How Would the Carolina Hurricanes Use a Franchise Tag

If the NHL had a Franchise tag option, like the NFL and other sports, how would the Carolina Hurricanes utilize it?

In the NFL the Franchise tag is more of a deal maker rather than what you might think a franchise tag is by the name. For Instance, the way the NFL uses a franchise tag, the Carolina Hurricanes would have used it on Sebastian Aho this summer to avoid the offer sheet fiasco. But who doesn’t love a good little fun with Montreal right?

In this situation, the Canes could have prevented Aho from becoming a free agent, for at least one season keeping him in Raleigh. At the end of the day everything worked out for the best with Aho and we are grateful for that as the best fans in the NHL.

"In a nutshell, the franchise tag is a one-year deal that holds the player’s rights with a team. This prevents that player from becoming a free agent. Each team only gets one tag per year, but not every team uses it. – Charles McDonald with SBNation"

Let’s look at what a franchise tag could be, and how the Canes would use that.

The Real Franchise Tag: A lifelong player.

When you hear franchise tag, the first thing that comes to mind is franchise rights. That meaning the certain player would belong to the team for the entirety of their career. Similar to how Alexander Ovechkin has been with the capitals his entire career, only at the decision of the team.

Obviously this tag would be a transaction between agent and team like any normal contract, but bigger and better. Think of something along the lines of “You play for us until you retire, or we take the tag off of you, and in return we guarantee you will be the highest paid forward in the NHL.”

This seems like quite a big commitment, for the player and the organization to spend that kind of money. So it rises the question: Who would the Hurricanes be willing to pay top dollar for until they retire, if anyone?

Let’s dive right in and look at some of the possible front runners and what they mean to the team. We will be looking at how they contribute with skill, youth, fan engagement, over all potential compared to production, and leadership.