Carolina Hurricanes: Standing pat was the right decision by Don Waddell

When the NHL trade deadline approached, The Carolina Hurricanes were believed to be a player in the market, but not in the usual sense for Hurricanes fans.

For the last nine seasons, the Carolina Hurricanes have been on the outside looking in when it came to the trade deadline. They seemed to always be adding pieces for the future, not bolstering its roster for a playoff push.

In 2017, the Carolina Hurricanes traded veteran defenseman Ron Hainsey to Pittsburgh. In 2016, Eric Staal was sent to the New York Rangers (in a move that eventually brought Tuevo Teravainen to Carolina). In 2015, they somehow wrangled a first-round pick from Los Angeles for Andrej Sekera.

With the Carolina Hurricane hovering at the cutline on deadline day this year, and in a stretch of outstanding hockey, General Manager Don Waddell faced a tough decision–acquire a piece or two to boost the team’s playoff chances while sacrificing the future, or ride with the team as it existed. He chose the latter option. He chose wisely.

Compare Waddell’s approach to that of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who made a flurry of deadline deals. They sent their 2019 fourth- and seventh-round picks and prospect Julius Bergman to the Rangers for Adam McQuaid, a 32-year-old journeyman on the downside of his career.

They also acquired high-scoring forward Ryan Dzingel, age 27, and a 2019 seventh-round draft pick from Ottawa for forward Anthony Duclair, aged 23, and their second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021. They were getting older as a team.

Matt Duchene cost prospects Vitaly Abramov and Jonathan Davidsson, a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and a conditional first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. That is if the Jackets manage to sign Duchene to an extension.

All three of the players obtained by the Blue Jackets are unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, meaning they may have traded a first-round pick, two second-round picks, fourth and seventh-round picks and a trio of prospects for three players who will play less than a combined season for Columbus. And for what?

With two games to go in the season, the Jackets are clinging to the eighth spot and looking at a possible first-round matchup with Tampa Bay if they hold off the Canadiens. Columbus put a serious dent in its future for what appears to be a certain first-round loss in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Again, assuming they hold off the Montreal Canadiens.

Waddell could have been very active in the trade market because he had plenty of trade capital at his disposal. An offseason swap with Buffalo netted the Sabres’ second-round pick this year and third-round and sixth-round picks in 2020.

The Carolina Hurricane’s farm system is loaded with coveted prospects like Jake Bean and Martin Necas. Rookies Warren Foegele and Lucas Wallmark, both 23, would have been coveted by many teams as NHL ready players with bright futures.

A package of Foegele and the team’s two second-round picks this year is comparable to what Columbus paid for Dzingel, but would such a trade have really made a huge difference? Dzingel has scored three goals in 19 games for Columbus (DuClair has tallied seven goals in 18 games for the Senators).

Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make.

Regardless of what happens over the season’s final two games, this has been a memorable campaign for the Carolina Hurricanes. And thanks to Don Waddell’s decision not to go for broke on a team that was not likely to win a Stanley Cup, the future looks even brighter.