The Carolina Hurricanes Shortened Offseason Wishlist

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The Carolina Hurricanes have a full offseason to look forward to.

Even though the offseason is shorter this year, the Carolina Hurricanes still have a lot of work to do. Here are a couple of things that will help ensure a deep playoff run next spring and beyond.

Although it is a bit disappointing that the Carolina Hurricanes didn’t manage to make as deep of a playoff run as they did last year, the season still had a lot of memorable moments. While it wasn’t the ending they had hoped or wanted, the team is still extremely young and has a lot to learn if they want to be among the Stanley Cup favorites.

With a shorter offseason to work with and a flat salary cap, teams around the league may have to make some difficult decisions if they want to try to make improvements to their rosters. Since Don Waddell took over as general manager, the Canes have been among the more active teams so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of moves they end up making.

As a fan it is always fun to speculate and hypothesize different scenarios that could play out. Below are a few things that I feel like should be/needs to be done this offseason to ensure success next season and beyond.

A Strong Draft

Although it is rather basic, the Carolina Hurricanes will need to have another strong showing at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. With a lot of prospects departing this season either via trades or the unsigned UFA route, the pool got rather bare rather quickly.

While it is hard to say how many of the departed players would have even made the Hurricanes’ roster over the next couple of years, the amount of changes was vast. With guys like Fleury and Necas graduating to full time NHLers, another successful draft is a must to ensure solid depth remains throughout all levels of the organization.

There’s no need to overthink the 13th overall pick. Just take the best player available and go from there. That may mean taking the most hyped goaltender in years in Yaroslov Askarov, a potential elite goal scorer in Jack Quinn, a top ten faller or anyone else their scouts feel is the BPA. Either way at that point in the draft it’ll be two to three years before the player selected will make an impact in Raleigh.

From there, they can continue to go after those high ceiling prospects in the rest of the rounds that got them such high praise last summer. Either way it is safe to expect a few trades down in the draft where the Hurricanes pick up additional assets while still walking away with “their guy.”

Inking a Hamilton and Svechnikov Extensions

The Carolina Hurricanes have two stars on their last season

With one year left on his current contract, Dougie Hamilton is eligible to sign a contract extension. The two sides should take advantage of this exclusive negotiation window to see where they are in terms of numbers and term before heading into training camp.

If recent history is any indicator of how things will play out, if the two sides are too far apart, Hamilton will be shipped off for additional assets rather than being lost for nothing to free agency. Luckily, Dougie seems to enjoy playing for the Hurricanes and the organization clearly likes having him.

If they can come to terms on a team-friendly deal locking him up will help solidify the team’s core for the long haul. However, if he should ask for 10+ million per, a number he would be able to get on the open market, a trade may be the only option.

As much as it pains me to say it, Carolina isn’t in much of a position to shell out that much money on someone like Hamilton given that their highest-paid player (Aho) is only at 8.45.

Another big piece eligible for a new deal is Andrei Svechnikov. A guy who is quietly becoming one of the leagues better offensive players, he on the other hand could surpass the mark set by Aho if his extension is long term.

Almost doubling his point total from last year during the shortened season, he is without a doubt a major piece to the team’s core. While it’s not necessarily a must to get it done in the offseason, an early extension could help remove the lingering distraction from both parties.

Like Fleury (who needs to be signed to a need this summer/fall to play next year) a bridge deal makes the most sense. Shorter-term will allow Svech to continue to develop and cash in at a higher rate later while buying time for the NHL’s new TV deal to kick in. The TV deal will see an increase in the salary cap, allowing both sides some more clarity long term.

Add Some Missing Pieces

There is always room for improvement on the Carolina Hurricanes

Just like last postseason, the Boston Bruins ousted the Hurricanes rather easily. In the two series, it becomes extremely clear that Carolina is still a few pieces away from transitioning from a playoff team to a true Stanley Cup contender.

One of those pieces is another top-six forward. Throughout the Rangers play-in series, the top line led by Sebastian Aho was the difference. A part of 8 of 11 Hurricanes goals, Aho performed like a true star but the lack of a second scoring line was a bit concerning.

Without depth scoring, the Hurricanes struggled to find the same level of success versus the Bruins. With Aho kept relatively in check for most of the series and Svech injured, this issue was only elevated.

While it’ll be extremely difficult to add another TRUE top-six guy without moving out and around several pieces it is just one of many needs. In addition, they could use some more grit and another veteran or two.

Much less physical as a team overall this season compared to last, the team took a massive hit in hits department once Joel Edmundson was ruled “unfit to play.” In the playoffs, this type of player makes a name for himself and can greatly impact the outcome of a series.

Haydn Fleury and Jordan Martinook have both shown that they’re not afraid to lay the body but (with Svech and Eddy out) just those two isn’t enough to have continued success throughout the postseason. In their game-four collapse, someone whose isn’t afraid to take over a game physically could have helped reel the troops back in and helped prevent the series altering loss.

Once Jordan Staal got destroyed by McAvoy right in front of the Canes bench there was absolutely zero response. Even if the hit was clean, you’d still hope at least one person would have confronted him seeing that it removed their captain from the game and opened up the ice for Boston’s top guys.

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Another veteran guy or two would have also helped in this situation. Bring in someone who been through the grind a handful of times would go a long way in helping this young team take that next step. With Justin Williams‘ future up in the air and Staal more of a lead by example type of guy, it would be very beneficial to bring in someone who isn’t afraid to speak up in the locker room and on the bench.

Lastly, it seems like we say this every season but the Carolina Hurricanes need a true number, one goalie. Nothing against Petr and James, but they need a guy who can be relied on to take a heavy workload and bail the team out every now and then on an off night. With the current tandem, both guys have had moments of stellar play followed by massive mistakes that directly impact the outcome of the game.

Given the amount of quality of netminders available this summer you’d hope that they at least kick the tires on a few of them. Having three goalies on one-way deals something is going to have to give anyways so they minus well upgrade the position while they’re at it.

At the end of the day not all of these things will end up happening but the more that do the better position they’ll be in next year and beyond. A few changes are all but guaranteed to occur from now until whenever the 2020-21 season officially kicks off. For now, the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens.

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Question for CC Readers: What changes would you like to see the Carolina Hurricanes make?

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The Carolina Hurricanes Offseason Wishlist