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Carolina Hurricanes History: Top 5 Free Agent Busts

By Alex Ohari

SUNRISE, FL - APRIL 2: Alexander Semin #28 of the Carolina Hurricanes skates with the puck against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center on April 2, 2015 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FL - APRIL 2: Alexander Semin #28 of the Carolina Hurricanes skates with the puck against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center on April 2, 2015 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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#3 Tomas Kaberle

Here’s where the list gets good. Tomas Kaberle. Where do I even begin?

The Hurricanes made a big free agent splash in July of 2011, signing free agent reigning Stanley Cup champion defenseman Tomas Kaberle to a 3 year, 12.75 million deal. Then GM Jim Rutherford would go on to proclaim Kaberle as one of the top puck moving defenseman in the NHL.

RALEIGH, NC – OCTOBER 28: Tomas Kaberle #51 of the Carolina Hurricanes controls the puck on the ice against the Chicago Blackhawks during a NHL game on October 28, 2011 at RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Canes won 3-0. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – OCTOBER 28: Tomas Kaberle #51 of the Carolina Hurricanes controls the puck on the ice against the Chicago Blackhawks during a NHL game on October 28, 2011 at RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Canes won 3-0. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Which, to be fair, he was in Toronto. Sadly, he was the exact opposite for the Hurricanes. After 29 completely forgettable games, the Hurricanes shipped Kaberle off to Montreal for Jaroslav Spacek, cutting ties with their prized free agent barely 6 months into the contract.

Kaberle, the 12.75 million dollar man, never scored a single goal for the Hurricanes, and was -12 in his 29 games with the team. Kaberle would go on to be a frequent healthy scratch in Montreal and was bought out by the team in the summer of 2013. Spacek played 34 games for Carolina.

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