Carolina Hurricanes: What to do About the Rights to Adam Fox
Carolina Hurricanes top defensive prospect Adam Fox has made it very clear that he has no intention of signing with the team. That places Carolina in a difficult situation with what they intend to do with his rights.
When a highly touted prospect like Adam Fox refuses to sign with the team hold their rights, things can get kind of dicey. That team is now forced to make a decision. After first telling the team he wanted to finish his final year in Harvard, Fox’s agent has come back around to inform the team that Fox has no intention of signing with Caroling.
Here is a well developed player that by all means should be NHL ready after at least three years of playing high level NCAA hockey for Harvard. Do you hold out for one more year in hopes of signing him? Or do you trade his rights away?
For Fox, he wants his rights moved to a team he would rather sign with sooner rather than later so he can knock a year off his entry level rookie deal. He already stated that he wanted to play in the NHL as soon as possible.
Obviously would be better for Fox to have the trade happen sooner than later so he can sign and burn first year of entry-level deal. On other hand, the 'Canes have to do what's right for them. Trading him soon or waiting until summer?
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 1, 2019
If you do trade him, when is he most valuable? Who would you trade him to? What kind of return can you see for a prospect like him? All these are questions that Don Waddell will have to answer. For Tom Dundon, a man who wastes little time on formalities the answer was pretty simple when asked:
“We’ll try to trade him,I think we’ll do OK. We’ll see.”
The fans may not like that answer. After all, fox was part of a trade that brought in Dougie Hamilton and Michael Ferland at the cost of Elias Lindholm and another high ceiling defender, Noah Hanifin. While the trade looked to be an even trade that benefited both teams at the time, it has since morphed.
Lindholm wasted no time signing a contract with Calgary and burning a serious bridge between himself and Caniacs when he came back to Raleigh by mocking the Storm Surge. On the flip side, Ferland and the Carolina Hurricanes seem to very distant when it comes to coming to an agreement. Making it look very likely that he will walk come July.
Where does Fox Want to go?
If the Carolina Hurricanes allows Fox to hit free agency as well in August 2020, they would be considered having lost that trade with Calgary. But I do not expect Carolina to simply sit on Fox for another year in hopes of him signing. For one, it wouldn’t be in their best interests to sign him, not anymore. It would also be in Fox’s best interest to be traded as well.
If Carolina wanted to be a little vindictive they could hold on to Fox’s contract until 2020 and let him walk then. That would force fox to start his Entry Level Contract (ELC) in the 20-21 season and not allow him to see the real money that he is worth until the 23-24 season. That is unless he signs with Carolina now to burn at least a year off that ELC making him eligible for a bigger contract sooner.
Adam Fox has earned himself the scorn of many Carolina Hurricanes fans who now see him an entitled Harvard kid who wants to skip the trails and tribulations of working his way up to a team of his choosing. While he is no John Tavares and this isn’t the New York Islanders, do not expect anything other than a resounding boo for Fox if and when he graces PNC ice.
It is no secret that the kid born on Long Island wants to play for the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden. But what would a trade with them look like? The Rangers are in the midst of a rebuild and can use a kid like Fox, and is possibly on the of the few teams that can get him to sign without burning a year off his entry level contract in the end of the 18-19 season.
Rangers have a lot of prospects but could use a young, RHD... so Fox would be of interest, I believe, to the Blueshirts. But at what price? They're not going to pay a first-round pick, I don't imagine, to get it done. So what's fair compensation?
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 1, 2019
That is a very good question. Will the Rangers let go of the good draft picks and prospects that Carolina can use in order to take on Adam Fox? The Price will at least be set to a second round draft pick and another prospect (perhaps someone not as ready as Fox). Are the Rangers willing to pay for that now, and get him or will they wait until 2020 to get him for free?
Can Other Teams Enter the Conversation?
Rangers could try to wait out the Carolina Hurricanes and possibly use their massive influence to convince Adam Fox to do the same and get him for free on August 16th 2020. But that allows other teams to try and enter the conversation. They could possibly convince Fox that they are good enough and close enough to his hometown to make it worth changing allegiances.
Other teams however, will most likely wait until the season is over to step in. After all, the rules dictate that any player traded after the deadline is ineligible for the playoffs, so Fox would not be available for a postseason run. So there is no harm in simply waiting him out. However that would also raise his value.
The longer a high caliber NHL ready player like Fox is available on an ELC, the more that he is worth. His best value will be right after the season. Now Fox might not like that option, but honestly, the only way I see him burning off the 18-19 season with The Carolina Hurricanes in control of his contract is by signing with them and hoping to be traded in the summer. There is also one last option:
And I suppose you always have to keep the door open that Fox changes his mind and signs with Carolina in the end ... we shall see...
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 1, 2019
That is very unlikely. Right now, Fox is playing chicken with the Carolina Hurricanes and I really doubt that Don Waddell will blink first. I fully expect the rights to Fox to be traded this summer after the season is over, where he will have the highest value. As the 19-20 season moves along, his value will shrink, and soon teams might opt to wait him out and get him as a Free Agent so expect this to the first thing on Waddell’s plate.
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Will the staring contest between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers end in favor of Carolina or New York? Or will a third team step in and snag away Adam Fox? Only time will tell. For now, we can’t allow this drama to take us away from the matter at hand, the postseason.