The NHL is a funny place sometimes. Sometimes when teams decide they aren’t doing well, they decide that everything needs to go.
The Carolina Hurricanes, according to rumors, are apparently one of those. Bob McKenzie stated that even players like Jeff Skinner are on the table in a recent segment on TSN radio (Carolina is brought up around the 14:30 minute mark):
“There’s nobody there they’re not prepared to trade. Skinner, you name it. Everybody, everybody, is possibly getting moved...Everybody except for Aho is available. I think [Justin Faulk] is very much in play, I think Skinner is very much in play.”
And that’s a very interesting position for a team that wasn’t that far out of the race until March to take. It makes them a very viable trade candidate because a lot of their team is pretty young still, and because of the people in charge appearing to make some truly bizarre decisions, there’s an opportunity for a swindlin’ to occur. Especially since everyone but Sebastian Aho is on the table. He’s good, no question...but just him? If you say so...
So, what are the most viable targets, and who could the Bruins most need?
Forwards:
I am aware as much as you that the B’s have other, more pressing concerns, but in situations where a team is putting practically everybody out on the table, you have to look at all your options and see what’s available to you. For Boston, a 2nd line Right Wing would be the best possible thing to go pick up if they were planning on improving through this method. It’s been a problem issue for awhile now and has not been meaningfully addressed, so it’s high time Boston either figured it out from within or figured it out with a trade.
Here are some of the names you can go for (within reason):
- Jordan Staal
- Justin Williams
- Elias Lindholm
- Teuvo Teravainen
- Victor Rask
- Jeff Skinner
- Derek Ryan
- Lee Stempniak (hey! I know you!)
- Valentin Nykov
Yes. some of those names are indeed major players for the Canes. and apparently all of them are for sale.
Williams, while definitely getting up there in years, still manages to contribute no matter where he is, and has managed at least 40 points in his last five seasons, and that includes not only some drastic changes in teammate quality but in team-wide quality as well. He’s a possession-positive player, he’s just as good as dishing the puck around as he is shooting it, and has that wonderful quality of being clutch in the playoffs*. The only real knock is...well...he’s 36. That’d be another old guy claiming a spot that a prospect could be taking.
Teuvo Teravainen on the other hand, is much like Williams in that he is a productive winger with a strong body of work. Unlike Williams, he is 23, which makes him a possible long-term option, and could possibly only get better with time! A knock against him is technically speaking he plays left wing, but lately the Canes have used him as a right wing player to some pretty solid effect, as he just came off of a career year with 64 points in 82 games. Granted, he also had a wonderful Shooting-% this year, but his performance in more reasonable years of shooting remains pretty strong. He’s also on an insanely cheap deal with a 2.86M a year contract until 2019, so that’s always a plus.
From less obvious names, Elias Lindholm is a fun little Center/Winger for B’s fans in that he can easily slot in as center god forbid anything happen to him as well as play right wing and has been a quality addition to the Canes since he got there. 44 points in 81 points, a solid game, and versatility to match. He’s also fairly cheap and young, too!
Oh, and Victor Rask is also apparently available, so maybe stocking up on Rasks like so many other teams that like to horde similarly named players might be a worthwhile idea?
Defense:
- Noah Hanifin
- Justin Faulk
- Jaccob Slavin
- Trevor Van Reimsdyk
- Brett Pesce
- Really their entire defense
I’m sure you’re seeing the Noah Hanifin name up there and salivating. He’s young, he’s huge, and he is a genuinely productive defender with 32 points at the NHL level. My question, which comes at the end, is how much does it take to get him?
Simply put, Hanifin is probably their best defender right now behind Justin Faulk, another super talented mobile blueliner. Even with how bizarre and slightly chaotic their ownership has been, they cannot be that stupid. Getting either one of those two is going to be a serious mover of bodies and picks.
But even that belies the big problem with trying to get with Carolina for a defender; all the really good defenders play on the left, when Boston kinda needs a player who can play on the right more than anything else. And their right-side? They’re pretty alright, but they aren’t the transformative talents in the same way that Faulk or Hanifin are.
...Which is why you go for the underrated guy. And that’s what Jaccob Slavin is.
Yet another solid skater, great defender, and signed to a very team friendly $5.3mil AAV signed until 2025, If you wanted to go for a player who could slot in almost immediately, and hopefully end up maybe being a stopgap for the #1 or #2 position for a little while other defenders develop.
Really, if there are only two clear “don’t bother” players in Dahlbeck and Haydyn Fleury, you’re looking at a real nice selection ahead of you.
Of course...now you have to pay for them in some fashion. Which is the rub in this case.
What would it cost?:
The ‘Canes biggest issue is...well...goaltending. It’s been their biggest issue for awhile now and Cam Ward is outski at long last. Boston as we’ve already stated, cannot part with their goaltender without doing irreparable harm. What they can give on the other hand, if they so desire, is move one of their prospects, like Zane McIntyre, who needs to make a big leap to the NHL level.
Picks and prospects are as usual one of the big ways to sweeten the deal beyond just McIntyre; there are plenty of tweener forwards on the Bruins right now who could desperately need a new home if it doesn’t seem like they’re going to be making the NHL roster anytime soon. Players like Cehlarik, Czarnik, and yes...even Bjork, might be better served if they headed on down to Raleigh, and possibly parting with a defense prospect like Jeremy Lauzon or Jakub Zboril might be able to recoup the cost of things.
...Of course, if they wanted to go for a more high profile player like Hanifin or Faulk, they’d probably have to give up a full-time NHLer to do so, and there are a lot of players with NMCs, even modified ones, on the B’s roster, meaning a painful decision would likely need to be made, which would probably mean Boston would have to part with one of it’s younger forwards or, god forbid, a defenseman.
...Of course, this is the “new” Carolina Hurricanes who are now being directly controlled by their owner, which is usually NHL code for “rich madman”. If any offer seems good enough? There’s a good chance they’ll probably take it.
What do you think? Should they raid the ‘Canes? Or is this not worth the price?