Top 3 Players the Carolina Hurricanes Should Trade For
The Carolina Hurricanes have managed to start the 2019-20 season with a 9-4-1 record after the first 14 games. While this is by no means a ‘bad’ start, the Canes could stand to add a player or three to boost the few places where they seem to be lacking.
October is always a relatively stressful time for the Carolina Hurricanes’ fanbase. This year? Not so much. The Canes dropped one or two stinkers, but regardless of those blips on the radar, they tied their best October record with eight wins – a feat that the team hasn’t accomplished since 2005-06. I don’t need to remind you guys what else happened that year (insert eyes emoji).
Players like Dougie Hamilton, Erik Haula, and Andrei Svechnikov, (just to name a few) have been absolutely pivotal in the Carolina Hurricanes’ success this early on in the season.
That being said, enough time has passed this season for us all to notice a few ‘holes’ in the roster that are currently being filled by various players who should be a bit lower down on the depth chart (1st Line Brock, for instance).
You'll always remember where you were when @ASvechnikov_37 scored the first lacrosse goal in @NHL history pic.twitter.com/DRE8nxTRzc
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) October 30, 2019
Rod Brind’amour has managed to fill one or two of the gaps with players like Julien Gauthier, or Brian Gibbons, but I feel like it is time for a more permanent fix. On top of these ‘holes’, the Canes have a player or two that could be moved without much effect on the central core of the team, and (in one player’s case) finally give them the chance to break through into a full-time NHL role.
Keep in mind the Carolina Hurricanes only have about $1.14M in cap space, so most of these trades will be very tightly configured in terms of money, and will feature many of the same piece(s) being sent out by the Canes.
Before we get into this, you guys are going to get the patented Matthew Nidiffer Disclaimer for the first time in the 2019-20 season; this article is 100% subjective opinion. By no means am I suggesting the opinions expressed in this article are more correct or incorrect than yours, and I am not suggesting the team is actively pursuing any of these trades. That being said, here are the Top 3 players I think the Carolina Hurricanes should trade for.
3. Kasperi Kapanen
Kasperi Kapanen recently re-signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs on a three-year deal this past offseason. Currently sporting a $3.2M cap hit, the Canes would have to move multiple players to add him to the roster, but it could easily be done, especially if draft picks are thrown in to sweeten the deal for Toronto. More on that in a minute.
Kasperi Kapanen is having a pretty solid year so far; 4 goals and 6 assists in 15 games played. Kapanen plays a very solid offensive game, and could slot right in the Carolina Hurricanes’ Top 9 group. He’s a right-handed shot as well, and the Canes are a bit short of those in their 4 offensive lines at the moment.
https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1174105326448234496
Toronto as a team is in a very strange spot at the moment; their current record at the time of writing this article is 7-5-3, which is odd for a team boasting one of the best lineups in the NHL at the moment. The Leafs could do with a shakeup, and I believe they’d greatly benefit from adding a player like Brock McGinn, alongside Haydn Fleury.
Fleury has been a healthy scratch since Trevor van Riemsdyk has cycled back into a full-time role after recovering from a collarbone injury sustained in the 2019 NHL Playoffs.
To me, it seems that Fleury has fallen by the wayside in Raleigh, and could easily make an impact almost immediately on a team like Toronto. McGinn could see an increase in ice-time there as well, considering Toronto has to figure out a way to right the ship; McGinn brings quite a bit of both offense and physicality to the table.
2. Kevin Labanc
Kevin Labanc, yet another right-handed winger, re-signed in San Jose this offseason on an absolute sweetheart deal: one-year, $1M. This one might be a bit of a long shot, but Labanc would fit right in with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Labanc is currently sporting 5 goals and 4 assists in 15 games played, but his +/- is lacking; -11 in the same span of time. The Carolina Hurricanes need more right-handed forwards, and San Jose needs more defensive defensemen. Cue, yet again, Haydn Fleury.
Fleury, as mentioned before, has the potential to make an immediate impact on a team lacking defensive defensemen, and would do well with a team like San Jose. To be fair, it would take far more than Fleury to make the trade make sense for San Jose, so I would recommend sending the Toronto Maple Leafs’ conditional 1st Round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft alongside him for Labanc.
Kevin Labanc nutmegs Mikko Rantanen on the way to this goal 😳
— SI NHL (@SI_NHL) April 27, 2019
(via @SanJoseSharks) pic.twitter.com/ev6xi46tb3
By far the biggest long shot in this list, this trade would prove to be beneficial for the Canes; Labanc brings scoring and physicality with his game. The 23 year-old winger registered 66 hits in the 2018-19 season, and currently has 6 in 15 games played. Speaking of right-handed wingers that are skilled offensively and physically, there is one left that makes the most sense to me for the Carolina Hurricanes to pick up.
1. Jesse Puljujarvi
You guys saw this one coming, right? I’ve been a huge advocate for the Carolina Hurricanes trading for Jesse Puljujarvi since the day the Oilers mentioned that they are listening to offers for him. Now that he is currently playing in the Liiga in Finland, the Oilers have reportedly lowered their asking price for him. Now is the time to make a move for him.
Welcome back to the CHL - Jesse Puljujärvi! What a goal for @OulunKarpatFi! #ChampionsGoBeyond pic.twitter.com/GVqj5IRwLG
— Champions Hockey League (@championshockey) August 30, 2019
Puljujarvi has played with Sebastian Aho in the past, so the two forwards have familiarity with each other and their respective styles of play. That being said, Puljujarvi could make an immediate impact with the Canes, and the return Edmonton is asking for is more than reasonable.
Haydn Fleury (I know, I know, broken record) is the perfect candidate to send to Edmonton in exchange for Puljujarvi. As mentioned before, Fleury is currently watching games from the pressbox, and is in dire need of a legitimate chance at an NHL roster. What better place than Edmonton?
So there you have it, Caniacs – my choices for the Top 3 players the Carolina Hurricanes should trade for. For the first time in a long time, the Canes are in a position where not very many trades would make sense. These three, however, would make sense given Haydn Fleury’s current situation, and the Canes’ current situation with a bit of a ‘hole’ in their Top-6/Top-9 group.
A true Top-6 potential forward (especially a right-handed one) could bolster the Canes’ offensive production almost immediately. Don Waddell has made crazier trades than these mentioned; maybe he can pull off some more trading block sorcery and kill two birds with one stone – allowing Haydn Fleury to blossom into the defenseman that we all know he can be in a system with more room for him, and giving the Canes’ more offensive firepower (maybe even on the powerplay).
Four Players Who Have Stepped Up. light. Trending
Question for CC Readers: Who do you think the Carolina Hurricanes should trade for?