Carolina Hurricanes: Top 3 Trade Deadline Targets

Juuse Saros

First on my list is none other than 25-year old Finnish netminder Jusse Saros.

Now, before I get into why I’d like Saros on the Carolina Hurricanes, I need to preface it by saying that the Nashville Predators have fully committed to a retool/rebuild going forward. Three players have emerged over the course of the past few days as being ‘untouchable’ on their roster going forward: Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi, and Pekka Rinne. The rest of the roster is fair game.

Now, Saros has been struggling a bit this season, but that’s the case for the entire Nashville Predators roster, so this isn’t too much cause for alarm. He currently sports a win-loss record of 3-5-0 in 10 games played, a .882 SV%, and a 3.47 GAA. Up until last season, when things really starting going sideways for the Preds, Saros was showing legitimate NHL-level starting goaltender potential.

With Alex Nedeljkovic showing he’s more than ready to take the backup position, this leaves the Carolina Hurricanes with a bit of a predicament on their hands. Both Petr Mrazek and James Reimer are UFA’s at the end of this season, and Ned goes into his final year of RFA status eligibility.

The Carolina Hurricanes should, in my opinion, move James Reimer (25% salary retained), and a 2nd round pick to acquire Juuse Saros. This would give both teams some wiggle room as far as cap space is concerned, and would grant Nashville a solid pick to help with their rebuild, alongside a veteran presence to backup Rinne for the remainder of the season.

Admittedly, it might take a bit more to acquire Saros given that he’s set to hit RFA status at the conclusion of this season; however, I think the Preds will be willing to play ball in that arena to acquire high-end draft picks going forward, especially if the Canes retain more than 25% of Reimer’s salary for the rest of the season.

Thatcher Demko

Another attractive (albeit considerably more difficult to acquire) option at goaltender would be Thatcher Demko. Don’t say I didn’t warn you that there’d probably be some borderline pipe dreams in this one.

The Vancouver Canucks are struggling this season, leading many to speculate that they will also commit to a true rebuild and be massive sellers at the trade deadline.

Now, I know many Canucks fans have said that Demko is their goalie of the future, but with the loss of Jacob Markstrom to the Calgary Flames in free agency this past offseason, and the subsequent acquisition of Braden Holtby for 2 years, the Canucks might not be looking to transition Demko into the starter’s crease just yet.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet650/status/1237568191607390209

Demko has been incredibly solid behind an abysmal Canucks defense this season, posting a 4-9-1 win-loss record, a .901 SV%, and a 3.28 GAA.

This kid would be right at home behind a stacked Carolina Hurricanes defense for years to come.

The problem arises with what Vancouver would want in order to part with the former 36th overall draft pick, who is set to hit RFA status this offseason.

I’d imagine that they’d want quite a bit more than Nashville would ask for in return for Juuse Saros, but it’d be worth it. I’d like to see a deal involving one of James Reimer or Petr Mrazek (with 0% salary retention for either), a prospect like Ryan Suzuki or Jack Drury, and a 2nd or 3rd round pick in either the 2021 or 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

This might seem like a large chunk of prospects and potential talent to give up, but if Thatcher Demko develops into the goalie I think he could develop into (i.e., Carter Hart), it’d be well worth it to lose a forward prospect, a veteran goaltender, and a higher-end pick.

Filip Forsberg

Last stop: Pipe Dream City! My top choice for Trade Deadline Targets would be Filip Forsberg.

I know what you’re thinking. “Isn’t Forsberg making $6M for the next two years? $6M in additional cap taken on in this economy?!?!”

Not to worry, my friend. I have just the answer. Before we get into that, though, I’d like to highlight just how prolific Filip Forsberg is.

On an ailing Nashville Predators team, Forsberg has managed to put together a great start to this season. He currently has 9 goals and 8 assists for a whopping 17 points in 19 games played. This production has come largely from playing with guys like Mikael Granlund and Viktor Arvidsson.

Now imagine if he were put on a line with players like Sebastian Aho, Vincent Trocheck, Andrei Svechnikov, or Teuvo Teravainen. Whatever line he’d be on with the Carolina Hurricanes would easily be one of the most lethal lines in the league.

Now to address the issues with this hypothetical trade. For starters, Forsberg will likely be one of the pieces that, if moved, will fetch one of the highest returns for the Nashville Predators. I can’t see them letting him go for less than a high-end prospect, an early draft pick or three, and an NHL-level player worth his salt.

As far as cap issues are concerned, if the Carolina Hurricanes make no other moves and shed no additional cap, they’re looking at having $2.6M in cap space. Given that Forsberg makes $6M AAV for the next two years, this would likely take some of that good ol’ sorcery we were talking about earlier.

I could see the Canes moving a 1st rounder alongside a guy like Brady Skjei and another pick or two – maybe a 2nd rounder or two 3rd rounders – to acquire Forsberg if they really wanted to fit him in under the salary cap and make the deal make sense for Nashville.

Moving Skjei’s $5.25M to Nashville would give the Carolina Hurricanes enough room to fit Forsberg and another small piece or two in under the cap for the remainder of the season.

Whether or not Nashville bites, and whether or not Donnie Franchise would be willing to part with an incredibly valuable 1st round, alongside a guy like Skjei and even potentially more draft picks are entirely other stories in and of themselves.

At the very least, it’d be worth looking into. Given that Forsberg is the only other player (besides Andrei Svechnikov) in the NHL to successfully score a ‘lacrosse-style’ goal in-game, I can only imagine the playmaking wizardry he and Svech would concoct together were they slotted onto the same forward line.

So, there you have it. My Top 3 Trade Deadline Targets I think the Carolina Hurricanes should pursue. Was it a long-winded article? Yes. Do I actually think the Canes pursue any of these guys? Well, I certainly hope so, but I’m not holding my breath. Don Waddell has shown that he is perfectly fine standing pat at the trade deadline if he likes the product being put on the ice.

Only time will tell, but I’m still of the mindset that the Carolina Hurricanes will be involved in some type of movement at the trade deadline, as evidenced by Waddell’s willingness to shed some cap space by moving Dzingel and Galchenyuk several weeks ago. The next month is going to be very interesting to watch, indeed.