Five pressing questions for the Hurricanes as they look to 2021-22
Not long after leaving the ice Tuesday, beaten by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes began facing questions about the 2021-22 season.
Rod Brind’Amour, who needs a new contract, was asked if he would be the Hurricanes head coach next season. His reply: “Yeah, I hope so.”
So it went. Here are five pressing questions for the Canes:
Will Dougie back back?
We’ll soon find out how much defenseman Dougie Hamilton enjoys playing for the Canes and how much the Canes are willing to pay to see him keep playing for them.
Hamilton came out to sit on the bench more than an hour Tuesday before Game 5 at PNC Arena, alone with his thoughts. Could it have been his last game for a team that traded for him at the 2018 NHL Draft, or will he be back on the same bench next season?
Hamilton’s cap hit has been $5.75 million. He can look around and see Washington defenseman John Carlson getting $8 million a year or Nashville’s Roman Josi making $9 million. Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman checks in at $7.875 million and Jared Spurgeon of Minnesota at $7.575 million.
What’s Hamilton worth? Considered by many the top unrestricted free agent who could be available on July 28, the right-shot D-man may opt for top dollar. But his expressed comfort level with Carolina might keep Hamilton put.
What about Brind’Amour’s contract?
There seemed to be a prevailing thought a new contract for Brind’Amour might be announced before or during the playoffs. But there has been a holdup.
It’s believed Brind’Amour is adamant about keeping his staff together and wants them fairly paid. Is that the snag in the contract talks? Will assistant coaches Jeff Daniels and Dean Chynoweth both be returning?
What should make some Canes fans uneasy is that there are teams looking for head coaches that can pay top dollar — the New York Rangers, for example. The Seattle Kraken, and general manager Ron Francis, have not yet hired their first head coach for the expansion team.
Brind’Amour’s $600,000 salary the past three years was one of the lowest in the league. After three straight playoff appearances, he should be in line to get an salary that’s tripled or more in a new pact. Former Rangers coach David Quinn was getting $2.4 million a season, according to CapFriendly.com.
Brind’Amour wants to stay in Raleigh with the Canes, and has said, “I can’t imagine it not working out.” It has not been worked out yet.
Has Mrazek played his last game for Carolina?
Odds are, goalies Petr Mrazek and James Reimer both could leave in free agency as UFAs. Alex Nedeljkovic will be a restricted free agent and will be re-signed. But is he emerging as a No. 1 goalie or should the Canes try to pursue someone else either in free agency or with a trade?
If the playoffs have taught the Canes anything the past few years, it’s that an elite goalie is needed to reach the highest level and they don’t have that elite goalie yet. It may be Nedeljkovic one day, but can the Canes wait?
What other UFAs could leave?
It’s hard to imagine the Canes allowing Brock McGinn ($2.1 million cap hit this season) and Jordan Martinook ($2 million) to both go elsewhere. Could their production be better? Yes, but they’re both “glue guys” whose intangibles mean a lot to the team. They’re Brind’Amour’s kind of players, and Martinook is an alternate captain.
Defenseman Jani Hakanpaa, 29, was traded to the Canes on April 12 by Anaheim and played 26 games for Carolina in the regular season and playoffs with a cap hit of $750,000. He was a useful addition, gave the Canes size on the back end and could be re-signed by Carolina, depending on the need. And there could be a need.
Who leaves in the expansion draft?
Remember 2017 and the expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights? Many were guessing the Knights would pick veteran forward Lee Stempniak from the Canes and instead took forward Connor Brickley, who had played with the Charlotte Checkers that season. Francis, then the Canes’ general manager, and Vegas GM George McPhee worked out a deal that sent a fifth-round draft pick to Vegas and the Knights took Brickley, a pending UFA that year.
Will the Canes expose defenseman Jake Bean for the new Seattle Kraken to consider for the July 21 expansion draft? Forward Warren Foegele? It’s a guessing game and one scenario being suggested is that Hamilton remain unsigned until after the expansion draft. If Hamilton is available and Seattle takes him, the Kraken would have one week to sign him before free agency began, a gamble the ever-cautious Francis might not want to take. The Canes could protect, say, Bean and then re-sign Hamilton before July 28 and ...
As 2017 proved, it’s unpredictable. Connor Brickley, by the way, played 81 NHL games, none with Vegas.
