Carolina Hurricanes: Top 5 Trades in Franchise History
Aside from being fan favorites and a huge part of the Carolina Hurricanes’ core of phenomenal players in their own right these days, what do Dougie Hamilton and Teuvo Teravainen have in common? Both were added to the Canes not by the Entry Draft or free agency, but by trade.
Player trades, to me at least, are one of the more interesting and fun parts of hockey to anticipate, speculate about, and keep track of.
They are also one of the most precarious things a hockey team can do; one wrong move and a GM could see their franchise crumbling right before their very eyes. On the flip side of that same coin, the right trade, or series of trades, could turn a franchise around and bring it right back into Stanley Cup contention.
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For the Carolina Hurricanes, trades have more often than not worked out in favor of the good guys, with a few exceptions here and there.
Now, before we get into my list of Top 5 trades in franchise history, I’d like to lay out some disclaimers.
First, this list is 100% subjective; some of you might agree, some of you might disagree, and that is perfectly fine. The criteria I’ll be using to rank these trades is a mixture of long-and-short-term impact, as well as the overall initial public reception, and then a more fleshed out perspective in hindsight of who got ‘fleeced’ and ‘who’ won the trade. Any ‘blockbuster’ trades are sure to be in here as well, if you couldn’t already tell by the header photo I chose.
5. Danny Markov for Justin Williams
Kicking off my list is the trade that would bring Justin Williams to Raleigh the first time around.
In 2004, the Carolina Hurricanes would trade defenseman Danny Markov to Philadelphia for Justin Williams, one-for-one. This trade would begin Justin Williams’ reign in Raleigh that would see him have the best two seasons in his entire career.
You read that correctly. In his first full season (2005-06) as a Carolina Hurricane, Justin Williams would put up 31 goals and 45 assists for 76 points in 82 games played (his career best in both assists and points). It was no coincidence that the Carolina Hurricanes would go on to win the Stanley Cup in this very same season.
In Williams’ second full season (2006-07) with the Carolina Hurricanes, he’d notch 33 goals (his career best) and 34 assists for 67 points in 82 games played.
Sadly, Williams would miss a majority of the 2007-08 season due to injury, and would then be shipped out to the LA Kings the following season after 32 games.
Danny Markov, the piece the Canes shipped to Philadelphia for their first round of Williams, would play a total of 34 games for Philadelphia before being traded to the Nashville Predators. Markov would finish his NHL career after signing with the Detroit Red Wings in free agency. Markov would then go on to play 2 seasons in the KHL, and then officially retire.
The Carolina Hurricanes won this trade through and through. Markov at the time was seen as a tough, gritty defenseman, but the Carolina Hurricanes had that in excess at the time and moved him for a skilled, pure goalscorer in Williams; it more than paid off with a Stanley Cup in Williams’ first full season as a Cane.
4. “The Trade Was One-for-One”
Y’all know I had to do it to ’em.
I’m just gonna go ahead and say it. Victor Rask to Minnesota for Nino Niederreiter. That’s it, that’s the trade. Rask for Nino, one for one.
This trade, which took place on January 17th, 2019, was really the first trade that really cemented Don Waddell as a mastermind of negotiations for me.
Both players needed a change of scenery, that much is easy to tell, but to move a player like Victor Rask for a player like Nino Niederreiter without any additional pieces going to Minnesota was just pure highway robbery that ultimately resulted in then Wild GM Paul Fenton losing his job after just one season in the role.
Nino would go on to score 30 points in his first 36 games with the Carolina Hurricanes. Granted, Nino would have a down year in 2019-20, but he looks to have rebounded solidly so far this season, having played some of his best hockey with the Carolina Hurricanes over the course of the past few weeks.
Rask, on the other hand, would only score 5 goals and 8 assists, totaling 13 points in 43 games played with the Minnesota Wild in 2019-20.
