Beefing the roster

Team: 2023-24 Carolina Hurricanes

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 4, 2023

Published: Jun. 4, 2023

LTIR Enabled: No

Season Days: 186

Days Remaining: 185

Season Remaining: 99%

Projected Cap Hit Prior To Days Remaining : $59,376,917

I am probably in the minority in this opinion, but I don’t think the Canes need “more offense”. A healthy roster is definitely a must, as we can see that is what ended up costing the Canes in the playoffs this year. What I think they need, is that a**hole factor. A line that you can throw over the boards, and get decent offense out of, but will keep the opponent in check. Look at the finalists this year: Carrier-Roy-Kolesar for Vegas, and an even bigger a-hole factor in the Cousins-Bennett-Tkachuk line. They need that extra size and thump. Yes, they were able to really elevate their physical play in the playoffs, but again, that only goes so far. Ideally, Killorn would be the 3LW over Barbashev, but I think Killorn takes a massive discount to stay in Tampa.

Signings:
Aho extension: 8 years 9.5mil AAV
Necas extension (depending on this season): either 8 years 7mil AAV, or if he reverts 5 years 5mil AAV
Jarvis extension: needs to be arranged this off season, 8 years 4.5-5mil AAV, if it happens next off season, 8 years 6-7mil AAV
Skjei and Pesce extensions: 6 years 5.5mil AAV each

Puljujarvi: Yes, what you saw in years is intentional. Puljujarvi is set to become the Fast’s replacement. For what JP provides, 1.5mil is fair. But getting him locked up for a while would be ideal. Kind of similar to the Paul contract with Tampa. When he was playing, he was effective. Not on the scoresheet, but he was allowing others to find the scoresheet with the small things he was doing. Worst case scenario, it’s still a very movable contract, especially if the Canes eat half of it.
Barbashev: Again, ideally it’s Killorn, but Barbashev provides that Swiss Army knife factor as well. Getting him should be a priority in a very weak UFA class.
Staal and Fast: 2 key members of the locker room, definitely need to be brought back.
M. Staal: mainly for the memes about collecting the Staal brothers, but could definitely provide good value as a 7D
E. Staal: signs a 1 day contract to retire with the Canes
Andersen: arguably the best UFA goalie option available. Keep him and hope that Freddie-Koochie tandem can split the games fairly evenly. Would like to bring back Raanta, and potentially run 3 goalies, but it really isn’t a great scenario. Bring in a goalie like Lyon who can sit in the AHL and can be brought up in case of injuries.

Trades:
Forbort: Boston needs to shed cap this off-season, and Forbort is one of the players they can move to help that. Could be either Grizz or Reilly, but would prefer Grizz of the 2. Forbort is the cheap option though. No major change to the trade should be needed.
Mantha: Everyone knows that the Caps have been trying to move Mantha for a little while now, but have not been able to get a deal worked out. Caps want to move the full contract, and other teams don’t want to take him at his full hit. In this scenario, the Caps don’t have to pay (around the 1st round pick range for cap dumps) and they get 2 picks in return instead. Mantha buyout hurts them more than just eating half his deal, so no major changes should be needed.
Pageau: This one is a little bit tricky. Isles need to clear cap, not just for this year, but next year as well. Not only do they need to move cap, they are overloaded at C. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone means moving JGP. JGP likely doesn’t return a 1st, but given the cap nature of this move, a 2nd, 3rd, and a decent but undersized prospect should be able to be at least close for a framework. If the Isles were willing to eat close to half on JGP, a first would be more than reasonable to be added, but they won’t be doing that. I don’t think this needs any major changes in value, but let me know in the comments if I have misjudged the value here.

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