After months of rumors, the Sharks would look to move on from 6’5, 230 lbs defender Brent Burns, I can tell you that he is going to be a member of your Carolina Hurricanes. Now, I know there are a lot of mixed feelings about this. He’s 37 years old and has long since seen his best hockey, but that is not what he is here for. If Burns goes back to scoring at a Norris level, that is a bonus.
What the Canes are asking their new top pairing defenseman to do is to score at the same rate he was doing in San Jose. Score at a 50-point pace from the blueline and bring the heat to the powerplay. We know the Hurricanes need some powerplay help when the postseason comes around and Burns has not missed a game in eight years so it is safe to assume he will be there.
Burns is going to be tasked with replacing some of the Canes’ best offensive defensemen, but this is a great move. He is by far the best talent to play on the Hurricanes blue line in this generation. Now, he is not what he used to be. Brent Burns’s best hockey is behind him. We know that we cannot reasonably expect that from him, but he has been a beacon of consistency during his NHL career to the point that the Canes thought he was still serviceable for 3 more years.
This is a move I really like. He’s been a 50-point guy almost his entire career. That was on a Sharks team that wasn’t great and the Canes just got him for not a lot. This has the potential to be one of those trades that we look back at in a few years as a trade that changed the path of the organization. Whether this gets the Hurricanes over the hump or not, this could be cool.