Hampus Lindholm is a name you’ve probably heard a lot over the past two weeks. Carolina is most definitely interested in acquiring him, but Anaheim is asking for quite a lot of teams wanna make a move for him. However, at the time of writing this, he may be getting ready to be on the move.
"Source says Hampus Lindholm won’t play tonight. Will be held out as the Ducks focus on a trade for him. @TSNHockey @TheAthletic – @PierreVLeBrun"
Carolina is a team heavily interested in Lindholm, and they have attractive pieces that Anaheim may consider, so it will be interesting to see how a trade for Lindholm would unfold. Lindholm has a steep price to pay, as he’s looking for a long-term deal when summer rolls around and he needs to be resigned, and it’s unclear whether or not the Hurricanes plan to do a ‘sign-and-trade’ type of move or just simply acquire him as a rental.
If I’m Carolina, I’d definitely wanna lock a player like this up long-term. He adds large amounts of depth and could use a change of scenery, which could lead to an even stronger performance on the ice.
The only issue Carolina faces is the ability to make the room to sign Lindholm. Losing players like Trocheck and Niederreiter would relieve some cap-space, but not only is it incredibly unlikely (and not smart) to let go of both players, it doesn’t change the fact that players like Tony DeAngelo, Martin Necas, Ian Cole, and Ethan Bear (to name a few) still need new contracts heading into the 2022-2023 season.
Like all acquisitions Carolina may choose to make, it’s not going to be easy and will require a lot of thinking to work out financially, but Lindholm still sits as a target for Carolina to pursue.