Cardiac Cane
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Five unqualified restricted free agents the Canes should sign

By Conor Power

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 07: General manager Don Waddell of the Carolina Hurricanes prior to Round One of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 07, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 07: General manager Don Waddell of the Carolina Hurricanes prior to Round One of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 07, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – FEBRUARY 04: Dominik Kubalik #8 of the Chicago Blackhawks breaks his stick shooting against Jaccob Slavin #74 of the Carolina Hurricanes at the United Center on February 04, 2021, in Chicago, Illinois. The Blackhawks defeated the Hurricanes 6-4. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – FEBRUARY 04: Dominik Kubalik #8 of the Chicago Blackhawks breaks his stick shooting against Jaccob Slavin #74 of the Carolina Hurricanes at the United Center on February 04, 2021, in Chicago, Illinois. The Blackhawks defeated the Hurricanes 6-4. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Dominik Kubalik

You wanna see me talk about an unqualified restricted free agent that I have no idea why Chicago is letting hit the market? Do you want to see me do it again? Honestly, that is how this feels. Like his teammate Dylan Strome, Dominik Kubalik is one of the more gifted players available from the unqualified free-agent class. With a heavy shot and some gifted offensive attributes, his stock seems to be waning.

Kubalik has struggled after having a fantastic rookie year with the Chicago Blackhawks. He hit 30 goals as a rookie and has been struggling to hit 30 points since then, but the 2013 7th-round draft pick of the LA Kings has shown his pedigree time and again. If he can develop that little bit of consistency in his game, he will be a very nice player. Plus, for a team that needs scoring, he’s an option.

While he was not qualified by the Blackhawks, that shouldn’t harm his value to other organizations. Yes, he’s not going to score 40 goals, and he’s not going to win the Selke for the league’s best defensive forward and he is not going to be a fantastic penalty killer. But he’ll put the puck in the net. If you can get that and add him to the powerplay, it’s going to help a ton moving forward.

If you can get Kubalik for less than $1 million, there is no reason not to. That is a deal you can bury entirely in the AHL if things go wrong, If you can get it to work, then you find yourself a player. If not, there’s no foul. Don’t go above anything that can’t be entirely buried in my mind. That was it is entirely risk-free. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, you had nothing before and you have nothing now.

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