With Victor Rask’s slump in the second half of the season, the Carolina Hurricanes need another top center
Let’s get things straight, the Carolina Hurricanes have some flaws. I think we all know this. In fact, the list probably spreads onto a second hand if you were counting them on your fingers. One hole many bloggers have attempted to fill with their lust after Matt Duchene is that of another top center for the team. A need made, even more, glaring with the recent drop in production by Victor Rask. After a hot start to the season, Rask is now in the midst of a fourteen game pointless streak. While ultimately we think he will get back to normal, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Rask’s cold streak matches the same span as the Hurricanes 4-9-1 record.
Related Story: Victor Rask's Slump
I’m not on the Matt Duchene Bandwagon, though, for many reasons. He’s a great player but there are some serious flaws to bringing him in. One is the length of his contract left doesn’t really give the Hurricanes a whole lot of control for the assets they would need to give up. Two is that while he is very good, I’m not sold on him being a great player. That’s just a personal opinion with a little bit of stats to back it up that we won’t get into here. If the Hurricanes were smart they would target Alex Galchenyuk.
Reason 1: He’s Younger
Matt Duchene right now is 26 years old while Alex Galchenyuk is only 22. This means that statistically, Galchenyuk hasn’t even hit his prime. Which is a pretty big deal when you look what he’s done so far in his career. Last year Galchenyuk scored thirty goals on a Montreal team that missed the playoffs. It took Matt Duchene till he was twenty-five last year to accomplish the same feat. Sure Galchenyuk split time between wing and center during that season, but it’s undeniable that he has shown offensive prowess at a much younger age
Reason 2: Their Fancy Stats are Similar
Take a look at these two graphs from Corsica:
These are the graphs of each player for their Relative Corsi For and Expected Goals For % for each player. Seen at the end of last year, Galchenyuk really took off which is evident in his traditional stat line. This year has been a little worse for Galchenyuk, but he has suffered a few injuries which have hampered his play. Even with the injuries besetting Galchenyuk, Duchene isn’t exactly pulling away from him that much especially in the xGF% category.
3. Contract Situation
Like I noted above Duchene only has two years left on his contract after this year while Galchenyuk will need a new contract after this year. That allows the Hurricanes execute a sort of sign and trade with the Montreal Canadiens to get Galchenyuk. Obviously, this probably pushes a trade like this to the offseason. With the Carolina Hurricanes dropping to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, the urgency to get something done this season really isn’t there anymore. This makes an offseason move even more attractive to the Carolina Hurricanes’ front office.
Next: Players on the Farm that might Debut this Season
The trade rumors concerning Galchenyuk have subsided with the hiring of Claude Julien as coach of the Canadiens. Maybe Montreal doesn’t end up moving him at all. I mean Montreal doesn’t have a history of trading away really good players right? Les Habitants will need to give Radulov a new contract next year, and to Carey Price in two years. This will shrink the amount of money left for Galchenyuk.
With Markov hitting free agency after this season, Montreal also needs to fill a hole on their top defensive pairing. Add all this with Galchenyuk wanting a rather large contract himself it could mean that Montreal and Carolina could make a deal. Carolina would also let Galchenyuk play his preferred position of center instead of forcing him to the wing. It’s a trade that could answer a lot of questions for both team if negotiated properly and is the type of deal Francis needs to pursue in the near future if he wants to get serious about fielding a playoff contender.