What did the Carolina Hurricanes do at the NHL trade deadline?
For a long time Monday, just before the NHL trade deadline, it appeared the Carolina Hurricanes had made the decision that they liked their team and would stick with it.
But that changed, just before the 3 p.m. deadline.
The Canes sent defenseman Haydn Fleury to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Jani Hakanpaa and a sixth-round draft pick in 2022.
The move was a little surprising in that Fleury was set to play for the Canes on Monday against the Detroit Red Wings. Canes coach Rod BrindAmour said Monday morning that Fleury would be in the lineup and Jake Bean a scratch.
With the Canes 27-9-4 and sitting in first place in the Central Division, the Canes could have decided to stand pat. But additions made by division contenders Tampa Bay and Florida, who both added right-shot defensemen, might have changed the equation.
Hakanpaa, 29, gives the Canes another right-shot D-man, joining Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce. A former fourth-round draft pick by the St. Louis Blues, the Kirkkonummi, Finland, native has played 42 games this season for Anaheim and is a big guy at 6-foot-5 and 218 pounds who has 168 hits, third in the NHL. He is a pending UFA this offseason.
Fleury, 24, was Carolina’s first-round draft choice in 2014, the seventh overall pick, and played in 35 games this season, and 167 in his NHL career. At 6-3 and 208 pounds, the left-shot defenseman has a physical edge to his play and was effective last year in the 2020 postseason.
“We have been talking about getting a right-shot defenseman and have been pretty open about it,” Canes president and general manager Don Waddell said on a Monday media call. “We just feel to complement what we have already, a stay-at-home big guy who can play with one of our offensive (defensemen) made a lot of sense for us.
“With trades, you look at fits, what works for your hockey club. We think this is a better fit for us and that’s why the decision was made to make the trade. Right now we really like our hockey team, which is why we didn’t make a lot of changes but we really felt we need a stay-at-home, right-hand shot defenseman.”
In a season played during the pandemic and with salary-cap concerns, there were only a handful of notable NHL deals Monday as the 3 p.m. deadline neared. As Sunday turned into Monday, the Buffalo Sabres sent Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar to the Boston Bruins in a wee-hours transaction. Late in the afternoon Monday, the Washington Capitals acquired Anthony Mantha from the Red Wings for Jakub Vrana, Richard Panik, as well as a 2021 first-round pick and a 2022 second-round draft pick.
Waddell said he had spoken with several teams Monday about potential deals, saying 10 or 12 trades were discussed. By 2 p.m., he said the decision had been made to pursue Hakanpaa and get the deal done.
Hakanpaa played with center Sebastian Aho a few years back in the Finnish league and Waddell said Aho had been consulted. He said the Canes first talked to Aho when Hakanpaa came to the NHL as a free agent in 2019.
“Sebastian had nothing but good things to say about his character and what kind of guy he was, and was comfortable that he would come in and fit well with our team and our culture we have,” Waddell said.
Four hours before the deadline Monday, Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour was asked on a media call if he believed he would have the same team post-deadline, with no new faces in the mix.
“I envision us being the same group moving forward here,” Brind’Amour said.
The “group” in Brind’Amour’s mind includes a return of injured forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Brock McGinn. Teravainen, who has had COVID issues and a concussion, has been limited to 13 games this season and not played since March 4. McGinn has been out the past three games with an upper-body injury.
McGinn should return, Brind’Amour said Monday. But Teravainen’s status remains in doubt.
“That’s the big question mark,” Brind’Amour said. “Teuvo’s the wild card. We need him back. We need him to turn the corner and say he’s ready to go. We’re banking on it, obviously, but having him back would really make things feel a lot better, that’s for sure.”
Waddell said Teravainen had been skating and had shown improvement in the past week. He said Teravainen was “getting closer” but that there was no target date for his return.
Brind’Amour said he spent no time paying attention to NHL scuttlebutt about trades or any names being mentioned. Nor, he said, did he think his players were affected by it.
“I think in our case, when there’s really not much expected to happen, I don’t think it’s that big a deal in our locker room,” he said. “With some teams it’s way different. I think obviously they’re in a little more different places, so they’re a little more apprehensive and what not, but I don’t sense that in our group.”
A year ago, the Canes added center Vincent Trocheck and defensemen Brady Skeji and Sami Vatanen in trades before the deadline. Trocheck might be the Canes’ MVP this season and Skjei has paired well with Brett Pesce. Vatanen left in free agency after the 2020 postseason.
Vatanen was placed on waivers Sunday by New Jersey and claimed Monday by the Dallas Stars, a Central team.
This story was originally published April 12, 2021 at 3:44 PM.
