Top 5 Free Agents the Carolina Hurricanes Should Target

Honorable Mentions

Mattias Janmark is the first honorable mention on this list. Janmark, currently 28 years old, is playing for the Vegas Golden Knights after being traded mid-season by the Chicago Blackhawks. Janmark misses out on the main list solely because he doesn’t have the same production as the other guys mentioned.

In his career, Janmark has played 353 games between the Chicago Blackhawks, the Dallas Stars, and the Vegas Golden Knights. In those games, he has totaled 57 goals and 133 points. I can see the Canes going for someone like Janmark because he plays well on both sides of the puck. Janmark played both the power play and the penalty kill.

His price is also not going to be incredibly high. He took a one-year contract this year with the Blackhawks for only $2.25 million, and his play doesn’t really warrant a raise so his price would be cheap. I could see the Carolina Hurricanes giving him a Jesper Fast-like contract, a 2-3 year deal worth around $2-2.5 million dollars.

With Janmark, let me introduce the Top 9 formula. The top 9 formula is this, the Carolina Hurricanes have a top 9 basically filled out, except for one winger position, whether that be on line 2 or line 3. So, lets see what it would look like:

Svechnikov-Aho-Teravainen

Niederreiter-Trocheck-Necas

Janmark-Staal-Jarvis

Janmark actually fits the mold of the top 9 pretty well. He plays a two-way game and can help with scoring some. Janmark could fit right in on the second power play unit, and could even rack up several minutes on the penalty kill as well. He fits the Hurricanes system a lot better than I want to admit; Janmark would admittedly be cheaper than most of these guys, but since he doesn’t have the same scoring ability that the other guys have, he stays in the honorable mentions.

Alexander Wennberg is next up in the honorable mentions, as he is an option that the Carolina Hurricanes don’t necessarily need and there is a low possibility of him hitting the open market in the first place, but he’d fit in great with the Hurricanes system. Wennberg has a fun story around him on how he got to the Florida Panthers, so let’s start with that.

Alexander Wennberg, currently 26, was drafted 14th overall in the 2013 NHL draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Wennberg played 6 seasons with the Blue Jackets, totaling 415 games. In those games, Wennberg scored 40 goals to go along with 201 points. Now, a player like Wennberg, a top 6 center with great two-way game, doesn’t grow on trees. So, why did the Blue Jackets release him?

The Columbus Blue Jackets bought out Wennberg on October 8th, 2020, partially because of Wennberg’s struggles after signing his contract, but another big reason was because the Blue Jackets had no cap, and were themselves struggling to re-sign Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois was re-signed to a two-year, $10 million dollar contract extension on December 31st, 2020, but there would arise an even bigger problem: Dubois ultimately wanted a change of scenery.

As a result, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen tried to make the best of a bad situation, and traded Dubois for disgruntled star (and former future Carolina Hurricane) Patrik Laine, who they now have to re-sign, and we’ve seen a Patrik Laine contract standoff before. So the summary, the Columbus Blue Jackets bought out Alexander Wennberg to try and re-sign Pierre-Luc Dubois, who they then re-signed and traded away for a guy who they now have to pay more money than either of Wennberg or Dubois.

The kicker? Wennberg had a much better season in Florida. This year, Wennberg had 17 goals and 29 points in 52 games, helping lead the Panthers to the playoffs in back to back years. Plugging Wennberg into the formula, we get:

Svechnikov-Aho-Teravainen

Niederreiter-Trocheck-Necas

Staal/Wennberg-Staal/Wennberg-Jarvis

Yeah, it looks a little funky with Wennberg being a true center, but Jordan Staal has the ability to play on the wing. You could even try and let Wennberg learn to play the wing, or use him as the best 4th line center in the NHL. Wennberg could also play on the second power play unit with Necas, Staal, Niederreiter, and Bean (potentially, depending on how the expansion draft plays out). Wennberg isn’t necessarily needed, but he would be a welcome addition, as he would play well in this system and wouldn’t be over the top expensive. Since I don’t see Wennberg hitting the open market, though, he stays an honorable mention.

My absolute favorite pickup by any team at the deadline, my last honorable mention is Mike Reilly. Reilly, who was traded to the Boston Bruins from the Ottawa Senators for a 3rd round pick in 2022, is a 27-year old left-handed defenseman who has finally found his groove. M. Reilly (no not that M. Rielly that plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs) was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2011.

Reilly played 4 years for the University of Minnesota before being unable to come to terms with the Blue Jackets. In July of 2015, Reilly signed a 2-year ELC with the Minnesota Wild, making his NHL debut on January 9th, 2016. He scored his first NHL goal on February 13th, 2016 against the Boston Bruins, funnily enough. Before being traded, Reilly played 84 games and had 4 goals and 18 points.

Reilly was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in February of 2018 for a 5th round pick in the 2019 NHL draft (used to take Matvey Guskov). In 90 games with the Habs, Reilly had 3 goals for 23 points. Reilly was then traded to the Ottawa Senators for Anthony Sturtz and a 5th round pick in the 2021 NHL draft.

Reilly, in his time in Ottawa, put up 1 goal and 31 points in 70 games. He was traded to the Boston Bruins the night before the deadline and since being traded, in the regular season, put up no goals and 8 assists in 15 games to go along with 3 points in 8 playoff games. Reilly plays a strong two way game and has the ability to play both the power play, on the second unit, and some minutes on the penalty kill.

Plugging Mike Reilly into the defensive formula is a little more challenging, as the Carolina Hurricanes are only guaranteed for Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce to be in the lineup next year. Dougie Hamilton needs a new contract and one of Jake Bean, Brady Skjei, or Jake Gardiner are likely going to be selected by the Seattle Kraken. Going on the assumption of Dougie re-signing and Bean being selected by the Kraken, here’s the formula:

Slavin-Hamilton

Skjei-Pesce

Reilly-Keane/Sellgren/FA pickup

The third pair gets a little convoluted, as the right-handed spot is up for grabs, but Reilly would completely shore up the left-hand side without question. His ability to play both the power play (so we don’t have to see the man advantage disaster that is Jaccob Slavin leading a unit) and the penalty kill would be invaluable for the Carolina Hurricanes. His price shouldn’t be too expensive either, as his current contract is only for $1,500,000. A 2-3 and even potentially 4-year deal worth around $2.5-3 million dollars, to me, would be an absolute steal for a guy of Reilly’s caliber.

But will he make it to free agency? My guess is possibly – a good 75% chance. The Boston Bruins currently have $27 million in cap space, with players to resign such as Tuukka Rask (if he doesn’t retire), Jaroslav Halak, Brandon Carlo, Sean Kuraly, Trent Frederic, Zach Senyshyn, Nick Ritchie, Taylor Hall and David Krejci. I don’t see the Bruins resigning Reilly, so he would be a great pickup for any team, especially a team like the Carolina Hurricanes.

Now, for the full list of free agents the Canes should pursue this offseason.