Hurricanes fans anxious for moves with NHL trade deadline days away, others making deals
Timo Meier’s trade Sunday to the New Jersey Devils sent ripples across the NHL, especially in the Eastern Conference, and more so the Metropolitan Division.
There has been other trade movement the past few weeks, all adding to the anxiety and angst of those Carolina Hurricanes fans wondering what their team will do before Friday’s trade deadline.
And there’s no doubt: Other teams in the East do appear to be loading up for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The New York Rangers traded for forward Vladimir Tarasenko and are thought to be after Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Islanders brought in forward Bo Horvat from Vancouver. The Boston Bruins have added defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway from Washington; Tampa Bay picked up forward Tanner Jeannot from Nashville; and the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for defenseman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty from Chicago.
Meier was a big one, and had Twitter atwitter on the weekend. The San Jose forward, who has 31 goals this season, was viewed as the best “big piece” available, even if he’s due to receive a $10 million qualifying offer for the 2023-24 season.
The Meier deal also resulted in a laundry list of players and draft picks going both ways between the Devils and Sharks. It was complicated.
What are the Hurricanes up to?
A year ago, they waited until the last moment before adding forward Max Domi at the deadline.
Tuesday, they made a minor deal to add winger Jesse Puljujarvi from the Edmonton Oilers for an unsigned prospect.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Friday that he has conversations “daily” with president and general manager Don Waddell.
“We’ve had that all year,” Brind’Amour said. “This is nothing new. Obviously there’s a lot happening around the league. We’re certainly involved in everything. I’m not going to say we’re smarter than everyone else, because that’s not it, but we’re careful in how we do things.
“We’ve got a good team and you really want to mess it up? That’s how we look at it first, and if we can get better we’re certainly trying to do it.”
The Hurricanes (39-11-8) had a five-game winning streak end Saturday when the Anaheim Ducks made the most of their 15 shots, winning 3-2 against a team that had 53. The Canes lead the Metro Division with 86 points, three ahead of the Devils through Monday’s games
Waddell has said the Canes are looking to add to the defensive depth, possibly a left-shot D-man who can be an option on the third pair. He had not ruled out bringing in a forward who could play in the top six and give the Canes some scoring production.
Carolina had that in Max Pacioretty. The veteran winger was just what the Canes needed with his experience, toughness and penchant for putting pucks in net.
A second tear of Pacioretty’s Achilles tendon ended his cameo of a season, sadly for him and the team. But it did provide the extra salary cap space to look for additions.
Meier appeared to be an option, and the scuttlebutt was that the Canes were in the mix. Other trade scuttlebutt has brought up such names as Arizona forwards Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse, Vancouver forward Brock Boeser or someone like Columbus defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.
The acquisition of Domi last season will be remembered for one game — albeit a big one. He had two goals and an assist in a 3-2 win over the Bruins in Game 7 of the first-round playoff series.
The Canes picked up Domi in a three-team trade just before the deadline that involved Columbus and Florida. He left Carolina in free agency after the season, signing a one-year deal with the Blackhawks.
Canes center Sebastian Aho said his approach as the deadline nears is to tune out the trade noise, which can be distracting.
“It’s not my position or my money,” Aho said last week. “I’m not in that side of the business, but I am aware of what other teams are doing.
“I don’t like to think too much about that. They’ve done an awesome job with the team here for many years, so I’m confident whatever they think is best is best. I just show up to the rink and play hockey. We’ll see how it plays out.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2023 at 6:15 AM.
