Deadline to Deadline: Every Carolina Hurricanes Trade Within the Past Calendar Year
With the 2020 NHL trade deadline in the rearview mirror, let’s take a look at every Carolina Hurricanes trade within the last calendar year.
The 2020 NHL deadline was one of the most active in the history of the Carolina Hurricanes. General Manager Don Waddell was working the phones until the last possible minute to bolster this Carolina Hurricanes lineup for both the stretch run and beyond. Now that the 3pm deadline has passed, let’s take a look at every transaction made over the last calendar year.
February 25th, 2019: Carolina Hurricanes trade Cliff Pu to the Florida Panthers for future considerations. The Florida Panthers trade Tomas Jurco to the Carolina Hurricanes for future considerations.
Kicking off this list is the one and only deadline deal the Carolina Hurricanes made last season. While Carolina elected to stand pat at the NHL level, they made a move to help bolster the Charlotte Checkers’ roster for their eventual Calder Cup Championship run.
While technically two separate transactions, the Canes first shipped off short-lived prospect Cliff Pu to the Florida Panthers in exchange for “future considerations.” Simultaneously, the Panthers traded forward Tomas Jurco to Carolina, also for “future considerations.” With Jurco on an AHL deal with Florida’s minor league affiliate at the time, the deal needed to be constructed this way to be league approved.
Although the move didn’t directly have an impact at the NHL level for the Hurricanes, Jurco was an important piece for Charlotte down the stretch. Producing at a point per game pace in the playoffs, and just a tad under during the regular season, the Slovakian forward was an excellent veteran presence in the room for guys like Martin Necas. Losing Pu was an extremely small price to pay, seeing as he has yet to even establish himself as an AHL-caliber player yet.
April 30th, 2019: Carolina Hurricanes trade Adam Fox to the New York Rangers for 2019 2nd round pick and conditional 2020 3rd rounder (turns into a 2020 2nd if Fox plays 30 or more games for NYR this season).
In what has been the first of series of trades between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes, the Canes traded away right-shot defenseman prospect Adam Fox for two draft picks. As a college player, Fox was likely to return for his senior season at Harvard before coming a free agent hadn’t the Hurricanes traded his rights away.
It was long rumored that he only had interest in signing with New York and a trade allowed him to step into the NHL this season. In return, the Carolina Hurricanes received a 2019 second round pick and a 2020 conditional pick. If Fox played at least 30 NHL games this season, the 2020 pick would be a second rounder, otherwise it was going to be a third. So far, Fox has appeared in 61 games with New York, making the conditional pick a second rounder in this upcoming draft.
June 22nd, 2019: Carolina Hurricanes trade a 2020 6th round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Patrick Marleau, a 2020 conditional 1st round pick (top ten protected) and a 2020 7th round pick.
The first of three draft day trades this past summer, the Carolina Hurricanes took advantage of the cap-strapped Toronto Maple Leafs, turning a 2020 6th round pick into a conditional first rounder. Toronto had several key RFA’s to sign, and needed to free up some cap space to do so. Enter the Carolina Hurricanes.
Patrick Marleau had one more year on his three year, $6.25M AAV contract. The Hurricanes attempted to convince him to play in Raleigh this year, but he preferred a reunion with the San Jose Sharks. Carolina bought out Marleau, and since he was over 35 when he signed the deal, is on the hook for the full cap hit this season.
The first received in the deal is top ten protected, so in the event they fail to make the playoffs and win one of the lottery positions, it will become a 2021 unprotected 1st.
June 22nd, 2019: Carolina Hurricanes trade the 37th overall pick to the Ottawa Senators for picks 44 and 83. Carolina Hurricanes trade the 59th overall pick to the Minnesota Wild for picks 73 and 99.
Also on draft day, the Carolina Hurricanes traded down in the second round twice. First, moving the 2nd they received from New York in the Fox deal to Ottawa for picks 44 and 83 and then moving their 2nd to the Wild for picks 73 and 99.
In both of these deals, the Carolina Hurricanes still managed to get the guys they were targeting with their original picks, while picking up another high potential prospect. In the Ottawa deal, they moved down seven spots and still managed to pick up Jamison Rees (44) and Anttoni Honka (83). In the Minnesota deal, they moved down 14 spots, picking up Patrik Puistola (73) and Cade Webber (99).
While not all of these guys will pan out, they all have some NHL potential. In Puistola’s case, some insiders had the Carolina Hurricanes taking him with their first in mock drafts, so getting him in the third is a huge steal. Another notable pick is Rees, who has been performing like a first round pick this season (when he’s in the lineup).
June 24th, 2019: Carolina Hurricanes trade Calvin de Haan and Aleksi Saarela to the Chicago Blackhawks for Gustav Forsling and Anton Forsberg.
