That time Keith Tkachuk was (almost) traded to the Carolina Hurricanes

The first half of the Carolina Hurricanes’ 1999-2000 season was marred by captain Keith Primeau‘s holdout.  General Manager Jim Rutherford pursued several options with his star center before the situation found resolution.

Okay, let’s clear a few things up right off the bat: I love Rod Brind’Amour, he is arguably the most influential figure in Carolina Hurricanes’ history, and, if I had a time machine, I absolutely would not change the trade that brought him to Raleigh.

With that out of the way, I wanted to look back to a trade that almost brought power forward Keith Tkachuk to the Hurricanes.  So sit back and let’s step back to 1999.

Primeau sat atop the scoring ranks for the Hurricanes in each of their first two seasons in North Carolina.  He became a restricted free agent on July 1 and that’s where the issues started.  During the course of negotiations, Primeau had rejected three contracts: 3 years/$12 million, 5 years/$20 million, and 2 years/$7 million.  The crux of the situation was that Primeau was four years from unrestricted free agency and he wanted a contract that would enable him to take advantage of that situation.

To be clear, I don’t hold that against him.  He worked to make it to the NHL and had nine productive seasons under his belt.  It was his right to want to hit UFA status as soon as his eligibility arrived and I won’t fault him for that.

Some 2100 miles to the west, Phoenix Coyotes winger Keith Tkachuk had been dealing with his own contract situation.  He eventually signed an extension that would see his salary of $4.3 million jump to $8.3 million through the 2002-03 season.  Remember this number, as it comes into play again.

Phoenix, a team that was struggling financially, could ill-afford to keep such a contract on the books, even for a player who put up 179 goals and 334 points over 5 seasons in the desert.  All things considered, the trade could have worked well for both teams.  In 526 games with the Winnipeg/Phoenix franchise, Tkachuk accumulated 509 points (272g, 237a).

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In 597 games split between Detroit/Hartford/Carolina, Primeau picked up 406 points (179g, 227a).  Tkachuk was a physical winger with a nose for the net while Primeau was a big center that could be counted on for 50+ points per season.  Each player filled different needs and could benefit from fresh starts with new teams.

So, what happened?

Peter Karmanos.

Now, as you’ll recall, Tkachuk was making $4.3 million for the 1999-00 season but his new extension meant that number would nearly double for the following two seasons.  With unmatched grace and subtlety, Karmanos let his thoughts be known:

Yes, those are his words (just check the story I linked earlier).  While it would be easy to pick on Karmanos here, I won’t.  The main reason is that he’s not entirely wrong, at least not in sentiment.  The Hurricanes’ owner wasn’t any more willing to take on that contract than the Coyotes were to keep it.

Tkachuk ended up staying in Phoenix until March of 2001 when he was shipped off to the St. Louis Blues.  Primeau’s holdout continued until January 23, 2000, when he was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a package centered around Rod Brind’Amour.

Brind’Amour has etched his position in Hurricanes’ lore over the two decades since, captaining the 2006 Stanley Cup team and leading the team as head coach to their first playoff appearance in ten years.

While adding Tkachuk would have been an interesting move, it’s hard to blame Karmanos for not wanting to pay $8 million for him.  To top off that thought, we’re talking about that amount over 20 years ago.

At the end of the day, Primeau got a move that worked for him and the Hurricanes received a future captain and coach, a man who has endeared himself to fans.

What would an alternate timeline Carolina Hurricanes team have looked like had the Primeau for Tkachuk swap occurred?