Keys to the Carolina Hurricanes offseason
Emily Kaplan and Chris Peters of ESPN: Looking at keys to the Carolina Hurricanes offseason.
Cement the goaltending – The Hurricanes rode Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney to the Conference Finals, and both will be unrestricted free agents. The Hurricanes could be interested in bringing both back next season after they posted a combined .912 save percentage and a GAA under 2.60.
Pay Sebastian Aho and Justin Williams – Aho is in line for a big contract and the Hurricanes shouldn’t hesitate to get the restricted free agent signed. They could look at a deal similar to what William Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs agreed on earlier this year – around $7 million.
If Williams wants to play again and in Carolina, the Hurricanes shouldn’t hesitate to bring him back.
Move a defenseman – The Hurricanes have a surplus of defenseman and they could move one for forward depth.
Justin Faulk and Dougie Hamilton had their names in rumors at the trade deadline and could be in the rumor mill again.
There will be many teams looking for a defenseman and they could make a move by the draft.
Spezza could be a center option for the Senators or Oilers
TSN: The Dallas Stars will be moving on from center and pending free agent Jason Spezza.
“He can still fulfill a role,” Nill said. “He was good for us in the playoffs. He was disappointed in his production in the regular season but he can still fulfill a certain role. He’s still one of the top draw men in the league. He’s still very good on the power play. Again, he was good for us in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we’ve got some younger players coming in, and the salary cap, it was just kind of time. But Jason is still a serviceable player that’s had a great career.’’
Spezza mentions that his former team, the Ottawa Senators, could be of interest to him and would be on his list of teams.
“It’s still early in this process but I have a good relationship with the people in Ottawa that are still there,” Spezza told LeBrun. “It would be high on my list of considerations that’s for sure. I left there on good terms. It definitely keeps the door open. It’s food for thought, for sure. But it’s so early in the process, we’ll see.’’
Jonathan Willis: This year’s free agent center crop is a kind of weak which could help out Spezza.
If the Edmonton Oilers end up keeping one of Leon Draisaitl or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the wing, the Oilers would need a third-line center.