Shortly after the NHL draft, the Carolina Hurricanes sent defenseman Calvin de Haan and prospect Aleksi Saarela to the Chicago Blackhawks for Gustav Forsling and Anton Forsberg. In his short time with the Canes, de Haan quickly became a fan favorite and having just signed a four year deal not even a full year before the time of the trade, it seemed to have came out of nowhere.
Coming off another injury, the front office was concerned with his long term health, and after the Marleau buyout, felt it was best for them to rid themselves of his $4.55 million cap hit. To do so, they sent off a prospect many fans were high on in Saarela. Saarela’s time in Chicago was just as short as Pu’s time in Carolina, as he was traded again earlier this season, this time to the Florida Panthers.
The return for the duo was Forsling and Forsberg, who have both spent the entire year with the Charlotte Checkers so far, excluding Forsberg suiting up for the Carolina Hurricanes last night as Nedeljkovic’s backup. At this point, they’re solid depth options and likely don’t have much of a future with the organization come this upcoming offseason.
June 27th, 2019: Carolina Hurricanes trade Nic Roy and a 2021 conditional 5th (if Haula is re-signed or is traded) to the Vegas Golden Knights for Erik Haula.
Trading away de Haan and his cap hit paved the way for a deal with the Golden Knights. Another team in a bit of a cap crunch, Vegas decided to send Erik Haula to the Carolina Hurricanes for prospect Nicolas Roy and a conditional pick.
Roy was someone they had a chance to watch closely when their AHL team, the Chicago Wolves, faced off against the Charlotte Checkers in the Calder Cup Playoffs. As a guy who didn’t have much of an NHL future with the Canes, this deal was a no-brainer for Carolina.
Haula was off to a hot start with the Carolina Hurricanes before getting injured. When he eventually returned to the lineup, he wasn’t as effective as he was to start the year. About a month ago, there were some rumblings that he wasn’t happy with his role here, causing many to speculate that he could be on the move before this past deadline.
June 30th, 2019: Carolina Hurricanes trade Scott Darling and a 2020 6th to the Florida Panthers for James Reimer.
The Carolina Hurricanes continued their busy offseason with another deal that came out of nowhere. Somehow getting the Panthers to take goaltender Scott Darling and his massive contract for James Reimer. While Florida would instantly buy out Darling, the Carolina Hurricanes managed to get a quality backup option in the trade.
After a rough season with the Panthers, they felt like James was also a cap dump, with the difference between the two only a 6th round pick. It’s still difficult to comprehend how Waddell managed to dump Darling and get a contributing roster player as the return without giving up a high pick or decent prospect in the deal like Toronto.
This deal is another clear win for the Canes. Although James had a shaky first couple of games, he has done more then enough to hold down the fort, specifically on the road, this season.
August 6th, 2019: Carolina Hurricanes trade Trevor Carrick to the San Jose Sharks for Kyle Wood.
A minor league deal, the Carolina Hurricanes sent the long time Checkers defenseman to San Jose for a younger prospect in Kyle Wood. While Carrick would have needed waivers, Wood was exempt making him an attractive option for the Canes. This deal has had little to no NHL impact for either team.
September 24th, 2019: Carolina Hurricanes trade Justin Faulk and a 2020 5th to the St. Louis Blues for Joel Edmundson, Dominik Bokk and 2021 7th.
Arguably the biggest trade on this list, the Carolina Hurricanes finally traded away Justin Faulk after a couple of years of rumors and speculation to the St. Louis Blues. A key member of Hurricanes teams over the years, Faulk’s return ended up being a physical defenseman in Joel Edmundson and a solid prospect in Dominik Bokk.
At this point, this deal has been talked about enough to where we don’t need to go into too much detail. The Hurricanes clearly weren’t going to pay Faulk the massive extension he got from the Blues, so to get a prospect with Bokk’s potential was better than losing Faulk for nothing.
December 12th, 2019: Carolina. Hurricanes trade Kyle Wood to the Detroit Red Wings for Oliwer Kaski.
Appearing in only 14 games for the Charlotte Checkers, Kyle Wood’s time in the Carolina Hurricanes’ organization was extremely short. Wood was traded to Detroit in exchange for Finnish defenseman Oliwer Kaski a mere six months after being acquired.
Wood may not have been the best of fits with the system the Canes and Checkers play, but Kaski, on the other, fits it to a T. In 27 games with Charlotte, Kaski has 18 points; he had just five in 19 games with Grand Rapids. Kaski has been an ‘all-situations’ guy for them, and looks like he might be an option as a 6/7 defensemen for the Carolina Hurricanes next season.
February 18th, 2020: Carolina Hurricanes trade Julien Gauthier to the New York Rangers for Joey Keane.
About a week before the deadline, the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes completed the second of three trades between the division rivals this season when the Hurricanes traded Julien Gauthier to Broadway for right-shot defenseman Joey Keane.
