NHL 2022 Offseason Guide: The Carolina Hurricanes
The 2021-22 regular season was an extremely successful one for the Carolina Hurricanes. They ended the year in first place in the Metropolitan Division and third place in the league overall. General manager Don Waddell made a few moves in the 2020-21 offseason that drew criticism (signing Tony DeAngelo), but the roster he constructed proved the detractors wrong. The team had the highest-ranked penalty kill with an 88% success rate and allowed the fewest goals against in the league.
However, that success began to wane when the Hurricanes entered the postseason. At home, they won all but one game; but away from PNC Arena, the Canes could not get anything going. Their top-ranked penalty kill fell from 88% to 74% in the playoffs. The power play also dropped off converting at only 13%, down from 22% in the regular season. Another major factor that contributed to the Hurricanes’ downfall in the playoffs was the absence of Frederik Andersen. Antti Raanta performed well, but there is no doubt that Andersen would have made a difference.
Now, after being ousted in the second round for the second year in a row, the team will need to make decisions regarding their roster and how to best address their postseason failure. A large portion of their team needs to be re-signed or replaced and with only $19 million to do it, it will lead to some difficult choices.
The Roster
The Carolina Hurricanes roster checks all the boxes. Skill, speed, size, depth, goaltending, they have it all. Sebastian Aho played as well as he ever has, scoring 37 goals and 44 assists for 81 points. Aho plays in all situations for Carolina and has proven at only 24 years old that he is their current and future number one center.
Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teräväinen also had good seasons. Svechnikov posted career bests in goals, assists, and points (30-39=69). His undisciplined ways also continued, garnering him 79 penalty minutes, his highest single-season total. Despite the unnecessary penalties, Svechnikov established himself as a top contributor for this team. Teräväinen finished the year third on the Canes in points with 65. He plays with Aho in all situations as well and is an integral piece of this roster.
DeAngelo, much maligned for his antics while on the Rangers, proved that is still a top-tier defenseman in the NHL. DeAngelo was brought in to fill the void left by Dougie Hamilton’s departure in free agency, and he did better than many expected. At the end of the season, he collected 10 goals and 41 assists for 51 points in only 64 games. That was the fourth-best points per game rate in the NHL this year.
Another decision questioned by many during the 2021 offseason was choosing to move on from all three of their goaltenders. Alex Nedeljkovic, James Reimer, and Petr Mrázek all split time in 2020-21 and all performed very well. However, Don Waddell saw a chance to improve and took it, trading Nedeljkovic and letting Mrázek and Reimer leave in free agency. He chose to acquire both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta to replace them. Many doubted this decision because Nedeljkovic finished third in Calder voting in the 2020-21 season. However, Waddell was proved right when Andersen and Raanta combined to win the William M. Jennings trophy this year.
The Hurricanes’ depth was also important to the team this year. Their third line comprised of Nino Niederreiter, Jordan Staal, and Jesper Fast provided energy and offense lower in the lineup. Steven Lorentz also continued his unlikely path to the NHL. Drafted in the seventh round, his work ethic has allowed him to progress from the ECHL to the AHL and finally to the NHL. He does not contribute much offensively, but his even-strength expected goals percentage of 57.8% ranked 6th among regulars on the Hurricanes this season.
Rookies Seth Jarvis and Jack Drury also played well this year. Seth Jarvis made the team out of training camp and got to play on the second line and power play. In his 68-game rookie season, he scored 17 times and earned 40 points. Jarvis showed that he will be ready for a larger role this coming season. Jack Drury, while he did not play as many games also made an impact for the Hurricanes. Called up for two games, he scored two goals. Drury is poised to earn a full-time spot on the team in 2022-23 with Vincent Trocheck becoming a free agent this summer.
Finally, potentially the most infamous Hurricane due to his offer sheet out of Montreal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Kotkaniemi played well, although in a very limited role on the fourth line this season. Fans may have expected more from him after all the fanfare that preceded his arrival, but the work he turned in this offseason was solid. Kotkaniemi owned the sixth best even-strength Corsi For percentage on the team at 58.5% and chipped in 29 points. All while only averaging 12 minutes a night on the fourth line. If given a larger role this coming season he could turn into a great second-line center for the Canes.
