Hurricanes ready for NHL regular-season stretch run as trade deadline speculation swirls
Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour had heard about the Vladimir Tarasenko trade by the time the Canes’ practice ended Thursday afternoon.
The St. Louis Blues sent Tarasenko to the New York Rangers. The forward, in turn, could be in the Rangers’ lineup Saturday when they face the Hurricanes at PNC Arena, the team’s first game back after the All-Star break and subsequent NHL “bye” week.
Add in the New York Islanders trading for forward Bo Horvat, and the Tarasenko deal is the second big one in a matter of days involving Metropolitan Division teams picking up productive players who should give them more firepower and help make them better.
“I think everybody knows we’ve got a strong division, a lot of really good teams who feel they have a chance to win it all,” Brind’Amour said Thursday. “You get an opportunity to push a team over the edge, that’s what you’ve got to do, And I’m sure you’ll see more of it.”
Will that include the Hurricanes? Don Waddell, the team’s president and general manager, isn’t ruling it out. Nor is he committing to it.
“We keep talking about it,” Waddell said Wednesday. “Obviously, defense is an area where if we can get another depth guy who can play in our group or (be) an insurance policy … We’ve been very fortunate with not too many injuries there. If we can add a forward to our group, potentially a player who could have some impact to our game, I think that would be a great addition.”
That’s the kind of comments that have Canes fans buzzing and speculating about potential trades for players such as, say, forwards Timo Meier of San Jose or possibly Travis Konecny of Philadelphia. And Waddell is capable of stealth moves — his trades for center Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Brady Skjei in 2020 went unmentioned in media speculation before they were done deals.
“But we’ve gone 22-3-3 and in our last 28,” Waddell said. “You don’t want to mess up things too much if you have a good thing going.”
Going into the NHL All-Star break and their time off, the Hurricanes were 34-9-8, with a seven-game win streak. They were 9-0-1 in their last 10 games and leading the Metro.
Brind’Amour and forward Andrei Svechnikov represented the Hurricanes at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game last weekend. Svechnikov won the fastest skater skills competition, but the Metro team lost in its first game in the 3-on-3 tournament.
Many of the other players scattered in different directions for the break. But they were back and ready for their first practice Thursday at PNC Arena, preparing for a 31-game sprint to the regular-season finish line that includes the 2023 Stadium Series game at N.C. State’s Carter-Finley Stadium on Feb. 18.
“I feel like everyone is well-rested and ready to be back and ready to push in this last little run of the season,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said. “It was fun to get back with the guys and get to practicing again and get back in the swing of things.”
Defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who missed the last six games before the break with a lower-body injury, was back at practice. The session was spirited, with a good pace.
“Nice little skate today, feeling good, feeling refreshed and ready to go,” forward Martin Necas said.
