Carolina Hurricanes: Reviewing the Vincent Trocheck Trade

The Carolina Hurricanes were looking for offense going into the trade deadline adding Vincent Trocheck to the roster. Was it worth it?

Both the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes were looking to improve their rosters. Both were outside a playoff spot looking to get in. For some reason, these two teams looked to each other to try and improve their standings and a trade was made.

Carolina sent four players to Florida. Two NHLers, Erik Haula and Lucas Wallmark, and two prospects, Chase Priskie and Eetu Luostarinen. For that small fortune of players, the Hurricanes received a single man; Vincent Trocheck.

If that trade seems a bit lopsided, let me add on more weight for Florida, the Hurricanes also added $1,325,000 towards their salary, pushing them further towards the cap. It makes you wonder if Trocheck was worth it.

The one thing going for Carolina is term. Haula is going to be a UFA unless the Panthers can come to terms with him. Wallmark is a pending RFA. Priskie only has a single year left on his ELC and Eetu has three. That is a total of five prospect years and an RFA status.

Trocheck, on the other hand, has another two years at the NHL level. The center, expected to continue playing 2C behind Sebastian Aho, will anchor that second line for the next two years barring re-signing or trade. Basically making the trade the rights for Wallmark, and two prospects for Trocheck if this trade happened in the offseason. That seems more balanced.

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In the seven games he has played with Carolina, he has two points. An assist and the game-winning goal against the Islanders that kicked off a three-game winning streak that now has the Hurricanes in possession of the first wildcard.

Both Erik Haula and Lucas Wallmark were struggling before the deadline. Wallmark had a single point in the last 13 games and Haula had three in the last 15 games. Both are also two points in seven games with the Panthers.

The biggest issue with this trade with 20/20 hindsight is the fact that they added so much to the salary hit. A salary that is now in trouble with Dougie Hamilton healthy enough to come off the LTIR when the season returns.

In another reality where this trade never happened, the Hurricane would be making an easier decision to manage their cap space with less money being pushed towards the cap. Losing Haula to the offseason isn’t an issue. Wallmark, who has made tremendous gains since his call up would have gotten a frugal bridge deal in the pending offseason.

But Trocheck just may be better than both of them. He is still getting the hang of this offense and has been an improvement over having Jordan Staal as the next best center after Aho. While it took a while to show, the balance in the offense is now complete and guys like Warren Foegele are getting better opportunities. If only the season didn’t come to a grinding halt.

Question for CC Readers: Would you undo the Trocheck trade if you have the opportunity?