Carolina Hurricanes: Jonathan Drouin Mock Trades

The day of reckoning for Jonathan Drouin and the Tampa Bay Lightning is getting closer and closer, and there many possible trades that the Carolina Hurricanes could offer the Bolts.

The Carolina Hurricanes have been rumored to be right in the thick of things in regards to a seemingly inevitable Jonathan Drouin trade in Tampa Bay.

More from Cardiac Cane – Canes Showing Interest in Jonathan Drouin

Drouin’s talent is undeniable, and, though his recent antics in Tampa have put a bad light on both him and his agent Allan Walsh, he is still highly coveted by a plethora of teams across the league.

Many offers have come across the desk of Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, and that will continue to be the case until the trade is finally made.

The Carolina Hurricanes have many assets that they can move for the high-flying young forward, but the 2013 3rd overall pick won’t come cheap. Here are some mock trades that could happen if the Canes do end up picking up Drouin.

The first trade was inspired by Kyle Morton via Twitter on Thursday.

In this trade, the Carolina Hurricanes would get the highly coveted Jonathan Drouin, but they give up valuable young assets.

A 2016 1st round draft pick seems inevitable in a Drouin trade involving the Hurricanes, but the Canes do have a pair of 1st rounders in the upcoming draft.

If the Canes see themselves not making the playoffs, they won’t involve their own 1st round pick unless they really think it is a home run trade. That’s why trading LA’s 1st round pick makes much more sense for the team’s future. That pick would be in the 2nd half of the opening round in the draft because the Kings appear to be well on their way to a playoff birth in the Western Conference. They currently have a 10-point lead for 1st place in the Pacific Division.

Carolina Hurricanes /

Carolina Hurricanes

The next piece Carolina would be giving up is defenseman Ryan Murphy. Once the team’s best prospect, Murphy has fallen out of the mix on the NHL blue line due to the success of guys like Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce.

With those 3 names already succeeding in the NHL and all at or under the age of 21, and guys like Haydn Fleury, Roland McKeown, and AHL All-Star Trevor Carrick amongst other still yet to break into the NHL, the Canes have too many NHL-bound young defenseman, which makes Murphy expendable. He has yet to prove he can handle a full season in the NHL, but he is still a young (22) former top-half of the 1st round pick that can make his way and make an impact with the right team. The Canes just aren’t the right team for him.

The final piece is a bit of a throw-in guy, and that is Sergey Tolchinsky. Tolchinsky went undrafted after earning OHL rookie of the year honors back in 2013, and he is in the midst of his rookie year with the Charlotte Checkers.

Tolchinsky is still very much a long-term project given his style of play and his small stature. His brand of hockey doesn’t tend to translate incredibly well in the NHL, especially with the game moving in the way of bigger, more physically advanced players.

That said, he still has a ridiculously talented skill set. If he can make that transition from the AHL to the NHL, he has “top-9 offensive player” written all over him.

This would be an ideal trade for the Hurricanes. They eliminate a problem of having too many young defensemen and they move a young forward whose future is very unclear. The only thing that hurts is moving that 1st round draft pick, but when you are getting a player like Drouin in return, it is well worth it.

This trade involves a big name going the other way for Jonathan Drouin.

In this, Carolina gets their man Jonathan Drouin, but they part ways with their 2014 1st round draft pick and a 2nd rounder in the 2016 draft.

The 2014 1st round pick involved here is defenseman Haydn Fleury. Like Murphy, Fleury was Carolina’s best prospect for some time. His two-way play and defensive presence with the Red Deer Rebels made him a top-10 pick under 2 years ago.

Like Murphy, Fleury’s potential has been overshadowed by the likes of Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin, and Brett Pesce. Fleury is still a very talented and big defenseman that will assuredly make a big NHL impact in the future, likely in a top-4 defenseman role.

You have to give to get in the NHL, so giving up a young defenseman like Fleury may be necessary, and the Hurricanes won’t be hurting without him due to their stacked pipeline of blueliners.

Throwing in the 2016 1st round pick from the Kings would sweeten the offer for the Lightning. They’d get their star young defenseman and a 2nd round pick, in exchange, the Hurricane bolster their forward core with a guy who could be a truly dynamic, Patrick Kane-like player down the road.

This trade should be more tempting to Tampa as they’d be getting a lot of value coming their way, the Canes would be slightly overpaying in this deal.

This one is a doozie, but stick with me here.

Here, the Carolina Hurricanes not only get Drouin, but they also get Braydon Coburn. Coburn, 30, is an established shut down defenseman in the NHL, and his $4.5 million cap hit would be necessary to take back in order to fit Eric Staal into the trade. Carolina would also have to retain a fraction of Staal’s salary for the remainder of the season as well.

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In this move, the Hurricanes kill 3 birds with one stone. They get Drouin, they move one of their young blue liners, and they get value back for Eric Staal.

Staal would go to Tampa and make an instant impact, and his reliability both at center and on the wing creates a plethora of possibilities for their forward lineups. Pairing Staal with Stamkos, two players that have experience together with team Canada in the Olympics, could be a massive difference maker, and it could be the spark they need to be a real playoff competitor like they were just a season ago.

Tampa would also get a young defenseman that is still on his entry-level deal in Ryan Murphy, and then the 3rd round pick in the 2016 Draft is to increase the value going Tampa’s way.

Including Coburn is actually a big piece for the Hurricanes. They could flip him and get even more value in return or they can hold onto him through the rest of the year and include him in the team’s future.

Acquiring Coburn also makes both Hainsey and Liles bigger trade chips. Coburn would be a younger, better option than both of those guys, which would make it much easier to part ways with them. Liles is a pending unrestricted free agent in July.

Of course, they’d need to lock down Coburn before moving one of Hainsey or Liles, given he is also a pending unrestricted free agent. Back in 2013, there were some real rumors swirling that the Hurricanes actually wanted to deal for Coburn on draft day, but talks between Carolina and Philadelphia fell through. and a move wasn’t finalized.

Going Carolina’s way in this: a young star in the making and a valuable top-4 defenseman who gives the club a lot of options. Going Tampa’s way: a star forward who can make this team a Stanley Cup contender, a young defenseman with high offensive upside that can be a top-4 defenseman in the right environment for a long time, and a 3rd round pick in the upcoming draft. Is it crazy? Yes. Does it make sense? Yeah, maybe.

Next: Canes Host Rangers in Snowy Metropolitan Division Showdown

The Jonathan Drouin talks will continue to heat up until he is moved, and the Carolina Hurricanes seem to have to pieces available to make things very interesting.

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