Any way you look at this trade, it’s a win for Carolina. Nino is quite a bit more expensive than Rask, but his floor is higher than Rask’s ceiling on any day of the week. In the words of the legendary late MF Doom, “Check them stats and you know where I’m at, and that’s that”.
3. Dougie, Ferland, and Fox for Lindholm and Hanifin
This trade should be higher. I’m not sure exactly how to make it higher given the trades left to mention in this list, but at least I’m acknowledging that it should be higher.
Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin to Calgary for Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland, and Adam Fox.
Aside from a few “Chad Bunchanumbers” on Twitter, this trade was widely seen as mostly fair for both sides with the teensiest bit of bias leaning in Calgary’s favor. When it became clear that neither Micheal Ferland nor Adam Fox would be extending their stay within the Carolina Hurricanes’ organization, the needle moved a bit further in Calgary’s direction.
Today, however, I would rule this trade as an absolute win for the Carolina Hurricanes, even though the only piece the Canes have retained from this trade is Dougie Hamilton.
Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin are not bad hockey players by any stretch of the phrase, but Dougie Hamilton has just purely elevated his game to a whole other level in Carolina. The man is a legitimate Norris Trophy contender, and would’ve easily been in the conversation last season had he not missed a ton of time due to a leg injury.
If the Carolina Hurricanes end up extending Dougie Hamilton after this season, and if he continues his absolute dominance in both ends of the ice, this trade will surely be cemented in the annals of Canes’ history as one of the franchise’s best.
2. Two Picks for Bickell and Teravainen
This trade speaks for itself.
A 2016 2nd round pick (50th overall, Artur Kayumov) and a 2017 3rd round pick (88th overall, Keith Petruzzelli) to Chicago for Bryan Bickell and Teuvo Teravainen.
This trade, both at the time and even more overwhelmingly so now, was seen as an absolute win for the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Chicago Blackhawks had just won a Stanley Cup, and were looking to shed cap and keep what they believed at the time to be their core set of players. In doing so, they were forced to dump cap and move players for picks to try and salvage their roster of up-and-comers.
What a mistake they made in moving Teuvo Teravainen.
Teuvo, now a fan favorite in Carolina, is the driving force behind the Canes’ playmaking efforts. The man has gone on record and confirmed that he much prefers to dish the puck instead of shoot it. This comes directly at the benefit of linemates Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, both who are usually on the receiving end of one of Turbo’s laser-like passes.
Bickell is a legend in his own right as well, having persevered through multiple sclerosis straight to the NHL. Bickell has since retired, but Turbo is thriving and living his absolute best life with the Carolina Hurricanes, where he is sure to remain a fixture for a very, very long time.
Honorable Mentions
There are a few trades that I feel are worth a mention, but are either too fresh to make this list, or not entirely as impactful as any I’ve listed or am yet to list.
The first that jumps to mind is the acquisition of Vincent Trocheck from Florida for Erik Haula, Lucas Wallmark, Eetu Luostarinen, and Chase Priskie.
This seems like a ton to give away for one guy, and I will admit that I miss Lucas Wallmark every single day, but two of those four players ended up moving on from the Florida Panthers in free agency. Haula signed with the Predators, and Wallmark signed with the Blackhawks in the offseason.
Trocheck has been absolutely on fire to start this season for the Carolina Hurricanes, having scored 4 goals and 2 assists for a total of 6 points in 5 games. Two of those goals spurred the Canes to victory against the previously undefeated Dallas Stars last night (at the time of writing). Trocheck is going to be a huge pickup and this trade is going to be a home run for the Carolina Hurricanes in a few short years.
The next trade I’d like to mention honorably is nothing more than a financial flex from Tom Dundon and a thorough dunk on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Back in the 2018-19 offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs were, as usual, in need of some cap relief. Queue Tom Dundon’s deep pockets and Don Waddell’s penchant for trade sorcery. The Carolina Hurricanes acquired Patrick Marleau (who they would almost immediately buy out) a 2020 1st round pick (13th overall, Seth Jarvis), a 2020 7th round pick (199th overall, Alexander Pashin, a hidden gem) for a 2020 6th round pick (177th overall, Axel Rindell).
