB
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Thin Up Front
Heading into the 2015-16 NHL season, the Carolina Hurricanes had arguably one of the weakest forward groups. Once they subtracted the face of franchise (Eric Staal), those voids up front became more evident.
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A few reasons for optimism moving forward. First, Victor Rask stepped up on both sides of the puck. Not only did the young center manage to accumulate 48 points, but also showed improvement defensively in his own-end. Expect him to step into a larger role with added minutes in the Fall.
For anyone who had injury concerns regarding Jeff Skinner, or still label him with the injury prone tag – you can get rid of it.
After missing 11 games in 2013-14, Skinner managed to play 77 in 2014-15, and topped that with a full 82 games in 2015-16. After scoring 28 goals this year, it’s safe to say that Jeff Skinner is safe in Carolina, and not going anywhere.
Free Agency: Carolina Hurricanes Should Target Familiar Faces
With several holes to fill in the lineup and only $39 million dollars committed to next season’s salary cap, the Carolina Hurricanes have a lot of money to spend this offseason.
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Several prospects have an opportunity to make this team in the Fall, but as a GM you can’t make decisions based on hopes or expectations – especially when it comes to prospects.
Given a couple noticeable voids in their top six, Carolina should consider fielding offers to both Eric Staal and Andrew Ladd. Both players have outstanding leadership skills that could help mentor the Canes younger core. Even if both are looking for long-term deals, it still makes sense for Carolina.
Ron Francis can always trade Jordan Staal or Jeff Skinner if say Sergey Tolchinsky or Brock McGinn emerge as top six forward’s. Nowadays, you need three lines of scoring productivity anyways to compete for a Stanley Cup.
Below is a rough sketch of next year’s lineup (players may shift around to different sides/or lines) if we include Staal and Ladd.
Jeff Skinner – Eric Staal – Elias Lindholm
Andrew Ladd – Jordan Staal – Victor Rask
Phil Di Giuseppe – Joakim Nordstrom – Andrej Nestrasil
McGinn/Tolchinsky – Jay McClement – Valentin Zykov
Obviously Nordstrom played on the wing in 2015-16 and didn’t take many face-off’s, even though he’s a natural center. Eric Staal can slide to the wing to make room for Victor Rask up the middle.
Elias Lindholm needs to step up his game in the Fall, or he could find himself losing minutes in the near future.
Carolina Hurricanes have several players headed for unrestricted free agency. Nathan Gerbe, Rley Nash, Chris Terry, Brad Malone, and Derek Ryan could hit the open market on July 1 if the Canes opt not to re-sign them.
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NHL Draft Options:
A top prospect could always fall down to 13th, but we’re going to focus on the players expected to be picked in the Carolina Hurricanes range.
C Logan Brown
C Clayton Keller
C Michael McLeod
C Tyson Jost
LW Kieffer Bellows
LW Max Jones
RW Julien Gauthier
LW Riley Tufte
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So, what do you think Canes fans? Would you welcome Eric Staal, Andrew Ladd, and Cam Ward back in 2016-17, or is it time to move on and shift the focus to younger players? Are there any other impending free agents you think the Carolina Hurricanes should target this summer? Would you look to the trade market to address any needs?