Hurricanes Seem Content Losing Brett Pesce

Hurricanes Seem Content Losing Brett Pesce

It’s hard to have any sympathy for the Hurricanes organization. All they do is cry poor and then wonder why they keep coming up short. I mean… did Carolina deserve to beat the Rangers in the playoffs? We all watched Vincent Trocheck rip their hearts out. Why didn’t the Canes try to keep Trocheck again? It’s happening all over again with the Canes crying poor. They seem more than content losing Brett Pesce this offseason.

Pesce, 29, will hit unrestricted free agency this Summer. The nine year vet was drafted by the Hurricanes in the third round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Now he’s likely to find a new home after being allowed to hit the open market without even receiving and offer from Carolina.

Daily Faceoff had a really good write-up on this. The link in the prior sentence includes a now deleted tweet from Pesce’s father.

“Thank you CANIACS for always being good to myself and the Pesce family!” Brian Pesce wrote on the post. “Will certainly miss all of you! GO CANES.”

Elliotte Friedman on Friday’s edition of “32 Thoughts” also added this nugget:

“Pesce didn’t seem likely. They kinda told him what they were willing to do last year,” Friedman said. “I think it was in the (five years, $5MM AAV) range. It didn’t work. I don’t know that it’s changed.”

The writing is on the wall here and it seems like everyone close to the situation knows it. A $5 million AAV offer for Pesce just feels low. Evolving Hockey projects him to earn a $5.5 million AAV over the next six years on his next contract. That’s also with him coming off one of his worst seasons as a pro.

Pesce has 39 goals and 159 assists for 198 points in 627 career games while averaging 21:05 of ice time. Pesce’s value goes beyond the counting stats. He’s fantastic defensively and is one of those guys who simply makes others better around him. Whoever gets Pesce this offseason will be thrilled about it. We just know it probably won’t be Carolina.

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