This trade has already paid some solid dividends for the Carolina Hurricanes, but just wait a couple years when Seth Jarvis and his sniping ability get unleashed on the NHL, and when Alexander Pashin proves to everyone why he should’ve been drafted in the 3rd or 4th round as opposed to the 7th.
1. Primeau and a Pick for Brind’amour and Some Pieces
You guys should’ve seen this one coming.
Topping off my list is the fateful trade that brought longtime Carolina Hurricanes captain, and eventual bench boss Rod Brind’amour, to Raleigh.
This trade has some controversial overarching themes behind it that I won’t quite get into in this article, but suffice it to say that Rod Brind’amour wanted out of Philadelphia, and Keith Primeau wasn’t accepting any of the deals that Peter Karmanos was offering him.
Primeau ended up rejected Carolina’s contract offers of three years at $12 million, five years at $20 million, and two years at $7 million; Primeau reportedly turned down the $20 million deal because it would prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent at the time.
The Carolina Hurricanes would concede and ended up trading Keith Primeau and a 5th round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft that would be used to draft Kristofer Ottosson at 148th overall for Rod Brind’amour, Jean-Marc Pelletier, and a 2nd round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft that would be used to draft Agris Saviels at 63rd overall.
This trade, at the time, was widely seen as slightly confusing, but was one of those ‘both sides win’ kind of deals. Primeau got a contract he was comfortable signing, Brind’amour got a fresh start with Carolina, and both teams would go on to benefit in the short-term. In hindsight, though, this trade ended up being much more of a win for Carolina than for Philadelphia.
Ironically, Primeau ended up signing a 5-year deal in Philadelphia worth $22.75 million, and would eventually retire after the 2005-06 season after 6 decent seasons as a Flyer.
Rod Brind’amour, however, would go on to have a long and storied career as a Carolina Hurricane. He would be named Captain of the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2005-06 season, and would remain Captain until his retirement in 2010.
Not only did he lead the Carolina Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history, Brind’amour would also go on to win the Selke Trophy back-to-back as a Carolina Hurricane in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Brind’amour would play 10 successful seasons with Carolina, and would announce his retirement on June 30, 2010.
Rod would take his place behind the Canes bench as assistant coach and in the front office as Director of Forward Development in June 2011, and would be named Head Coach of the Carolina Hurricanes in May 2018; his first year coaching, the Carolina Hurricanes would end their decade-long playoff drought and make it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Carolina Hurricanes would also make the playoffs the very next season, marking the second time in franchise history the Carolina Hurricanes would make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. This finally brings us to present day, where Rod Brind’amour is sure to be, yet again, a Jack Adams Coach of the Year Award candidate.
This trade is one of those cornerstone trades that can make or break a franchise, like I talked about earlier. While at the time, it was a moderate blockbuster, it now remains one of the most, if not the most, influential trades of Carolina Hurricanes history that is still making ripples felt to this very day.
The Carolina Hurricanes’ current system of hockey was molded by Rod Brind’amour; the standard to which every player is held, and how highly they are expected to perform is 100% a result of Rod Brind’amour being given the reins on how the on-ice product is run.
Well, there you have it. My list of Top 5 trades in Carolina Hurricanes’ history. Of course there are trades that should’ve been on this list, and I’m sure (given Don Waddell’s skill at the negotiating table) that I’ll have to update this in a year’s time or so. For now, though, I think this list encompasses the ebb and flow of talent that has shaped the Carolina Hurricanes that we know and love today.
Next. A Not-So-Brief Look at Canes' Upcoming Contract Extensions. dark
Question for CC Readers: Which trade would you add to this list, and where would you add it?