The Hurricanes and the NHL Trade Deadline: How busy will they be?
The Carolina Hurricanes have been winning. A lot.
They could be a Stanley Cup contender, though there’s still a lot of work to be done and games to be won.
The Canes have put together a 22-7-3 record with goalie Petr Mrazek missing nearly all of the season, forward Teuvo Teravainen missing a big chunk of it and center Vincent Trocheck recently out with an injury.
“We know to take that next step, we’re going to need all these guys back and playing at the level needed and expected of them,” Don Waddell, the Canes’ president and general manager, said in a recent interview with the News & Observer.
What to do at the NHL’s April 12 trade deadline?
The Canes could look to add some depth — many teams do that if they believe they can make a deep playoff run. But this season, with all the challenges of the pandemic, has created new and different challenges, and severe financial strains that have assured the NHL salary cap isn’t moving higher.
“There are a lot of things that will probably keep it from being a crazy day, but there are a bunch of teams that have a chance to win the Stanley Cup this year and they’ll be trying to do things to help their teams be successful,” E.J. Hradek, senior reporter for the NHL Network, said Friday in an N&O interview. “With that said, I expect there to be movement, but I don’t expect there to be 33 trades or anything.”
Waddell said he has spent some time talking with other general managers. “You’re always actively looking for players but ...” he said.
The salary cap will be staying flat next season. The Canes must arrange new contracts for defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who is due to become an unrestricted free agent, and forward Andrei Svechnikov, who turned 21 on Friday and comes off his entry-level contract this season.
While contract talks with the players will be prolonged, Waddell is closer to signing coach Rod Brind’Amour to a new deal and bring his salary more in line with other NHL head coaches.
“It’s not a concern,” Waddell said of the talks. “Rod wants to coach hockey. It’s been a busy time. It’s a matter of time before it’s all worked out.”
Brind’Amour, in talking about the team makeup, has said he likes its chemistry this season, saying a “winning element” is always “when guys play hard for each other.” The Canes have done that this season, he said, and have been winning at times — Thursday at Columbus, the most recent example — when not playing at their best.
“For sure there’s always another level we’re trying to get to and we’re striving for that,” he said recently.
Who’s on the radar?
Waddell has mentioned looking to possibly add a right-shot defenseman. One intriguing name that surfaced was Slava Voynov, who won two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings when Justin Williams was a teammate.
Voynov, a right-shot defenseman, has not played in the NHL since being suspended by the league in October 2014 following his arrest for domestic violence charges involving his wife. The Russian later pleaded no contest to a charge and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years probation, leaving in 2015 to play in Russia’s KHL.
Waddell said Voynov was, indeed, discussed and Williams, now an advisor to Waddell, weighed in during the discussion.
“We passed on it,” Waddell said.
A name that intrigued some Canes fans was Eric Staal. The center helped the Canes win the Stanley Cup in 2006 and later succeeded Brind’Amour as team captain. His brother, Jordan, is the Canes’ captain now. But the Eric Staal speculation, whether baseless or not, ended Friday when the Sabres traded him to the Montreal Canadiens.
But Waddell has several options. With three goalies soon to be on the active roster, he might use one as part of a deal.
To Brind’Amour, a key factor is when and if Trocheck (upper-body injury) and Teravainen (concussion) will come back.
“I don’t know why you would tinker too much more if you know we’re getting them back,” Brind’Amour said Saturday. “If they’re not coming back that’s a whole different story, but I think our group’s fine. I’d love to just keep it the way it is.”
Canadian quarantine a factor
It’s a different year and Canada’s 14-day coronavirus quarantine for those entering the country changed the equation for the North Division teams looking to make trades. Canada on Friday reduced the quarantine period to seven days, buying more time for Canadian teams to consider and structure moves — in essence, moving back the unofficial deadline before the official deadline.
“There are some impediments with the flat cap and teams may not want to take on money, and going across the border is another impediment,” Hradek said. “It’s always hard to turn big-ticket items at the deadline. If you’re trying to move a high-end player I would think you wait until you have 30 other suitors rather than one or two because of cap issues.”
The Canes were busy at the deadline last year. With Hamilton and defenseman Brett Pesce injured, Waddell, with an eye to the playoffs, traded for defensemen Brady Skjei of the New York Rangers and Sami Vatanen of the New Jersey Devils. In a move that took many by surprise, Waddell also acquired Trocheck from the Florida Panthers.
Hradek said his understanding was the Canes were close to making a deal to obtain goalie Henrik Lundqvist from the Rangers last year at the deadline, before the league shut down during the pandemic. Talk about a shocker.
Hradek, in closing, noted he was talking on March 26 with the trade deadline still a few weeks away.
“It seems like it’s right around the corner, which is true because it is April 12,” he said. “But the picture could change dramatically from today to, say, April 10. That will impact things, as well, as far as how teams see themselves.”
This story was originally published March 27, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
