MAJOR TRADE ALERT!!!
The major deadline deal we have been waiting for has finally come. The Hurricanes are involved in a 3-way trade with the Ducks and Leafs. The Ducks are sending defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 3rd round pick and will acquire the draft rights to forward Kirill Slepets. For their role in the trade, the Hurricanes will receive a 6th round draft pick, retain 25% of Lyubushkin’s salary, and send 2019 draft pick Kirill Slepets to Toronto.
Slepets is not considered a major loss for the Hurricanes. He was drafted as a 20-year old back in 2019 and is currently playing for Amur Khabarovsk in the KHL. Slepets is a fringe prospect at best and is unlikely to ever make to move to North America. Maybe the Maple Leafs see something different in Slepets and believe they can convince him to make the jump from the KHL.
All joking aside, the Hurricanes helped out the Ducks by retaining some salary in order for the trade to go through. This goodwill could come in handy if the Hurricanes are targeting any Anaheim players at the deadline. I wrote before about the dream of acquiring Trevor Zegras from Anaheim, but more realistic options for the Hurricanes could be Frank Vatrano or Adam Henrique.
Vatrano the right winger has 49 goals with the Ducks in 140 games and is under a three year deal in Anaheim. Henrique has been wit the Ducks since 2017 when he was was acquired in a trade for defenseman Sami Vatanen. In that time he has above 35 points all but once.
Both are veterans with a wealth of playoff experience under their belts. As the deadline approaches, keep an eye on another potential trade between Carolina and Anaheim. This may well be the first in a series of moves that Canes General Manager Don Waddell has up his sleeve.
The other thing Canes fans will want to keep an eye out are the incredible sports betting promos that FanDuel and DraftKings have rolled out to celeberate the upcoming launch of legal betting in North Carolina. Each one will give you a free $100 bonus just for signing up today - you don't even need to make a deposit. Then on launch day (March 11) placing a $5 bet will unlock an additional $200 bonus on each site. That's a combined $600 just for betting $10. Sign up for FanDuel here and sign up for DraftKings here to unlock bother offers before they expire.