Puustinen isn't really an NHL level player.
So If Poulin is being called up he's probably the one going down.

They aren't going to move Smith or Rakell to make room for call ups.
Lets be honest they can move Harkins as well if they need to make room. It's not huge loss. But he's probably better off getting 3rd line minutes and role.

I don't even think it's a good idea to unload Smith. I'd rather keep him in his contract year.
They can always move him next year as a deadline rental if they aren't going anywhere to get something from him.
But this year there is no real reason to.
Especially if they are going to move Jake. Which who knows if they do or don't. If they do that, they create a hole on the LW. Moving both Smith and Jake they don't really have the bodies to replace them both.

I really don’t think Jake will be moved. If the team wants to have future success keeping Jake is the only way. Who else has consistently played with Sid on the wing for this long? The ideal situation is to keep working on an extension.

Also Puustinen can put up the points. I don’t see how he isn’t NHL level. Moving Smith and Rakell, maybe the better situation is finding teams willing to make swaps and can risk taking those guys on while matching as much cap as possible.

I am neither here nor there on if they will move him or not. I don't claim to know.
But I do know they shouldn't over pay to keep him and if they can't get a deal done by trade deadline it's best to move him.
I also know if they don't get a solid return for him, they better work hard to resign him at a reasonable contract as they can't shell out 10 mil+ if that's what he's expecting.

I honestly think if they can get the right return they should move him. There are 3 or 4 prospects I think are worth moving him for. But after that, it's best to keep him.

This team as it is, is not good enough to win. I'm not sure continue on the same path over paying Jake changes that. At some point the tear down must start. If that starts with Jake that's ok. I'd rather tear down and rebuild with youth fast.

Poustinen is very one dimensional. He's not good enough to be a top 6 guy, and he can't really play the two way game on the 3rd line, he clearly is not a 4th liner type.
So he's not really NHL caliber. It is what it is. He's a tweener who gets a role because they think there is no one better injury etc....
Poulin is much more suited for a 3rd line winger role.

Moving Smith would be a mistake. It's best to hold. At worst next year he's a trade deadline piece. At best in a contract year he explodes and helps push the team.

As for Rakell, I think people are a bit hard on him. He was the glue on the 2nd line when it was clicking. He didn't get the points but when he was out things went to hell. Then Smith got hurt and here we are.
I think if you moved him you probably get back something worse at this point. He's a streaky player, always has been. If they are going to move him, they should wait till he pops like last year. Then move him.

If Turbo wants too much to stay in Raleigh, smith is a good buy low candidate for us. Gives our guys in the ahl to get used to the system. When our AHL purchase is announced

I could see the Canes being interested in Smith as a buy low candidate. As for Rakell, I could see some interest from the Canes, but more as a cap dump move