Carolina Hurricanes History: Top 5 Free Agent Busts

While sometimes being a great source to improve a team, free agency also has it’s fair share of busts. Which players would be considered in that light for the Carolina Hurricanes?

For players, free agency is usually the dream. It gives them the right to pick their destination and, usually, have a bidding war for their services. Naturally, the risk factor in free agency is high, and teams have their fair share of buyers remorse.

Take a look at the landscape of the NHL. There are multiple buy-outs every year, and the majority of those bad contracts were handed out during what’s become known as the “Free Agent Frenzy”, which historically has produced more zeroes than heroes.

For some teams, though, it has come to be an advantage. The lure of bright lights, big cities and blank checkbooks from rich owners appeal to marquee free agents. The Carolina Hurricanes, however, haven’t had those luxuries; in turn, they haven’t given out many regrettable free agent contracts, but there are a few that stand out.

Today, we’ll look at 5 contracts given to free agents that the Hurricanes at this time probably regret. I would like to note that, not included on this list, are the impending free agents the Hurricanes re-signed before they became UFAs (Tuomo Ruutu, Cam Ward, Joni Pitkanen, etc).