The Carolina Hurricanes have made their first trade of the season, sending Victor Rask to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Nino Niederreiter.
It wasn’t long ago that we were asking if Victor Rask should be traded. He was offered as trade bait in the off-season and ever since returning from the injury reserve, he has not felt at home within the Carolina Hurricanes lineup. We asked if there was a market for Rask and what the return for him, if any would be. Don Waddell and the Carolina Hurricanes have answered these questions as they announced that Victor Rask would be swapping teams with Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter.
So who is Niederreiter? The 26 year old right winger from Switzerland, who has been adoringly labeled “el Nino” (we just had to go and get a player nicknamed after a weather phenomenon) has played all 46 games for Minnesota this year, scoring 9 goals and earning 14 apples for 23 points on the season so far. What he brings to the table is eight years of experience in the NHL, as well as – crucially – a powerplay presence. He has three goals and six apples for nine points with the man advantage this year. Let’s hope he can make an immediate impression on the Canes’ power play.
Coming soon to @PNCArena pic.twitter.com/CH89Lq59jr
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) January 17, 2019
That is the kind of addition the Carolina Hurricanes need to try and crawl back into the playoffs while they are still at least seven points out of a wild card spot. Niederreiter definitely isn’t the final solution for this team, however he is definitely a step in the right direction and will be a breath of fresh air as the team departs next week for their three-game Western Canada road trip.
His first game with the team will most likely be at PNC Arena against the Ottawa Senators on Friday. This will be an excellent way to introduce him to the fans and give him a chance to truly be one with the team in quick fashion. A black jersey night and a Star Wars night, against the worst team in the league (although they obliterated the Avalanche the other night and should not be slept on) should help him integrate well and show Coach Rod Brind’Amour how he best fits in with this team.
Obviously Niederreiter won’t continue to wear the number 22 currently worn by Brett Pesce. While it is unknown what number he will wear, it is obvious that he will be a part of the Carolina Hurricanes roster for a while as he is signed though the 2021-2022 season. Even though we added another left-handed shot to the roster, expect him to make an impact now and down the road.
One of the biggest things to point out in this trade is that Niederreiter costs about $1.25m more per year than Rask. On one hand, it shows that Tom Dundon and Don Waddell are not afraid to upgrade the team and pay more for it, but on the other hand it brings concern to the fact that if Rask manages to return to his older self, that his $4m AAV contract was not that bad. Reality is more likely to be the former than the latter. As with Jeff Skinner, we need to concentrate on what we’ve acquired rather than what we’ve lost.
We will miss the former alternate captain of the Carolina Hurricanes. Not only will be down good looks per 60, but also well-dressed per 60. That said, we look forward to the kind of veteran leadership and offensive prowess that Nino Niederreiter will bring as the Carolina Hurricanes push forward with their efforts to end the playoff drought. Will he be the forward we need in these trying times? We’ll have to wait and see, but we can safely say that he is an upgrade on the 2018-2019 model of Victor Rask.
Good job Don Waddell – let’s see more of the same over the coming weeks.
Question for CC Readers:
How would you grade this trade? Who is the winner here? And where would you fit Nino Niederreiter on this team?