NHL rumors: Hurricanes becoming 'team to watch' on trade market
01/24/2025 02:30 PM
The Carolina Hurricanes are one of the National Hockey League’s hottest teams in 2025, with eight wins in 12 games since the calendar flipped to January. As of Friday, the Canes are 30-16-3 and just eight points back of the Washington Capitals in the President’s Trophy race.
And general manager Eric Tulsky is looking to make the roster even better ahead of the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline — at least according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
“Team to watch: Carolina. They are active, ready to pounce,” the hockey insider reported in his latest 32 Thoughts column on Thursday.
Friedman also reported that the Hurricanes are one of the teams with permission to talk to Vancouver Canucks forward JT Miller. The disgruntled American would certainly elevate the offense in Raleigh even further, although there’s been no indication that talks have progressed.
The Canes have just under $4 million in cap space to work with ahead of the deadline, and Tulsky is already working the phones to try and make the roster better between now and March 7. Per Friedman, the front office could be engaged in talks with the New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Canucks.
With Frederik Andersen now healthy — and fresh off his 300th NHL win — the front office is no longer looking for goaltending help, and would rather add another forward to the mix before the deadline.
Hurricanes will trade for a skater, not a goalie
It’s no secret that the Hurricanes were looking for potential goaltending help after Andersen underwent knee surgery. But the organization didn’t end up making a move, allowing Pyotr Kochetkov to handle the bulk of the workload, with Spencer Martin and Dustin Tokarski getting a couple of starts each.
And with the Dane now healthy, the Canes have backed off their plan to trade for a netminder, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported on Friday.
“Few teams called around more on the goalie market than Carolina in the early months of the season. But now they feel they're ahead of where they were entering the season with everyone healthy plus the addition of Dustin Tokarski for depth,” wrote the hockey insider.
“There are only so many trade assets at the Canes' disposal, and right now the focus is upgrading offensively, which is why they're among a handful of teams talking to Vancouver about Miller. If it's not Miller, the Canes will try to add a piece up front before the deadline. So despite renewed talks with the Anaheim Ducks on John Gibson earlier this season, after having also tried to trade for him over the summer, for now it sounds like Carolina is satisfied with its goaltending.”
Now with four wins in a row and six in eight tries dating back to January 9, Carolina is rounding into form just in time for the stretch run. They will certainly be buying ahead of the deadline, and it’ll be interesting to see how long it takes before the front office makes a splash.
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