The Carolina Hurricanes had a fairly quiet offseason, despite a couple visible areas of need in their lineup. The team made one notable move, signing Jesper Fast to a three-year deal, however, they didn’t address their need for another top-six winger or a starting goaltender. Now, with all but no cap space remaining, it seems unlikely that we’ll see any major moves made by the Hurricanes this offseason.
A little while ago, I noted that I didn't think the Hurricanes would make any changes to their goaltending duo before the 2020-21 season but at this point, it seems as though that may apply to the entire roster. Mikael Granlund, who the Hurricanes were rumoured to be in the mix for, re-signed with Nashville and the only free agent forward remaining who would make sense for the Hurricanes is probably Mike Hoffman. The fact is, however, it’s very unlikely the Hurricanes could make room for him, given that he could still cost $6 million, even on a one-year deal in this market.
This means Carolina couldn’t move Ryan Dzingel or Jake Gardiner, they’d need to move both, or one of the two and another player who’s making a decent salary, like Jordan Martinook or Brock McGinn. It would be difficult enough to move just one of Dzingel or Gardiner and the chances of the team being able to do it, plus another player, just aren’t very likely.
Even if the Hurricanes could create some cap space and wanted to look for an upgrade via trade, that's not looking like a great option either. Cheap contracts with term that bring good value are more important than ever and if the Hurricanes wanted to acquire someone on a good contract through a trade, they’d likely be overpaying to do so. On the flip side, teams may be willing to shop good players who are on big contracts but with a potentially expensive offseason coming up next summer, the Hurricanes can’t really afford to take on a lot of money.
So while the Hurricanes do have areas of need, it’s unlikely we see any big moves made ahead of the season.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Do you think the Hurricanes will make any more notable moves before the start of the season?
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