Team Needs
If the 2021-22 Carolina Hurricanes roster were to stay intact, I would argue the team would have no needs to fill. However, with several key players becoming free agents, general manager Don Waddell will have lots of holes to fill. The biggest void would be left by Tony DeAngelo who has been permitted to talk to other teams ahead of free agency. He was their highest-scoring defenseman and was on a steal of a deal at only $1 million. He’s set to receive a big payday after his performance this year and the Canes may be unable to afford him. Similar to DeAngelo, Ethan Bear has also been allowed to speak with other teams. While he only played on the third pair when he was in the lineup, he is still a good defenseman that could be useful to Carolina.
To continue with defense, both Ian Cole and Brendan Smith are free agents. This leaves their third pair empty as of right now. Jake Gardiner will be returning after missing the entirety of the season due to surgery, but his contract is a bit pricey for a third-pairing defenseman. They could also look to Joey Keane to play on the third pair this coming year. But they would still need to acquire another right-shot defenseman to fill out their defensive core.
Their free-agent woes are not limited only to the back end, however. Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter also plan to explore the free-agent market. Trocheck leaving could hurt the roster, but Carolina has enough center depth that they could likely fill the gap from within. The real trouble with their forward group stems from the left side. Max Domi is also a free agent along with Niederreiter, and if both of them go elsewhere the Hurricanes would have only two left-wingers.
Cap Situation
One might assume with so many players becoming free agents, that the Hurricanes would have plenty of cap space to resign them or acquire new players to replace them. Unfortunately, the Carolina Hurricanes only have $19 million to spend. And with Jake Gardiner returning from long-term injured reserve, that brings their total down to $15 million.
This means the Canes will likely have to move out a player like Brady Skjei. Shedding his $5.25 million cap hit could get them so much-needed breathing room to sign some of their players. Moving Skjei out and allowing Gardiner to take his spot would save them $1.2 million and every dollar counts in a situation like this.
The biggest questions regarding Carolina’s cap space have to do with how much money DeAngelo and Martin Necas will ask for. The team has made it known that they are willing to move on from DeAngelo if they cannot reach a deal, but they would love to keep him around. If they can get him at a dollar amount under $7 million it might be doable. Waddell could sign Necas to a short-term bridge deal, but reports indicate the two sides are not close to a deal as of right now.
In the situation I have laid out above that would leave the Hurricanes with $4-6 million left to sign players like Steven Lorentz and Joey Keane, as well as any additional depth players they might need. But that would leave them dangerously close to the cap. They may want (or need) to make additional moves to shed more money this offseason.
The Draft
Currently, the Carolina Hurricanes do not own a pick in the first round of the 2022 Entry Draft. They gave that away to acquire Kotkaniemi via offer sheet last year. There are ways the Canes could trade back into the first round, but if they do not their first pick in this draft would come in round two.
An interesting player for Carolina to target could be Gleb Trikozov. Analysts rank Trikozov anywhere from the end of the first round to as low as the third round. The Russian is a high-risk, high-reward style pick. His skill in both the offensive and defensive end is very good. However, the major risk stems from his skating and effort level. Trikozov’s skating is considered just average right now but could be improved to correct some of his technical issues. Trikozov’s competition level is the more alarming of his two drawbacks. At times he can explode up the ice carrying the puck into the offensive zone to create plays. But other times back checkers can easily catch and strip him of the puck because he looks sluggish.
If Gleb Trikozov can resolve these issues, his skill projects him to be a strong middle-six player in the NHL. However, if these problems remain he could never make it at all. The Hurricanes could use a player who could step in and be an offensive contributor on an entry-level contract. So even if Trikozov would be a bit of a project, his upside should intrigue Carolina.
Overall
The Carolina Hurricanes must undergo a serious reconstruction of their roster this offseason. With at least six roster spots up in the air right now, Don Waddell will have to make calculated moves to keep this team performing as it did in 2021-22. The good news is the core of the team will largely remain intact. Most of the looming holes in the roster are in the bottom half. But that does not make the decisions any easier. With limited cap space, it will be difficult to fill those gaps with the same level of talent. The team may come back with a new-look roster, but the goal is still the same for the Hurricanes: the Stanley Cup.
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All Salary Cap Information via CapFriendly
All Statistics via Hockey-Reference
