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.

Alex Pietrangelo

Kicking off this list is arguably the biggest name to potentially hit the open market this offseason, Alex Pietrangelo. The current St. Louis Blues captain is a veteran of over 750 regular season games and is coming off a Stanley Cup winning campaign.

A 12 year pro, Pietrangelo is a top paring right shot, two-way defenseman who is capable of providing offense from the blueline. With 8, 40+ point seasons to his name, Alex is a key member to the Blues’ roster both on and off the ice.

Before the recent stoppage, he was well on his way to set new career highs in assists (39) and points (54), both set back in 17-18, and already set a new career high in goals (16). The 30 year old defenseman, is currently in his fourth season as the Blues’ captain, following David Backes who signed in Boston as a UFA back in 2016.

Another Blue, Brayden Schenn signed a team friendly deal earlier this season, and Pietrangelo is more than likely to do the same. It is rare that a player of his caliber hits the open market in their prime years, especially when they mean as much to a franchise and city in which they play as Alex does.

But, given the recent sign and trade involving former Cane Justin Faulk, anything is possible as they both are similar players who will have massive deals kicking in next fall.

Should he stay in St. Louis, his contract extension would more than likely make him a Blue for life. But on the other hand, if he were to become an UFA there won’t be a shortage of suitors. His leadership abilities and other intangibles make him a desirable player.

When you look at his performance over the past couple of season, he appears as if he should be able to play at an elite level for a few more years without seeing much of a decline, if at all. Given the recent history of all the big contract signings of players on the wrong side of 30, a max term, high dollar deal could still prove to be costly in the final few seasons.

Even if he hits the open market there isn’t much of a fit for the Hurricanes here. While he would be a nice addition to the locker room and an excellent mentor to the young Carolina roster, the Canes already has enough top pairing caliber right shot D. To bring him in would almost certainly require a corresponding move(s) to clear space and cap, making any deal/interest extremely unlikely.

Torey Krug

Torey Krug is an interesting name because he once attended the Carolina Hurricanes’ Rookie Camp back in 2011. A camp that included several names from Hurricanes past like Victor Rask, Ryan Murphy, and current Leafs’ goaltender Frederik Andersen, among others.

As an undrafted player any team had a chance to sign him out of Michigan State. Finishing his Junior season as a Hobey Baker Award finalist (best college player), Carolina reportedly offered him a contract. As we all know, he ended up opting to sign with the Boston Bruins instead, but the interested was mutual between Krug and Carolina according to Torey himself.

Flash forward almost a decade later, he has become a key member of the Bruins blueline. Good for 40+ points in each of seven full seasons in the NHL, Krug is going to be looking for a big pay day, and at 28 years old, he could very well price himself out of Boston.

Clearly a solid top four guy, aside from size, the biggest knock on him is his injury concerns. Yet to play a full 82 game regular season, he missed some time yet again this year with an upper body injury. His health history may be a big turn off for some clubs, as it’s often an indicator of whats to come in the back half of a massive deal.

On the power play Krug is an assist machine. In just 61 games thus far this season, has 28 points on the man advantage as a defenseman. He would be a huge get for Carolina here, as they often seem to be in the need for help on the PP.

With Slavin, Skjei, Gardiner, and Haydn Fleury all left shot D there doesn’t seem to be much of a fit here either. He will likely come with a hefty price tag, making him a luxury the Canes can’t afford. Like Pietrangelo, should Carolina have even the slightest interest in signing him to a deal, several corresponding moves would have to take place to make it work.

While it would be interesting to say the least to see Krug dawn the Hurricanes crest, that ship more than likely has sailed back in 2012.

Tyson Barrie

Tyson Barrie hasn’t fit in with the Toronto Maple Leafs the way Kyle Dubas would like. In Colorado he was putting up 50+ points in just 65-70ish games but that hasn’t been the case in Toronto.

In his first season with the Leafs, he has been a bit disappoint with only 39 points in 70 games. With Gardiner departing to Carolina last offseason, Tyson has quickly become the fan bases new scapegoat.

Like Faulk, he was constantly in trade rumors over the past couple of years, and his name was even thrown around again at the deadline. I wouldn’t put too much stock into it, but there were some rumblings that he was a guy Don Waddell called about at the deadline to replace some of Hamilton’s production.

He is reportedly looking to sign a long term deal with an AAV around 9 million per. This is something that the Hurricanes should stay far away from. Not to say that he’s not a quality player, it just seems like a massive overpayment for a guy who hasn’t played a full 82 game season yet over his nine year career.

It’s been reported that the two sides are working on an extension that would keep Barrie a Leaf long term, but given the fact that a massive chunk of their cap space is tied up in four players, it’s hard to see a deal finalized without Tyson coming down from his high asking price.

On the open market, Barrie is likely to be the best right shot D, should Pietrangelo sign an extension with St. Louis. Because of this, plus the demand for this type of player, he’s going to get paid.

It wouldn’t be all that shocking if he ended up in Vancouver when next season starts. The Canucks had a trade that was so close to being completed that even Barrie himself thought he was off to BC. Vancouver’s name was once again thrown around at the deadline when it came to possible landing spots.

Putting two and two together, it only makes sense that he’ll be their number one target whenever the UFA signing period opens.