The Carolina Hurricanes’ four-game winning streak has renewed debate about the franchise’s role in the upcoming trade market. Should the Canes, traditionally sellers at this time of the season, instead be buyers?
The Carolina Hurricanes have not qualified for the postseason for nine years, and through games of Jan. 6, sat seven points out of the playoffs. But the franchise is loaded with prospects and draft picks (Buffalo’s second-rounder this year and a third-rounder next year, among others) that could be packaged for proven veterans to address the team’s biggest weakness – offensive punch.
If the team can extend this hot streak and climb back into contention before the 3 p.m., Feb. 25 trade deadline, then aggressively pursuing some offensive help would make sense.
But if the team reverts to its old ways – following up winning streaks with losing streaks – GM Don Waddell will have to walk a fine line between mortgaging the team’s future for a quick fix that still might not be enough to get the team over the hump.
The Canes are already in full rebuilding mode. Compared to the five teams beneath them in the Eastern Conference (Detroit, Ottawa, the Rangers, New Jersey and Philadelphia) as of Jan. 6, Carolina leans on more youngsters than those rivals, and for more ice time.
The Hurricanes have already used 17 players aged 24 years or younger (goalies excluded), and that group has accounted for 51.1% of the team’s ice time. Here’s a look at how those six teams stack up in terms of number of players 24 and under and percent of ice time for non-goalies.
Team              Players               % on Ice
Carolina         17                        51.1
Philadelphia 9                           46.2
New Jersey   13                        43.3
Detroit           11                        40.2
Ottawa          13                        39.3
Rangers         9                           33.9
When you look at production from those players, Carolina Hurricanes fans have reason to be optimistic for the future. Detroit’s 24-and-under crowd accounts for 59 percent of the team’s goals. Carolina is second among the group at 53.3 percent, well ahead of third-place Philadelphia (38.6).
Team              Goals            % of goals
Detroit           72                  59.0
Carolina         57                  53.3
Philadelphia 44                  38.6
Ottawa          49                  36.0
New Jersey   40                  33.1
Rangers         28                  25.7
The team has had success in the trade market before, sending Eric Staal to the Rangers in February 2016 for Aleksi Saarela and two second-round picks. The club then packaged one of those second-round picks and a third-round pick to Chicago for Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell. That trade has worked out pretty well.
Out-of-contention teams generally look to dump veterans on the last year of their contracts. Justin Williams, Jordan Martinook and Micheal Ferland fit this bill, and all would be attractive for various reasons. Williams’ championship pedigree would be a boost to any locker room, and Ferland and Martinook are still young (26) and productive players who could potentially contribute more than a two-month rental for whatever team acquires them.
Ferland and Martinook, in particular, could play key roles for the Canes over the next few seasons, providing a veteran presence as this ultra-talented group of prospects matures. Trading them away to stockpile more late-round picks and prospects might not be the best move, either.
The next few weeks will determine whether or not the Hurricanes are buying or selling come late February. If the team continues to bring the effort and energy it has so far in 2019, Canes fans could be in for a treat in a few weeks.