Ben Case: Future Contract Costs and Budget Keeping GMRF From Big Move? What do you think is holding GMRF back from a big trade this past May and leading up to the freeze this past weekend? Let me know your thoughts and thanks for reading!

What about a guy like Jeff Carter from LA? He is owed 18.5 million over the last 5 years of his deal and puts up 60 points a year. The downside is he is 32 but even if he averages 40 points a year through the remainder, it was worth it. I do a roster player like McGinn, a top prospect, and next year's first. It probably isn't the 5 million in cap space LA wants to move but if they are committed to rebuilding maybe we can jump in on Carter. His salary fits our lack of spending.


Im up for trying to get Neal or Wilson from Nashville through LV. Neal has a 1 year deal and Wilson's is 2 years at just under 4 million. Both wouldn't hinder our re-signings. Move Nordstrom and a 2nd rounder.

Lastly if Stempniak is taken see if Vrbata or Williams would do a 1 year deal for more money, maybe 5 million. Wouldn't hurt us a bit when we need to re-sign everyone. Also would love to get Stalberg back. It would put us at using up 15 million(20 total but Stempniak and Lack fall off) this year, which wont happen but hey it would be nice. We need to inject serious energy into the fan base. Nothing says it more than dropping 20 million in the offseason. Hey its the 20th anniversary right? It only makes sense.

Skinner-Carter-Aho
Wilson-Staal-Lindholm
TT-Rask-Williams
PDG-Ryan-Stalberg

Then next year when Aho is ready for center duties we move Staal. He would have 5 years left on his deal and im sure would ok a trade to a couple of teams.

TT-Carter-Skinner
Wilson-Rask-Lindholm
Kuokannen-Aho-Gauthier
PDG-Ryan-Stalberg

Still solid lineup that would save enough to cover the re-signing of Lindholm and eventually Aho, Skins, and TT.

a great generation will be wasted if the Canes are not gonna spend more Awesome top 4 D, talented wingers in Skinner and Aho and Lindholm is also improving. Time to spend some dough

Great article, but ominous for caniacs. If there is no substantial increase in the budget, Canes will once again not be fielding a capable of winning the Stanley cup. And I think even the younger players may decide that they would prefer to go to a team that has a chance of winning the Stanley Cup then a team that may or may not be good enough to squeak into the playoffs. So the solution I hope for is that Karmanos sells the team to owner(s) who are willing to increase the budget. After all, if Karmanos is not willing to invest the necessary money in the team, why should I invest my money to go to the games?

Ben, color me puzzled...this team has been CHEAP CHARLIE for EVER, EVER, EVER... IF last year's lost revenue didn't remind anyone in charge "IT TAKES MONEY......to make money, welllllllll There is no hope! Assuming the bosses /owner isn't planning a long trip to Quebec... this team needs an upgrade at forward (preferably Center). I'm not the only one who is IMPATIENT... TRUST ME!

What about a guy like Jeff Carter from LA? He is owed 18.5 million over the last 5 years of his deal and puts up 60 points a year. The downside is he is 32 but even if he averages 40 points a year through the remainder, it was worth it. I do a roster player like McGinn, a top prospect, and next year's first. It probably isn't the 5 million in cap space LA wants to move but if they are committed to rebuilding maybe we can jump in on Carter. His salary fits our lack of spending.


Im up for trying to get Neal or Wilson from Nashville through LV. Neal has a 1 year deal and Wilson's is 2 years at just under 4 million. Both wouldn't hinder our re-signings. Move Nordstrom and a 2nd rounder.

Lastly if Stempniak is taken see if Vrbata or Williams would do a 1 year deal for more money, maybe 5 million. Wouldn't hurt us a bit when we need to re-sign everyone. Also would love to get Stalberg back. It would put us at using up 15 million(20 total but Stempniak and Lack fall off) this year, which wont happen but hey it would be nice. We need to inject serious energy into the fan base. Nothing says it more than dropping 20 million in the offseason. Hey its the 20th anniversary right? It only makes sense.

Skinner-Carter-Aho
Wilson-Staal-Lindholm
TT-Rask-Williams
PDG-Ryan-Stalberg

Then next year when Aho is ready for center duties we move Staal. He would have 5 years left on his deal and im sure would ok a trade to a couple of teams.

TT-Carter-Skinner
Wilson-Rask-Lindholm
Kuokannen-Aho-Gauthier
PDG-Ryan-Stalberg

Still solid lineup that would save enough to cover the re-signing of Lindholm and eventually Aho, Skins, and TT.
- gocanes0506

Interesting thought on Jeff Carter. That's not an idea I'd previously considered or read before. If the cost were close to what you put on table, it is much more palatable than trading away Faulk or Hanifin.

