The Hurricanes are currently in an unfamiliar position lineup-wise in the tumultuous beginning of the offseason. With many UFAs and RFAs up for new contracts, we knew the ‘Canes might be in for a significant retooling of their lineup for the upcoming season. Something we did not expect, however, was the loss of virtually every one of their considerable UFAs.
The reality of players succeeding on a strong team is they will command higher salaries when they come up for new contracts. The past couple of seasons saw career years for players such as Stefan Noesen and Brady Skjei, allowing them for large raises in their new contracts this offseason. I will never fault a player for leaving to take more money from another organization. These athletes have a limited playing window and must cash in to secure their financial future. As fans we become sad, or sometimes even disappointed when our favorite players leave, but it is the nature of the business and shouldn’t come as a surprise.
In the early stages of the offseason, the Hurricanes saw the following losses and additions to their roster:
Additions | Subtractions |
|---|---|
Shayne Gostisbehere | Jake Guentzel |
Sean Walker | Teuvo Teravainen |
Jake Roslovic | Brady Skjei |
Tyson Jost | Brett Pesce |
Eric Robinson | Stefan Noesen |
William Carrier | Tony DeAngelo |
On paper, the Hurricanes' replacements for their losses are nowhere close in both talent level and productivity. Guentzel was the big loss and you realistically don’t find too many players of his caliber on the market. It did not appear that Guentzel intended to sign with the Hurricanes; using them as a tool to drive up his asking price. The loss of Teravainen hurts emotionally. Turbo was an important piece of the resurrection of the Hurricanes franchise out of the dark ages and will surely be missed as a consistent 50-60 point-per-season player. For these two losses, the Hurricanes did not sign direct obvious replacements. If the Hurricanes plan on using Roslovic to replace Teravainen, it is a significant downgrade.
The Hurricanes have signed some free agents that are reasonably comparable to the players they replaced. While substituting Skjei and Pesce for Walker and Goestisbere may seem like a small downgrade on paper, I believe these players are more similar than we think. We lost Pesce, a responsible, stay-at-home defenseman, and replaced him with Sean Walker, who also fits that description but comes at a lower cost. As for Skjei, we replaced him with Shayne Gostibhere, who is more of a one-way defenseman with strong offensive capabilities but not as strong in the defensive zone. Although Gostibhere has more offensive upside than Skjei, the Hurricanes were able to sign him for far less money and term than Skjei.
Looking at the forwards signed, the Hurricanes signed William Carrier to a strange contract. The money value is good, but the term is far too long for a player on the wrong side of 30. In regards to Carrier being a replacement for Stefan Noesen, he simply is not. Carrier is a good bottom-six forward but will have nowhere near the offensive output as Noesen. Jake Roslovic is an interesting addition. As said earlier, if they are looking for Roslovic to replace Teravainen, that is a mistake. However, in Roslovic, the Hurricanes have added a skilled and quick winger. He has two previous 40-point seasons and has the potential to be a solid middle-six forward at a relatively low price tag for the upcoming season. I’m honestly not too sure what the Hurricanes have in Eric Robinson. He has a couple of 20-point seasons playing a bottom-six role for the Blue Jackets. On a good team, he is probably more of an extra forward/healthy scratch player. Lastly, we come to Tyson Jost. Jost is a former high draft pick, drafted 10th overall back in 2016 by Colorado. He has failed to live up to the expectations of a top-10 draft pick thus far in his NHL career. However, Jost is still only 26 years old and maybe this is the right coaching staff to help him unlock his potential.
As of now, it seems like the Hurricanes have taken a step back this offseason. They still need to sign Seth Jarvis to an extension and figure out what to do with Martin Necas. I think the Hurricanes are still working on retooling their roster. There are rumors of Kuznetsov heading back to Russia, which means the Hurricanes will have some major holes in their lineup to fill before next season. Without a big move, the Hurricanes might have to rely on some of their young prospects to contribute in the upcoming season.