Carolina Hurricanes: Way too Early Off-season Outlook

The Logjam Lives On

It’s no secret Carolina has a blue-line that is stacked with more riches than the Queen’s treasury, and there’s an overwhelming wealth of talent. From Norris caliber producers to Rod Langway favorites, Carolina boasts an array of talent on the back end. What needs to happen with the blue line is simple. Just clean out the log jam!

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At the moment of writing this, Carolina has 10 NHL caliber defenders in their system. 9 of them in the NHL, and Jake Bean who’s decided to toy with the AHL and is looking like a man amongst boys. Something needs to be done to sort this out because 10 defenders are too much for the dead-puck era New Jersey Devils, let alone the new-age run and gun style game that’s played now.

Jake Gardiner, Jaccob Slavin, Haydn Fleury, Joel Edmundson, Brady Skjei, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Dougie Hamilton, Sami Vatanen, and Brett Pesce are all under contract at this point. Now, Edmundson, TVR, and Vatanen are all likely to leave in unrestricted free agency, but that still leaves 7 D men for 6 spots. Fleury is a restricted free agent too, but he’s likely to be brought back.

So, the best move for the defense is to add by subtraction. Allow someone like Bean to have a chance in the NHL by moving on from someone like a Haydn Fleury. I’m not saying this is what’s ideal, or even what’s best for the team, but Jake Bean deserves to have a shot at the NHL roster going into next season, and I don’t think he’s going to be denied.

Pesce, Slavin, Hamilton are all locks to be in the NHL for the Canes, and I don’t think flipping Skjei at this point makes much sense. So it comes down to Gardiner, who is usually a 40+ point D man, or Haydn Fleury who’s been underwhelming in his career despite having a good year last year. Just logic suggests maybe Haydn gets moved if Jake Bean is gonna get a shot at the NHL level.

Question for Cardiac Cane readers: What do you think the Hurricanes should do to improve this offseason?