I'd prefer to move PDG over McGinn though. McGinn seems to be a bit more gritty than PDG and better at two-way hockey. McGinn frequently at the end of the season was hitting everything that moved. PDG is also a good player, but I just like McGinn's tenacity.

The $18.5M remaining over five years would definitely be a number I'd be happy with. 60 pt player for $3.1M owed. The Hurricanes wouldn't have a problem fitting the $5.2M hit either.

He would definitely fill the 1C role, is good at faceoffs, love his size, can't argue with his production and ability to score. I'd say this would be a good play and "smart money" spent.

A potentially cheaper scoring fix could be Marchessault. At 26 and coming off scoring 30 goals, he has one year remaining at around $800K. He's not the large frame I'd like to see, but the guy can score. I've read he spent time at center and wing, but it doesn't appear he was too strong at C. Line-up with him could be:

Skinner - Rask - Marchessault

Aho - Lindholm - TT

McGinn - Staal - Stempniak

PDG - Ryan - ???

I wouldn't mind your idea of bringing Stalberg back for the 4RW. If Vegas takes Dahlbeck instead of Nordstrom/Stempniak, then you can use Nordstrom on 4RW too probably.

The big question I think is up the middle with where do Rask/Staal/Lindholm fit. They are all good centers, so the good news is that it allows different center and wing combos during cold streaks or injuries.

TT got a decent amount of time on RW and given lack of depth there, I'd probably move him that that. Lindholm was one of the better FO guys for the Hurricanes when used at C and won 55.6%, so I wouldn't be surprised if they switched him to C maybe.

Looking at LV, I'm on board with GMRF trying to get Wilson/Neal. If GMGM was able to make a strong play for Wilson and Marchessault, I'd be thrilled. I know that's basically beyond unlikely though. You plug him into the 3LW above and move McGinn down and that's not a bad lineup either.

The side I didn't talk about in terms of prospect depth and being able to keep future costs low is the chance for a decent amount of prospects to be NHL ready soon. Guys like Roy, Saarela, Kuokkannen, Gauthier and some others could be NHL ready in 1-2 more seasons. You add those into the equation with a Marchessault and Wilson acquisition, and I think the results could be favorable.

a great generation will be wasted if the Canes are not gonna spend more Awesome top 4 D, talented wingers in Skinner and Aho and Lindholm is also improving. Time to spend some dough
- DutchSenators

Can't disagree with that. They've done an amazing job of building the foundation. Now just need to bring in a little more support.

Great article, but ominous for caniacs. If there is no substantial increase in the budget, Canes will once again not be fielding a capable of winning the Stanley cup. And I think even the younger players may decide that they would prefer to go to a team that has a chance of winning the Stanley Cup then a team that may or may not be good enough to squeak into the playoffs. So the solution I hope for is that Karmanos sells the team to owner(s) who are willing to increase the budget. After all, if Karmanos is not willing to invest the necessary money in the team, why should I invest my money to go to the games?
- cbcibryant

That's definitely a concern regarding players leaving for the chance to win. I think that is partially why Teravainen only signed for two years. In two years, if the Hurricanes don't show much more than where they are now, I wouldn't be surprised to see Skinner and Teravainen go different directions.

Same goes for many of the core guys that have been here now for a while, such as, Lindholm, Rask, Staal, and Faulk. They've seen a lot of losing seasons in NC and after a while it does grow old. Add in two more and that might push some guys to request a trade or leave in free agency. I wouldn't blame them either if they left for a chance with a better team.

As one person noted on Twitter, the owners should be happy with the $17M each they will receive with from the expansion fee. To lose say Dahlbeck, Nordstrom or Stempniak and get $17M isn't a bad pay day. Hopefully, Karmanos will let GMRF take this money and invest it into the future and some acquisitions.

I don't blame Karmanos for not spending the last few seasons. The team was in a rebuild and spending $5-6M more wouldn't have stopped that. It might've made the rebuild longer because younger guys might've lost roles/minutes needed for development. At this point though, the timing makes sense to spend now. Only time will tell. Stay positive.

Ben, color me puzzled...this team has been CHEAP CHARLIE for EVER, EVER, EVER... IF last year's lost revenue didn't remind anyone in charge "IT TAKES MONEY......to make money, welllllllll There is no hope! Assuming the bosses /owner isn't planning a long trip to Quebec... this team needs an upgrade at forward (preferably Center). I'm not the only one who is IMPATIENT... TRUST ME!
- randycane

Can't disagree. Timing is everything and the Hurricanes window does appear to be now. GMRF has done a great job getting them to this point, I have faith he has something up his sleeve the next two weeks.

