As sports fans, we would all gladly accept a magical request from a genie in a bottle! The Carolina Hurricanes have concluded their summer activities, and supporters will have a few weeks to consider their experiences before attention shifts to training camp. From this point until the end of the season, general manager Eric Tulsky’s first year will be the subject of second-guessing. However, what if there had been a way to add a transaction to the list or reverse a move? And what would it be?
Sure, a trade for Connor McDavid or the signing of the top free agent for a minimal salary would be nice but let’s get realistic for this debate. The Canes had a lot of players exit the team and some were replaced and some were not. Like it or not, restricted and unrestricted free agents returned with new contracts.
The key departures started with the trade deadline acquisition, of Jake Guentzel. Once free agency opened, the floodgates opened as well. Brett Pesce went to New Jersey, followed by his defensive partner, Brady Skjei leaving for Nashville. Teuvo Teravainen returned to Chicago, while Stefan Noesen joined Pesce in New Jersey. The mass exodus continued with Evgeny Kuznetsov having his contract terminated to pursue a return to Russia in the KHL.
Many of those names were fan favorites so the pain is still felt today. Speaking of fan favorites, Tony DeAngelo has yet to find a new home but that home will not be in Raleigh.
The other unrestricted free agents were Jalen Chatfield and Jordan Martinook. Chatfield was locked up before July on a team-friendly contract. Martinook was locked up in the afternoon of Day 1 for a not-so-friendly team contract, but well deserved. This left the restricted free-agent contracts of Jack Drury, Seth Jarvis, and Martin Necas to be sorted out. Drury was the first to return to Raleigh as Necas became the talk of the trade market this summer. Eventually returning without arbitration, Necas signed and Jarvis recently was the final piece to the summer puzzle with his 8-year contract.
Other incomings to Carolina were defensemen Sean Walker and former Cane, Shayne Gostisbehere. Both are solid replacements to round out the defensive group. Up front, Tulsky brought depth forwards William Carrier and Tyler Jost aboard. Additionally, Jack Roslovic joined the team to provide a right-handed centerman. Of course, Jesper Fast was forced to have season-ending surgery which likely ended his tenure in Carolina.
A busy offseason, to say the least, the Canes held their own and locked up the future in Jarvis and Necas. The one “big ticket” free agent that I would have liked on this roster was Jonathan Marchessault but he had other plans and I cannot fault Tulsky for that. The players brought in are fine but I feel that Teravainen will be missed the most out of the group that left. His 25 goals have not been replaced, other than expecting a player like Andrei Svechnikov to produce more than 19 goals.
The one wish I would use is not signing Roslovic for $2.8 million. Although it is only a one-year deal, that money and roster space could have been used on not just one player, but two. A player like Anthony Duclair, who signed with the division rival New York Islanders, could have provided the speed and scoring depth needed to keep this team a contender.
Darren Sprong is a 40-plus point producer who was available towards the end of the summer and ended up signing a contract for under $1 million. Additionally, Tyler Johnson is on a PTO with the Boston Bruins this upcoming camp. Those two players could have been brought to Carolina for less than Roslovic on one-year deals.
Change is happening in Raleigh but the future is locked up in Sebastian Aho, Necas, Jarvis, Slavin, and Kochetkov. Time will tell how the new additions will mold into Rod Brind’Amour’s system.
