How The Carolina Hurricanes’ Trade Deadline Acquisitions Will Fit In

The Carolina Hurricanes added three new pieces to their puzzle on Monday. How will they fit into the lineup?

The Carolina Hurricanes stunned the hockey world on Monday, being one of the most active teams at the trade deadline – making some great hockey deals as well as acquiring a rental, while not giving up a ransom in the process.

First, they traded four pieces, all of whom had their futures with the Carolina Hurricanes surrounded with question marks (Erik Haula, Lucas Wallmark, Chase Priskie, Eetu Luostarinen) to the Florida Panthers for C Vincent Trocheck, a former 75-point guy with 2 years left on his deal.

After the dust of that deal settled, the Hurricanes set fire to social media by acquiring D Sami Vatanen from New Jersey and then D Brady Skjei from the Rangers just minutes apart, giving up some futures from an absolutely loaded group.

It’s blatantly evident that the Carolina Hurricanes have more than just playoff aspirations, and made some hockey trades here that will not only improve the team down the stretch this season, but adds key components to the group for the future.

Finding a role for the new guys shouldn’t be overly difficult, as all three of the new faces seem like great fits to slide into the most glaring holes in the Hurricanes lineup. We’ll start with Trocheck, and go from there.

Sami Vatanen

The first of two defensemen that the Hurricanes acquired, Sami Vatanen fills two major needs on the team’s blueline. Even when you consider his status as a rental, it’s quite shocking how cheap the Canes got him.

The package going to New Jersey consists of prospect F Janne Kuokkanen, minor-leaguer D Fredrik Claesson and a conditional 4th round draft-pick, which can be as high as a 2020 3rd round pick.

Vatanen, who is actually currently injured, is projected to return early in March according to Don Waddell. As such, the conditions on the pick is based on how many regular season games Vatanen plays for the team. If he plays less than 5, no pick is traded. Between 5-12 is a 4th, and 12+ is a 3rd.

Kuokkanen is a guy that some people had high hopes for, but he was a Ron Francis-regime pick, and has never really caught on with the new management. He’ll be 22 soon, and, with the influx of young talent into the Carolina Hurricanes organization, was facing an uphill battle to catch on in Raleigh. This trade will give him a fresh start, and better opportunity in New Jersey.

As far as Vatanen goes, he’s a right-shot defenseman, which the Carolina Hurricanes really lack with both Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce on IR. Vatanen is a good puck-mover, and is primarily an offensive guy but doesn’t give much up defensively. He’s a fine two-way presence, and will greatly help the top powerplay unit where Jaccob Slavin has struggled.

Unfortunately, while he looks like a great fit, Vatanen is most likely just a rental for the team. He’s scheduled to be a free agent on July 1st, and will likely command a raise on his current $4.875M AAV – and will likely come in somewhere around $5.5M or higher on his next deal. The Canes can’t afford that with the money already tied up in their D group.

In the Canes’ press release, Don Waddell offered the following on Vatanen:

“Sami is player that fits our system well,” said Waddell. “His skating, vision and puck-moving skills will help us out in all facets of the game. We expect him to return to the lineup in early March.”

Vatanen, who is 28, has 5 goals and 18 assists in 47 games for the New Jersey Devils this season. He’s averaged over 21:00 of ice time in each of his last six seasons, so he can play big minutes for the Carolina Hurricanes if necessary. All in all, he’s a great add, and fills a huge hole on the right-side of the Canes defense in the short-term.

Brady Skjei

Here’s the deal that divided both the Canes’ and the Rangers’ fan bases. Brady Skjei (pronouced SHAY) is a guy that people are either very high, or very low on. The Carolina Hurricanes’ brass are obviously believers in him, as they gave up a first-round pick for his services.

25-year old Brady Skjei, a 6’3, 210lb left-shot defender, is signed for the next 4 seasons at a $5.25 million AAV, so he figures to be a long-term solution for the Hurricanes. While he’s not seen as a dangerous offensive threat, he does have 8 goals and 23 points in 60 games this year.

Don Waddell was pretty ecstatic to get this guy:

“Brady is a big defenseman who checks all the boxes,” said Waddell. “He’s an excellent skater, he’s competitive, he can move the puck and he can defend. He’s under contract through the 2023-24 season, so this is another acquisition that helps us immediately and in the long-term”

Waddell, in his press conference, expanded on what the team thought of Skjei:

“Well.. He’s a big body, he’s a good defender. He could add a bit offensively but he’s a defender. He plays the game hard, plays the right way.”

Carolina is banking on Skjei, who has struggled a bit in New York this year, to retrieve the form that made him an effective blue-liner in years past. He’s supposedly been miscast by Lindy Ruff there this year, and in a less relied-upon role in Carolina, he could offer real value as a second-pair guy.

Rangers fans are torn on the deal, with some fans thinking that the team did well getting a first-rounder for Skjei; others are upset about the return for him. I’m not overly high on Skjei personally, but if the Canes front office likes him, I’m more than willing to give him a shot.

…. as long as it isn’t at the expense of Haydn Fleury in the lineup.

Recap

With these three guys adding a massive boost to the team, and the potential return of Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce closer to playoff time, these moves make the Carolina Hurricanes a much more dangerous threat this year than they were shaping up to be.

A lot also depends on the health of Petr Mrazek and James Reimer, but Waddell expressed optimism in their recovery timetables and noted that the team felt comfortable with Alex Nedejkovic and Anton Forsberg in the short-term while their main guys heal up.

All things considered, the Hurricanes have improved their roster in the immediate and long-term without giving up any other their top prospects or key roster players. and considering they literally bought the first-round pick they’re giving up for Skjei, it’s hard not to consider the Canes a winner of deadline day.

It’s going to make the final 21 regular season games very exciting to watch, and hopefully a lengthy playoff run will follow. If nothing else, the GM committee has proven they’re willing to go to whatever lengths to improve the roster, which is something that Ron Francis proved he wasn’t fit to do, and that should ignite real optimism in the future of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Question for CC Readers: How do you feel about the Hurricanes’ deadline trades?