Three Low-Cost Trade Deadline Targets For The Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are one of the teams gaining a lot of attention in regards to the upcoming NHL trade deadline. This boils down to the fact that the Hurricanes are classified as a “buyer” universally. Being a buyer at the trade deadline means that the Hurricanes are expected to make some moves on March 21st (or before) in order to improve their chances at a Stanley Cup.

The Canes currently sit atop the Eastern Conference in both points, with 87, and points percentage with a points percentage rate of .737. Through 59 games Carolina has a record of 41-13-5, good for second in the entire NHL. Carolina is 7-2-1 in their last 10 games and boasts a goal differential of +59. The Canes have the best penalty kill in the league with a success rate of 89.4, and a top 5 powerplay with a success rate of 24.9%. Yeah, not too bad, huh?

Many people though, especially in the Raleigh-Durham area, feel like the Canes could still improve. Many look at the offense as a weakness of the Canes, despite going 4-1 in their last 5 games, the Canes did not score more than 3 times in any of them, and a lot of those games involved an empty-net tally for the team in red.

Other fans have looked at the defense, can the largely inconsistent play of the third pair balance itself out, or should the Hurricanes look externally for help on the back-end? It’s hard to question the situation in the net, Frederik Andersen is on pace to be a Vezina candidate and Antti Raanta has played phenomenally as of late, some wonder if maybe acquiring a third-string goalie would be smart just in case Andersen’s injury proves to be worse than initially thought.

As it stands now, the Hurricanes only have $1,792,500 at their disposal for deadline day, according to CapFriendly. That is a major limitation as they do not have a lot of room under the cap, like many contenders in the league. In a recent interview with NHL.com, Canes GM Don Waddell made it incredibly clear that he isn’t looking to change the dynamic of the team.

In the aforementioned interview, Waddell went on to say “We like our team. We don’t really want to trade anybody off our team. Saying that, if there was a deal that made a lot of sense, we’d have to talk about it. But we don’t have a lot of cap space.” He went on to say that he may look at supplementing the defense for the right price but that was about it on the trade front.

For the most part, Carolina has been a very quiet team at the deadline, like last year when the only trade made was swapping third-pair defensemen, bringing in Jani Hakanpaa. In 2020 Waddell’s hand was forced after a slew of injuries led to the busiest trade deadline in Hurricanes history.

For those expecting a big splash from the Hurricanes, I wouldn’t get your hopes up. The Canes have limited cap space, the front office does not want to mess with the roster too much, and the team has been more than happy standing pat in the past. However, a move is still very much possible, in this article we are going to explore the possibility of trading for three players that not only should fit underneath the cap, but also won’t cost the team too much in terms of assets.

Think of these as more boring, but also, more realistic trade targets. I do not think that any of these should be the ONLY move the Canes make on trade deadline day, but a little bit of added depth wouldn’t hurt the team.

There have been very few bright spots for the Seattle Kraken’s inaugural season, but Colin Blackwell in the middle-6 has been one of them. Being selected from the New York Rangers during the 2021 expansion draft, the right-winger has proved his worth to the team, despite only being able to participate in 38 games this season. Blackwell has 8 goals and 8 assists for the Kraken so far this season, and if the Canes are looking for some more depth scoring, he may be a good fit.

If you could pick one word to describe Blackwell’s career to this point, it would be “resilient”. Colin was a 7th round pick of the San Jose Sharks in 2010 and did not sign his first professional contract until he got his first AHL contract in 2016 with the Sharks’ minor league affiliate. After only recording 11 points in 57 games, the San Jose Barracuda did not re-sign him. Colin spent a year with the Rochester Americans, where he recorded 45 points in 61 NHL games.

As a free agent, Blackwell signed with the Nashville Predators on a two-year deal in hopes of finally making his NHL debut. After playing most of the season with the Predators’ AHL affiliate the Milwaukee Admirals Blackwell was recalled and played in 6 NHL games during the 2018-19 season. Blackwell played in both the AHL and NHL, scoring 23 points in 26 games for the Admirals whilst recording 3 goals and 7 assists for the Predators in 27 games.

Blackwell put himself on the map during his tenure as a New York Ranger. Colin signed a 2-year contract with the Rangers before the 2020-21 season. Blackwell was able to attain 12 goals and 10 assists during his first season as a full-time NHLer, getting into 47 (of 56) games on the season. This season with the Kraken he hasn’t scored at that same pace, but he hasn’t been far off despite the time spent out of the lineup due to injury.

The Carolina Hurricanes are reportedly just looking at defensemen, but if the opportunity arises, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to load up even more at forward. For just $725,000, Blackwell’s production is more than a bargain. He has experience playing with top-6 players in New York, and could potentially replace Martinook’s infamous spot on the second line. Unless a bidding war breaks out, it is very unlikely that Blackwell will go for more than a mid-round pick. If the Canes are looking for cheap and efficient depth for the bottom-6, Colin Blackwell may be a perfect fit.

Mark Pysyk is just the flashy name you clicked on this article for, huh? Pysyk has spent most of his time playing on the second pair for the lowly Buffalo Sabres. The most valuable thing about Pysyk is for his consistent end product, it does not come at much of a price. Mark Pysyk is signed to a 1-year deal that costs only $900,000, perfect for a team like the Canes who are very short on cap space. The Canes always seem to be in the market for a reliable third-pair defenseman, and Pysyk could fill this role to a tee.

Pysyk was drafted and developed by Buffalo in 2010, and made his professional debut for the teams’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, during the 2012-13 season. Mark made his debut for the Sabres in November of 2013 and went back and forth between the AHL and NHL for a number of years. Mark continued to bounce between the Sabres and the Rochester Americans for parts of four seasons before being traded to the Florida Panthers at the 2016 draft.

Mark Pysyk became an NHL regular with the Florida Panthers over the four seasons he spent with the organization. Pysyk often played the role of bottom-pairing defenseman for the Panthers and was relied upon pretty often by coaches. So relied upon in fact, when Florida was down some members of their forward group in February of 2020 due to injury, Mark Pysyk was asked to slot in the right-wing in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The result was one of the most bizarre single-game performances in NHL history when Pysyk was able to record a hat trick. Mark set a career-high in goals with 9, and a career-high in points with 18 during the shortened 2019-20 season.

As a free agent Mark Pysyk signed a 1-year deal with the Dallas Stars ahead of the 2020-21 season, Dallas was coming off of a run to the Stanley Cup final. Pysyk struggled to find his role with Dallas during the pandemic-shortened season, as he only got into 36 games. After the season was over, Mark Pysyk opted to go back to his roots, re-signing with the Sabres during the 2021 free agency period.

As for fit with the Hurricanes, Pysyk is a right-shot defenseman that plays a very defensive role with the team. Although he is playing top-4 minutes in Buffalo, one would assume he would be in a more sheltered role if he were to come to Raleigh. The 30-year has recorded 2 goals and 9 assists through 58 games this season. The most attractive thing about Mark is the idea that his acquisition cost would not be much, most likely a mid-round pick, and salary wouldn’t be an issue as his 900K cap-hit would not put the Canes over the edge.

Question for Cardiac Cane readers: What players would you like the Hurricanes to bring in at the trade deadline?