Carolina Hurricanes Free Agency Preview: Defenseman

The 2020 NHL free agency class looks to have a few interesting UFA defenseman. Will the Carolina Hurricanes be bidders for any of their services?

The upcoming 2020 NHL free agent class looks to have some interesting names that could help any team’s blueline for the right price. Will the Carolina Hurricanes test the UFA pool and sign one of the top available defenseman for the third consecutive year?

Having a deep defensive core, it’s been the one area that people tend to think would be left status quo, given the guys under contract and prospects in the system, but that has not been the case. In each of the past two offseasons the Carolina Hurricanes have made a handful of trades and signings seemingly out of the blue.

Whether it was the Dougie Hamilton/Noah Hanifin blockbuster and Calvin de Haan signing in 2018 or the acquisitions of Jake Gardiner, Brady Skjei and Sami Vatanen this season, the organization hasn’t been afraid to make a move if they think it’ll make them better both long and short term.

Given this recent history, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see another move or two this year. With the amount of names already mentioned, it’s safe to say that we’ve seen a fair amount of turnover on the backend and, depending on what they do with their own pending free agents, as many as three names could depart Raleigh yet again this summer.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the top names currently slated to hit the open market and what they could possibly bring to the table next season and beyond.