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Carolina Hurricanes: Five Bold Predictions for 2019-20

By Matthew Nidiffer

RALEIGH, NC - MAY 16: Fans of Justin Williams #14 the Carolina Hurricanes celebrate during pregame warmups in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Third Round against the Boston Bruins during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 16, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - MAY 16: Fans of Justin Williams #14 the Carolina Hurricanes celebrate during pregame warmups in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Third Round against the Boston Bruins during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 16, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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RALEIGH, NC – MAY 14: Calvin de Haan #44 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates with teammates Sebastian Aho #20 and Nino Niederreiter #21 after scoring a goal in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Third Round against the Boston Bruins during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 14, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – MAY 14: Calvin de Haan #44 of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates with teammates Sebastian Aho #20 and Nino Niederreiter #21 after scoring a goal in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Third Round against the Boston Bruins during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 14, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Hurricanes Will Make Moves in Free Agency

A large part of the frustration Hurricanes fans have experienced with this team in the past is the refusal to make moves that could make the team better. I can remember quite a few seasons in a row in which the Hurricanes either made smaller deals, or refused to trade for players that would help make the team a solid contender.

As Tom Dundon and Don Waddell have shown us, management is no longer afraid to make moves as needed. The acquisition of Nino Niederreiter is still, in my opinion, one of the biggest trades of the season; alongside the acquisition of Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland in last year’s offseason, the Hurricanes were able to put together a solid, contending team.

This year’s free agency market is set to be one of the most drastic free agency pool’s in recent memory. Various teams (looking at you, Las Vegas and Toronto) have cap issues looming overhead, meaning trades are bound to happen and players are bound to be released to both restricted and unrestricted free agency as their contracts deem.

A few names of note that will more than likely end up a part of the free agency pool are Artemi Panarin, Erik Karlsson, Matt Duchene, and Sergei Bobrovsky. I recently wrote about this in a previous piece, so feel free to check out my thoughts on each player specifically; as for this discussion, I’d like to focus on players not mentioned in that article.

While the Hurricanes have upcoming UFA’s to focus on for the time being, it couldn’t hurt to approach players like Alexander Edler and Marcus Johansson; these players could still potentially return to their current teams, but could make quite the impact on the Hurricanes’ roster, and definitely wouldn’t be detrimental to pursue.

I’m not saying these two are the only two that the Canes should or would pursue, but I fully believe the time of standing pat just for the sake of standing pat are done in this franchise. Dundon and Waddell have proven that they are here to ensure that the Hurricanes are a force to be reckoned with, and that they stay that way for as long as possible.

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