Remembering The Biggest Trade Deadlines in Hurricanes History: The Dark Days Begin
After two long postseason runs in 2006 and 2009, the organization underwent a period of unprecedented mediocrity that spanned nearly a decade.
2010
The 2009-10 season was a lost cause early. By the start of 2010, the team was well out of the race, and by February, they started to move pieces. The first two dominos to fall were Niclas Wallin and Matt Cullen, who were traded to San Jose and Ottawa, respectively. On deadline day, they were extremely active.
The Hurricanes made five trades on March 3, trading Joe Corvo and Scott Walker to Washington in separate deals, Aaron Ward to Anaheim, Andrew Alberts to Vancouver, and Stephane Yelle and Harrison Reed to Colorado. In all, the team acquired four players and five picks. Unfortunately, none of them panned out. To add insult to injury, one of the pieces they acquired in the Corvo trade was a 2nd Round pick in 2011, which ended up being 57th overall. The Canes traded it to the Rangers for Bobby Sanguinetti. The Rangers later traded it to Calgary, who selected Tyler Wotherspoon. With the 58th pick, the Lightning selected Nikita Kucherov. There's no guarantee that the Canes would've selected Kucherov if they'd kept their pick, but it makes you think about what could've been.
2011
In one of the rare times during the "Dark Days" when the team was in the hunt, the Canes were in a playoff spot as the trade deadline neared in 2011. On February 18, they held the last spot in the Eastern Conference, but their first move was to off-load a player, sending Ian White to the Sharks for a 2nd Round pick in 2012. White was good for San Jose, scoring ten points down the stretch, but it also became beneficial for the Canes when they used the pick. With the 47th pick in 2012, the team selected Brock McGinn. In six seasons with the organization, McGinn became a fan favorite and scored one of the most iconic goals in team history.
A few days later, the Canes made another move with the Sharks, getting Derek Joslin for future considerations. Joslin scored five points for the team to finish the season before scoring just four in 44 games the following season. The moves kept coming as the team brought back a familiar face, trading Ryan Carter and a 5th Round pick in 2011 to Florida for Cory Stillman. In his second tour in Raleigh, Stillman was phenomenal, scoring 16 points in 21 games. Carter put together a respectable career, but he didn't amount to much for Florida during his short time. The Panthers never used the pick they received, though it would eventually be used by the Jets to draft Sean Kuraly.
The Canes and Panthers got together for another move four days after the Stillman deal. The Canes sent Sergei Samsonov to Florida for defenseman Bryan Allen. Where the Stillman move was good, this one wasn't as much. Samsonov finished the year with 14 points in 20 games, while Allen had just five in 19 games. He stuck around for the following season, scoring 14 points in 82 games. The Canes were solid to finish the season but once again failed to seal the deal. They were jumped in the standings by the red-hot Sabres, and the Rangers held their spot as the Canes finished two points outside of the postseason.
2013
Another lockout threatened to cancel the 2012-13 season as labor disputes and revenue sharing became big topics. Fortunately, a solution was met in January to salvage what was left of the season. This meant a shortened 48-game schedule. With fewer games, the Canes seemed to be doing alright. By mid-March, they led the Southeast Division and had the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference. Within ten games, their season had collapsed.
A 1-8-1 stretch knocked the Canes below .500 and out of a playoff spot. With the writing on the wall, they opted to hit the trade market. They acquired Marc-Andre Bergeron from the Lightning for Adam Hall and a 2013 7th Round pick. No one involved in the trade provided much value, with Bergeron producing just four points in 13 games, while Hall was immediately placed on waivers, and the pick, Joel Vermin, played just 24 games in the NHL.
The next day, the team parted with Jussi Jokinen, one of the biggest parts of the 2009 postseason run, being traded to the Penguins for a conditional pick. Jokinen scored 11 points in ten games as they finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference. However, he recorded just three assists in eight games in the postseason. The compensation the Canes received remains a mystery because I couldn't find it anywhere. I'm not sure if the conditions were met, but there doesn't appear to be any record of it.
2014
While it was initially supposed to happen the year prior, the league underwent a serious shuffle in 2013-14 with the divisions realigning. As a member of the Metropolitan Division, the Hurricanes had new rivals to challenge. Unfortunately, this meant it was going to be an uphill climb. By the deadline, the Canes were six points out of a playoff spot and needed to jump a bunch of teams.
The team opted to sell off another player, sending Tuomo Ruutu to new division rival New Jersey for Andrei Loktionov and a 3rd Round pick in 2017. Ruutu, whose production had fallen considerably after the lockout, scored eight points in 19 games to finish the season. He remained with the Devils for two more seasons, scoring just 14 points in 110 games. Loktionov outproduced Ruutu once he arrived, scoring ten points in 20 games, but this would be the end of his North American career as he returned to Russia in the offseason.
The Canes had to wait to use the pick they received, but they finally used it in 2017. With the 67th pick, the team selected Morgan Geekie. We saw him make his debut in 2020, and he started his career in a big way. On March 8 in Pittsburgh, Geekie recorded two goals and an assist in a 6-2 win over the Penguins. Two days later, he scored again. COVID-19 would effectively end his hot streak as the league shut down after his second game. His tenure with the team lasted 38 games before being selected by the Seattle Kraken in the Expansion Draft.
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