Giant push

Team: 2022-23 Carolina Hurricanes

Initial Creation Date: Jan. 20, 2023

Published: Jan. 20, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

With Patches re-tearing his Achilles, he is very likely to go back onto LTIR again, thus creating about 10mil in deadline cap space for the Canes to use. Many people are going to say the Canes need a center, but I would say the bigger need is a top line winger and a winger that can be a very big net front nuisance, which has been a key part of why the Canes PP has struggled this season. Konecny plays a game that is very similar to Patches, with the added bonus of being very reliable defensively. With him thriving under Tortorella of all coaches, just imagine what he could do under Brind’amour. He would be a perfect fit for the Canes. The net front guy the Canes should be looking at should be JVR. Proven net front guy, who plays a very similar game to Patches, and has the offensive juices flowing this year. The Canes could definitely use a 2C pickup, but it gets a bit tricky from there. They are out on Horvat now, since the Canucks were asking too high for Necas, and ROR is a bit risky with his injury timeline before the deadline. There is Toews, and whilst he would be an excellent veteran presence as well as a great rental, and even very cheap, as the asking price is a 2nd and a 3rd, I’m not sold on his locker room skills, and I’m not sure he would be the smartest pickup. There is also the matter of his NMC, but I do think he would waive for Carolina. Laughton is also reportedly available, but in this scenario, that would get a bit too pricey. As it stands, Stastny has built some good chemistry with Svechnikov and Necas, so keeping that line together or swapping Stastny with KK is something that should happen. KK has been elite defensively all year, whilst allowing whoever he has played with to score, and is now starting to heat up a bit offensively. Giving him another more offensive winger in JVR should grips great results, with the same holding true if he were to be swapped with Stastny. CdH has been quite good so far, but the turnovers have been getting worse. Kulikov makes so much sense, and since Carolina is unlikely to be on his M-NTC, upgrading on de Haan makes a lot of sense. Gavrikov would be a bit more ideal, but in this scenario the cap would be a bit harder to work out, and I imagine Gavrikov would be more geared to be resigned. Chatfield is playing amazing right now, and is definitely going offensively.

As for the current injuries, I don’t think Kase will be able to complete the season. He might come back for a couple of games, but ultimately won’t finish the season. As for Patches, it is tough to gauge. He came back early from his first Achilles tear this season, and could potentially make a return (if he follows the same recovery timeline as before) at about the ECF or SCF, if at all. If it isn’t as bad as the first one, it could be sooner, but he won’t be rushed back into the lineup. At which point, if he were to be able to return, you would probably have to scratch one of JVR, Turbo, or even Jarvis, depending on who doesn’t have the hot hand, so to speak.

For now, they desperately need a scoring winger, with the ideal target being someone who is defensively responsible, but more importantly is physical.

Hopefully Patches is ok. It would be a very big shame if this were his body telling him to hang up the skates.

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