The Carolina Hurricanes face some tough roster decisions going into the 2016 NHL All-Star Weekend.
The Carolina Hurricanes are only one point out of the playoffs going into the all star break, which many thought was impossible. Most preseason projections had the Hurricanes being in the bottom five in the league. Ron Francis was projected to a deadline seller, in the middle of a lengthy rebuild.
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However strong play from young players, and specifically those along the blue line has kept the Hurricanes in the playoff hunt. Since December the Canes have gone 15-8-4 and earning a record of 7-3-3 in January. The Canes don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Heading into the break Goaltender Eddie Lack got hot in Cam Ward’s absence, and the Hurricanes beat the defending champion Blackhawks 5-0.
This makes Ron Francis’s job as the GM much more difficult. Does he stick with the current lineup that has his team in the playoff hunt for the first time in years, or does he sell off higher value assets like Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner for draft picks and prospects?
Carolina Hurricanes: Buyers or Sellers?
The Hurricanes are caught in a tricky scenario here. Being one point out of the playoffs, they are maybe one piece away from seriously competing. However, they cannot afford to throw away what has been a lengthy rebuild at the first chance at success they’ve seen in years.
Carolina Hurricanes
A playoff berth might be the most important thing this franchise needs at the moment.The Hurricanes have been a bottom five team for half of a decade, and its starting to show in attendance. The Hurricanes averaged the least amount of fans through the first half of the season. The front office also has to think about how to make sure that this team is profitable and staying relevant in the market.
The Hurricanes have an abundance of young defenders at the moment. Pesce and Slavin are only 21 and Hanifin is a fresh 19. The Hurricanes also have Haydn Fleury, who seems poised to make the roster next year and his WJC teammate Roland McKeown not to far out of the picture.
The Hurricanes can afford to let one of these pieces go to acquire some more scoring or forward depth. It should also be noted that Francis holds two first round picks in the upcoming draft from the Andrej Sekera trade with the Kings. This means that he is still poised to accumulate more young talent, so letting one player go may not be a bad idea.
Look at acquiring a player did for the Hurricanes this year with Kris Versteeg. This also brings us to what to do with the captain…
The Curious Case of Eric Staal
The most important thing that GM Francis has to do this year is to make sure he signs Eric Staal, or gets some kind of return for him. In an ideal world for the Hurricanes they could trade Staal for pieces and resign him in the off-season, but that’s not a likely scenario.
Going into the season the Hurricanes were thin up front, and still lack depth overall. If one of the top six goes down, there isn’t anyone to fill in. Its not like there are a bunch of top 6 forwards out there that can replace him in free agency, and the prospect pool lacks talented forwards.
Carolina Hurricanes
Staal is not only better than most available replacements for the team, he also comes at a better value. Staal has made it known that he would like to stay with the Carolina Hurricanes organization, and why not keep him if the price is right? He would be more willing than most to take a home town discount than any other player that I can think of.
He’s not playing bad either. Staal has been putting up good numbers this year with 30 points (9g, 21a) and a team best 57.1 corsi for percentage. Those possession numbers are good enough for 15th best in the league in players that have played over 400 minutes.
If the Carolina Hurricanes do decide to move him, there is also the question of the salary cap. Depending on who re-signs and who goes, moving his close to $9mil off of the books will but the Canes under the cap floor.
Being under the cap floor means that Francis would have to trade for a contract just to keep the roster eligible. This would be the worst use of money because you get an overpriced player which doesn’t help production. Its just a wasted roster spot on nothing.
Next: Kris Versteeg Wants to Stay with the Canes
The best thing to do this year, is to see if Francis can acquire a player at the deadline and get Staal a new deal. Keeping the Hurricanes relevant at the end of the year will help greatly with the attendance and it will get fans excited again. The Carolina Hurricanes have only been on national television once in the past two years, and that has to change. A playoff berth could do that for this team.