Yet again, the Carolina Hurricanes made a trade that came out of nowhere. There weren’t any rumors that these two teams were talking a trade or that these two prospects were being shopped. At the time of the deal, fans were a bit puzzled that we would trade away one of the more NHL-ready prospects in the system for yet another defenseman.
Now, after the deadline (and a trade we will touch upon a little later on), this deal makes a lot more sense. Gauthier hasn’t gotten much of a chance at the NHL here, so the change in scenery will greatly benefit him. For the Carolina Hurricanes, they’re getting a guy who projects to be a top four guy at the NHL, who is already putting up high offensive numbers as a rookie in the AHL.
February 24th, 2020: Carolina Hurricanes trade Erik Haula, Lucas Wallmark, Chase Priskie and Eetu Luostarinen to the Florida Panthers for Vincent Trocheck.
The first of the deadline deals the Carolina Hurricanes pulled the trigger on involved the Florida Panthers. Trading away Erik Haula and Lucas Wallmark off the NHL roster, along with prospects Chase Priskie and Eetu Luostarinen, the Carolina Hurricanes received Vincent Trocheck in return.
With Haula being traded, Vegas revives a 2021 5th. As a pending UFA, his return to the Canes next season was highly unlikely. Wallmark is a pending RFA, and will likely cost a bit more than Carolina would be comfortable paying this summer, so his inclusion in the deal makes sense, albeit a tough pill to swallow for Canes fans.
Lucas has been everything you could want from a depth player. He’s solid in the faceoff dot, sound defensively, and can chip in offensively. Priskie was signed this summer as a free agent, but the Keane move made him expendable. Like most the other prospects traded, Luostarinen, although having some NHL potential, didn’t have much of a future with Carolina.
Trocheck isn’t a rental by any means, and should be a nice addition to the Carolina Hurricanes’ top six. He is a few years removed from a dominant season, and will look to get back to that level of play after recovering from a serious injury. He will slot in nicely behind Sebastian Aho as the team’s second line center, allowing Brind’Amour to use Jordan Staal in a more favorable role on the third line.
February 24th, 2020: Carolina Hurricanes trade Janne Kuokkanen, Fredrik Claesson and a Conditional 2020 draft pick (4th if he plays 5 regular season games, 3rd if he plays 12 or more regular season games or 70% of the games in the playoff) to New Jersey for Sami Vatanen.
With the Carolina Hurricanes losing both Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce long term, they were in need for some help on the blueline. Long rumored to be interested in Sami Vatanen, they were able to agree on a deal with the Devils right before the deadline passed.
Although he’s currently on IR, Waddell expects him to be back early March. As a righty, he fills a massive void on the Canes injury-riddled defense. He will be a big upgrade on the powerplay, and should help replace some of the offense lost with Hamilton out.
The pick is conditional on how many games he plays down the stretch. Should he appear in at least five regular season games, the Devils will get a 2020 4th. If he plays 12 or more regular season games, or 70% of the games in the playoffs, the Devils will get a 2020 3rd. Otherwise, they won’t receive a pick from the Canes.
Departing from the organization is Janne Kuokkanen and Fredrik Claesson. Like Luostarinen and Gauthier, Kuokkanen wasn’t going to be a full time NHLer with Carolina. He has had a few looks up in Raleigh and hasn’t impressed much. As one of Charlotte’s best players, they took more of a hit deadline day than Carolina. Claesson earned a two way deal during training camp, but was nothing more than a depth piece.
February 24th, 2020: Carolina Hurricanes trade a 2020 1st round pick to the New York Rangers for Brady Skjei.
The final deal of the day once again saw the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers swapping pieces. This time, the Hurricanes sent a 2020 1st rounder to the Rangers for defenseman Brady Skjei.
Waddell had been adamant on not giving up a first for a rental player and instead moved one of Carolina’s two firsts for a player under contract long-term. New York will get the later of the two firsts this June. To make the move work cap wise, Hamilton had to be placed on Long Term IR.
Skjei will instantly slot into the Carolina Hurricanes’ top four. He is a mobile guy who has been very consistent over his five year NHL career. At 25 years of age, he fits perfectly into the age of the Hurricanes’ core going forward.
His addition to the team rounded out all of the deals made by Waddell and Co. over the past calendar year. Some of these moves have already looked to be steals, while others look like they have the potential to be. At times, fans were a bit skeptical of the moves, but it appears as if the organization is in good hands with Tom Dundon as the owner. His commitment to winning has been noticed in the Hurricanes locker room, by fans, and around the league. It’s just a matter of time before Carolina is consistently considered a Stanley Cup contender.
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Question for CC readers: Of the trades made in the last calendar year, which one do you think will have the biggest impact for the organization long term?