Free Agency Moves the Canes Need to Make this Summer

The Hurricanes season is over, and Canes fans will be watching another Stanley Cup series without their team fighting for the title. With the hopes of winning the 2023 Stanley Cup gone, our thoughts and ambitions immediately turn toward 2024. Canes fans are asking themselves, “Can we make another run?” The short answer: yes!

This offseason is a big one for GM Don Waddell and the Carolina Hurricanes, and it sets up nicely for another cup run. Next season, the Hurricanes have most of their core players already under contract and set to return. All the while, according to CapFriendly.com, the Canes have an estimated $24,123,083 in cap space to move around this offseason – plenty of wiggle room.

This luxury is one that the Canes will not have at the end of the 2023-2024 season which will see players like Aho, Teravainen, Necas, Jarvis, Noesen, Skjei, Pesce, Chatfield all finding themselves at the end of their contracts (and all arguably deserving of a pay raise). Given this number of players due for contracts after the 2024 season, the moves made this summer by the Hurricanes are all the more important, and because of this, I expect Waddell to be more aggressive in his moves this offseason than what we have seen in past years.

With most of the Canes’ core players already signed to play next season and a generous amount of cap space to work with, here is what I think the Canes need to do during this summer’s free agency.

Forwards

Here are the Canes’ forwards without a contract for next season: Jordan Staal, Paul Stastny, Derek Stepan, Mackenzie MacEachern, Jesper Fast, and Jesse Puljujarvi.

Who will the Canes re-sign?

The Canes should definitely sign MacEachern. After spending the entire season with the Canes’ AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, and after the Canes found themselves with a litany of injuries in this year’s playoffs, MacEachern made his Canes debut at the game’s biggest stage, and he played well, even having a goal and an assist in his debut game. The Canes can sign him to a multi-year deal for relatively cheap, and I expect him to contribute in a bottom-six role for the Canes next season.

The Canes will also likely re-sign captain Jordan Staal. Staal is the rock behind this Hurricanes team. He is the team’s leader, and I expect the Canes to sign him to a 1-year deal, with Staal taking a pay cut in order to stay with the team after coming to the end of his 10-year, $60 million deal signed back in 2012.

I do not see the Canes resigning the other four forwards. Stepan and Stastny are both veterans who had good seasons with the Canes, but their contracts were the classic one-and-done scenarios heading into this past season. Puljujarvi never hit it off with the Canes after being acquired at the trade deadline and found himself as a healthy scratch for the majority of the playoffs. Jesper Fast is a big maybe for me. He has been a great Carolina Hurricanes contributor, playing on the shutdown line centered by Staal this past season. Because he has played so well, he would be due for a pay raise, and I do not think Waddell would be willing to give him what he deserves.

Which UFAs should the Canes sign?

This is where I think the Canes will need to use the majority of their cap space. Over the entirety of last season, the Canes had to rely too much on their defense to score goals, and luckily, they were up to the task. However, it was quite apparent in the Conference Finals against the Florida Panthers that the Canes were missing players who have that scoring touch. Yes, two of the best scorers the Canes had in Svechnikov and Pacioretty were unfortunately injured, but the Canes need a player who can finish scoring chances.

A player that has that natural goal-scoring ability that I think the Canes should go after this

offseason is Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasenko offers exactly what the Canes need. The Canes do not need a two-way player who can put time in on the powerplay and the penalty kill. They have that covered already and instead need to focus on a purely offensive acquisition. Tarasenko has a proven resume of putting the puck in the net. He is due for a BIG contract: multi-year and lots of money. The Carolina Hurricanes are one of the only NHL teams with the cap space to make this deal happen, who also happen to be likely cup contenders next season: making Carolina a possible attractive destination for Tarasenko.

Another option for the Carolina Hurricanes could be to bring back Max Pacioretty. Like Tarasenko, Pacioretty has a history of scoring goals, and he was supposed to be that player for Carolina during this past season if he had not been plagued by his recurring Achilles injury. Due to his injury struggles this past season, the Hurricanes would likely be able to get a “discount” on signing Pacioretty, freeing up space to add additional pieces to the lineup, if necessary.

A final forward that I would like to see the Canes pursue is Tyler Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi has a grittiness to his game that the Canes lack. He pairs his gritty play with a promising offensive upside that could easily see him in a top-six role.

Defenders

Here are the Canes’ defenders without a contract for next season: Dylan Coghlan, Calvin De Haan, and Shayne Gostisbehere.

Who will the Canes re-sign?

I think the Canes will re-sign Dylan Coghlan. He is still young at 25 and brings decent NHL experience with 105 games played. He spent most of last season at the NHL level but as a healthy scratch, playing in only 17 games for the Canes this past season. He may be asked to serve a similar role for the Canes next season.

The Canes should also try to re-sign Shayne Gostisbehere. He provides a different dynamic to the Hurricanes lineup as a defender who is offensive-minded, moves the puck well, and is still reliable defensively. However, he is not cheap and will likely require a deal around the $4-5 million mark and that could lead the Canes going in another direction.

I do not see the Canes re-signing De Haan. De Haan found himself out of the starting lineup after the acquisition of Gostibehere, and at the age of 32, the Carolina Hurricanes are unlikely to pursue a future with him.

Which UFAs should the Canes sign?

I do not expect the Canes to make any big splashes into the defensive market. This past season, the Canes had the best defensive group in the NHL, and for next season, five out of six of those guys are already set to return. If the Canes are unable to resign Gostisbehere, expect them to look for another similar left-shooting defenseman to play on the third pairing. A good option for the Canes could be Ryan Graves, who is coming off of a good year in New Jersey and would provide consistent two-way play for the Canes.

Goaltenders

Here are the Canes’ goaltenders without a contract for next season: Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta.

Who will the Canes re-sign?

If we sign anyone, I think the Canes sign Antti Raanta to come back as a backup to Pyotr Kochetkov. Raanta has proven himself as a solid goaltender and understands his role within the Canes lineup. Kochetkov has the most upside out of the three goaltending options, and we have seen him play incredibly well through some of his stints at the NHL level. Waddell has labeled Kochetkov as essential part of the future of this Hurricanes team by signing him to a 4-year $8

million contract last year, and I expect Kochetkov to be the goalie the Canes run with next season.

Andersen played brilliantly in the playoffs, but these past two seasons have been too riddled with injuries and, at times, inconsistent play to make his $4.5 million AAV worth the price.

Which UFAs should the Canes sign?

Again, I do not think the Hurricanes will go out looking for another goaltending option outside of the three who played with us last season. The best goalie available is Tristan Jarry, who costs more than I would be comfortable spending this off-season.

It should be a great season for the Canes, and I am already looking forward to it. Let me know what you think! Who will the Canes sign this offseason?