The Carolina Hurricanes continue to make the kind of aggressive management moves that keeps their approval rating high among their fans.
The Hurricanes rank fourth in fan satisfaction with management in a recent poll by the Athletic. That likely stems from the team's offseason aggressiveness that continued Tuesday with the signing of veteran free agent center Paul Stastny.
"Paul is an extremely reliable veteran who has been effective at both ends of the ice for his entire career," Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said. "He adds even more experience and leadership to our forward group, and we are excited to have him in Carolina."
The Hurricanes owned the NHL's third-best record in 2020-21 (54-20-8) and this summer they added Max Pacioretty, Brent Burns, Ondrej Kase, Dylan Coghlan and now Stastny.
Stastny, 36, is a responsible, two-way center. Faceoff.com projects Stastny playing between Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas. Carolina's center group now includes Sebastian Aho, Stastny, Jordan Staal and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. That constitutes center depth.
"Paul is an extremely reliable veteran who has been effective at both ends of the ice for his entire career,… said Waddell. “He adds even more experience and leadership to our forward group, and we are excited to have him in Carolina.…
Stastny scored 21 goals last season, an important consideration because Pacioretty will be out until February because of Achilles surgery. He suffered the injury while working out this summer.
Acquiring Stastny seems particularly important given the tightness of the Metropolitan Division. The Hurricanes lost a center this summer when Vince Trocheck signed with the New York Rangers as an unrestricted free agent. Stastny's goal scoring matched Trocheck's scoring
Stastny has tallied 800 points (284g, 516a) in 1,072 career NHL games with Colorado, St. Louis, Winnipeg and Vegas, bettering the 40-point mark in 12 of his 16 seasons.
Waddell has been an aggressive GM since adding that title to his team president role. In the Athletic survey, only the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings are ahead of Carolina in management satisfaction. Only those four teams received "A" grades. The results are based on surveying local fans.