Hurricanes player who must be traded soon

01/16/2025 03:26 PM

Despite a couple of heartbreaking playoff runs, the Carolina Hurricanes remain Stanley Cup contenders in 2024-25. Their 55 points places them in a three-way tie for ninth place in NHL standings with two of the past three championship winning teams in the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers. Not bad company to keep for a franchise with title aspirations of their own.

That being said, it’s been a tough stretch as of late for the Hurricanes. Discouraging back-to-back losses at the hands of the lowly Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks has dropped Rod Brind’Amour's squad to a mediocre 5-3-2 in their last 10 games. What is more concerning than losing to two of the league's worst teams is Carolina's dismal 9-11-2 record on the road. That simply won't fly in the playoffs, when home ice becomes even more important. Having home ice advantage would greatly benefit this group, as their sterling 17-5-1 home record is a shade behind the Vegas Golden Knights for tops in the National Hockey League.

Comfortably sitting two points back of the second place New Jersey Devils with a game in hand, Brind’Amour's club will be battling back and forth all season to secure the home ice advantage they desperately need. Even considering Zach Werenski’s Norris-calibre resurgence, Carolina's seven point lead on the Columbus Blue Jackets feels like a large enough gulf to take for granted. On the other hand, Alex Ovechkin's red-hot first place Washington Capitals feel miles ahead despite only being up eight points.

With only $700,000 of cap space remaining — and the stretch run beginning — general manager Eric Tulsky will have some work to do moving out roster players if he wants to make any meaningful additions to a roster that bowed out in the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs to the New York Rangers.

How the Hurricanes have had success

Barring a major collapse, Carolina will make the playoffs for the seventh year in a row. But what the team lacks is a bonafide superstar to lead the way. Sebastian Aho is a solid 1C, but he pales in comparison to a couple of other cornerstone superstars on contending teams, such as Nathan MacKinnon and Sasha Barkov.

Heart and soul defenseman Jaccob Slavin is the backbone of Carolina's second ranked penalty kill, and offensive dynamo Shayne Gostisbehere has done an admirable job quarterbacking the top powerplay unit since his arrival in free agency this summer, but neither of them can take over a game. That being said, generational talents don't grow on trees, and teams aren't generally looking to move those players out, especially not at the deadline.

Carolina simply can't hang with other top franchises in terms of raw star power, but their ability to roll four strong lines and three trusted defensive pairings over the boards on a nightly basis is unparalleled around the league. While this allows them to dominate the possession metrics at 5v5, their distinct lack of finishing ability has stunted the team so far this year at both even strength and on their middling powerplay. This exceptionally well-balanced roster has no real holes in it, but does have room for improvement, specifically in the top-six.

Leading goal scorer Jack Roslovic and recent addition Eric Robinson have played well in elevated roles, but would be better suited lower down the lineup come playoff time. Another interesting sell-high forward is Marty Necas, who was electric to start the year, but has cooled off a bit over the last month or so. However, with a $6.5 million AAV over the next two seasons, Necas provides outstanding value, and would only be moved in a massive blockbuster trade. Jesperi Kotkaniemi doesn't feel crucial to the offense, but moving him out leaves the squad with an aging Jordan Staal or a too-young Jack Drury as the 2C, which is not ideal for a playoff team.

If Tulsky really wants to give Brind'Amour another weapon to deploy in the playoffs, he will have to remove a player with a significant contract off the roster. While you could sell high on a player like Roslovic, the value isn't high enough league-wide to bring back the kind of return the Hurricanes need. In fact, most of the forwards on the roster outperform their contracts, which enables Carolina to spend that money elsewhere.

Carolina needs to move out a defenseman at the deadline

Instead of looking to offload a forward, Carolina should look to move out a defenseman from their stacked back end to make room for a top-six forward, preferably at center. But who to move? Dmitry Orlov and Brent Burns are soon-to-be UFAs, and it is hard to see the club moving either of them out, especially with Burns leading the team in ice time. Slavin isn't going anywhere as he is a face of the franchise, far too important defensively, and about to start an eight-year extension next season.

Gostisbehere has been exactly as advertised when Carolina signed him to a $3.2 million AAV contract this past summer, scoring 28 points (18 on the PP) in 37 games. Lower down the D-core, Jalen Chatfield has gone from playing 15 minutes a night last year to nearly 19 minutes a night this year, showing the trust the coaching staff has in his ability to play in the top-four. Seventh defenseman Ty Smith feels expendable, but he wouldn't bring much back in the way of a trade.

That leaves free agent acquisition Sean Walker as the most logical defenseman to be moved ahead of the March 7th NHL trade deadline.

Why Hurricanes should trade Sean Walker

Walker is a solid NHL calibre defenseman. He showed that last season playing top-four minutes with the Philadelphia Flyers before being shipped to Colorado at the deadline, where he solidified their third pairing for a disappointing playoff run. The contract he signed with Carolina this summer pays him $3.6 million AAV which is right around his market value, but quite a luxury for any team to have as their sixth defenseman.

Despite being paid like a top-four defenseman, this season, he is playing only 16 minutes a night, sixth on the Hurricanes defense and a full three minutes behind fifth place Chatfield. Only 30 seconds of his time on ice comes from the PP, and almost none of it comes from the PK, making him the most expendable D on Carolina's blue line.

Further underlining Walker's redundancy is Smith's league minimum $775,000 contract, roughly three million dollars less than Walker's. Smith has been serviceable as a bottom pairing defenseman while bouncing back and forth between the NHL and AHL the last few seasons, and although his two points in eight games this season for the Hurricanes isn’t exactly eye-popping, he is a strong puck-mover capable of fitting in with Carolina's possession style.

Overall, the Canes probably don't want to trade any players off of this roster, but you have to give to get, and they need to get some more scoring if they want to hang with some of the behemoths at the top of the Eastern Conference. In the quest to get out of the second round for the first time in three years, Walker is a logical name to be on the move before March 7.

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