I was surprised to learn Marchessault was exposed. Would LV even trade a 30 goal scorer though? Also have to think it would be an expensive trade. We would have competition from every cap hugging squad to get a 30 goal scorer with such a low salary.

If he was added, we need some serious size on the team. Between Aho, Skins, and March, teams would be beaten us up all night. I like addition.

I was surprised to learn Marchessault was exposed. Would LV even trade a 30 goal scorer though? Also have to think it would be an expensive trade. We would have competition from every cap hugging squad to get a 30 goal scorer with such a low salary.

If he was added, we need some serious size on the team. Between Aho, Skins, and March, teams would be beaten us up all night. I like addition.
- gocanes0506

The size factor is definitely an issue IMO too. Aho was definitely targeted a lot towards the second half of the season last year.

The price would definitely be a question too. The good news is most of the cap ceiling spenders don't quite have the draft pick pool the Hurricanes do. Also, many of them appear to be sending Vegas picks for protecting certain players, so they may have even less.

I read on NHL.com about an hour ago that LV apparently has 6 deals in place and there are 3-4 other GMs who need more time. I imagine the 6 are: CHI, NYI, CLB, LAK, ANA, PIT. The other 3-4 I'm guessing are TB, MIN, BUF, WSH. Maybe COL, DAL, EDM, MTL, NYR.

This doesn't include the trades that GMGM has set up for after either. Completely switching gears and not relevant to the Hurricanes, but, If I was GMGM, I'd be going Russian/Czech heavy.

Just imagine Kovalchuk (trade), Dadonov (sign), Shipachyov (already signed), Radulov, Grigorenko, Burmistrov, Khokhlachev, Gaborik, Kulemin, Jaskin, Sustr, Kulikov are some of the names GMGM could have come Thursday AM.

It creates a unique selling point to top end Russians who haven't come over yet too. GMGM could sign 2-3 high-end, elite KHL guys potentially. Think about a deal with Dallas for Nischushkin. Dallas protecting him seems like a reason to wonder if they would use him as trade bait to get LV to take a goalie.

There's also a nice quality of Swedes/Fins that could complement that group nice too. I know LV already has NYI's first and CBJ's apparently. If they get 4-5 or more first round picks, some 2nd/ lower picks, and expendable players from the deals in place to not pick a player and they could easily make 1-2 big trades.

Anyways, I went off topic enough. Fun to run down the bunny trail sometimes.

The size factor is definitely an issue IMO too. Aho was definitely targeted a lot towards the second half of the season last year.

The price would definitely be a question too. The good news is most of the cap ceiling spenders don't quite have the draft pick pool the Hurricanes do. Also, many of them appear to be sending Vegas picks for protecting certain players, so they may have even less.

I read on NHL.com about an hour ago that LV apparently has 6 deals in place and there are 3-4 other GMs who need more time. I imagine the 6 are: CHI, NYI, CLB, LAK, ANA, PIT. The other 3-4 I'm guessing are TB, MIN, BUF, WSH. Maybe COL, DAL, EDM, MTL, NYR.

This doesn't include the trades that GMGM has set up for after either. Completely switching gears and not relevant to the Hurricanes, but, If I was GMGM, I'd be going Russian/Czech heavy.

Just imagine Kovalchuk (trade), Dadonov (sign), Shipachyov (already signed), Radulov, Grigorenko, Burmistrov, Khokhlachev, Gaborik, Kulemin, Jaskin, Sustr, Kulikov are some of the names GMGM could have come Thursday AM.

It creates a unique selling point to top end Russians who haven't come over yet too. GMGM could sign 2-3 high-end, elite KHL guys potentially. Think about a deal with Dallas for Nischushkin. Dallas protecting him seems like a reason to wonder if they would use him as trade bait to get LV to take a goalie.

There's also a nice quality of Swedes/Fins that could complement that group nice too. I know LV already has NYI's first and CBJ's apparently. If they get 4-5 or more first round picks, some 2nd/ lower picks, and expendable players from the deals in place to not pick a player and they could easily make 1-2 big trades.

Anyways, I went off topic enough. Fun to run down the bunny trail sometimes.
- BenCase

I would be willing to do a Murphy and a swap of 1st with their assumed NYI first. Still get a solid guy like Foote or winger at 15. I would still need Carter to center this smurfy conglomerate of wingers.

Would Stepan be an option for the Canes? He shouldn't be too expensive and makes 7-6-5-5 the next 4 years. You then get Staal - Stepan - Rask - Ryan thru the middle. Still no true #1 center but solid depth for sure.