How different will the Hurricanes’ roster be after NHL free agency begins Wednesday?
The Carolina Hurricanes figure to take on a different look in the next few days.
But how different?
It could be a team missing forwards Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter, or veterans Derek Stepan, Brendan Smith and Ian Cole.
Or all five of those players, and then some.
NHL free agency begins Wednesday at noon. With teams across the league facing varying salary cap situations, many in scramble mode, a number of players could be in play, and a lot of rosters are likely to change.
The Hurricanes have reached the Stanley Cup playoffs each of the past four seasons. Last season, they set franchise records in wins (54) and points (116) in winning the Metropolitan Division title, albeit losing in the second round of the playoffs.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, as is his wont, would prefer to have the guts of the team back and make another run at it. Canes president Don Waddell said much the same last week during the 2022 NHL Draft.
“We like our team and we like our players,” Waddell said. “We know we’re going to have some changeover, but we did finish with 116 points last year. So we have to be careful not to tinker with it too much.”
Trocheck and Niederreiter will be unrestricted free agents and are headed to the open market Wednesday. That doesn’t mean they won’t re-sign with the Hurricanes once they gauge how much interest — and money – is out there.
Trocheck and Niederreiter are looking for sizable paydays — both are 29, veterans with a lot to offer, and both are likely hoping for long-term deals. Trocheck was the Canes’ No. 2 center and Niederreiter a part of the Canes’ most consistent line last season with center Jordan Staal and winger Jesper Fast.
“I think both players want to be here but both are at the point of their careers where they don’t know how many contracts they have left,” Waddell recently said. “They want to make sure what all their options are.”
Stepan, Smith and Cole all were signed to one-year deals last year and will be UFAs. Forward Max Domi, acquired at the NHL trade deadline last season, also is a UFA.
The Canes had hoped to sign defenseman Tony DeAngelo to a new contract, but traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers during the draft. That leaves Carolina looking for a D-man, preferably a right-handed shot, to replace a player who had 51 points and ran the Canes’ top power-play unit.
John Klingberg? The Dallas Stars defenseman will be a UFA. He’s 29, a righty and had a 47-point season, closing out a seven-year contract that had an average payout of $4.25 million.
Klingberg is one name that has been bandied about during the constant online and social-media chatter. But he, too, would like another long-term deal.
Will the Canes add a top-6 forward?
Waddell said the Canes would like to add a top-six forward, although not saying at what price or if it would take a trade. The free agents will be there Wednesday: Ondrej Palat, Andre Burakowsky, Andrew Copp and others.
“Some teams are trying to move players because of money, so it might work out pretty well for us,” Waddell said at the draft.
Canes owner Tom Dundon has allowed Waddell to spend to the salary cap — ‘“We’re not a team trying to be a budget team,” Waddell said — but the Canes’ highest-paid player is center Sebastian Aho at $8.46 million a season. And Aho got his contract through an offer sheet tendered in 2019 by the Montreal Canadiens that Dundon and the Canes matched.
The Canes made an offer sheet work for them last year when free agency began, getting center Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the Montreal Canadiens after the Habs did not match Carolina’s one-year, $6.1 million offer. Kotkaniemi has since signed an eight-year extension with an average payout of $4.82 million per season.
“The system works,” Waddell said. “The cap works and for the players the salaries continue to rise. The owners’ share continues to go in the same direction. So it’s a win/win for everybody.”
Canes re-sign Noesen
The Canes on Tuesday re-signed forward Stefan Noesen to a two-year contract that will pay $750,000 at the NHL level and $500,000 at the American Hockey League level in 2022-23, with a $550,000 guarantee, and $775,000 in 2023-24.
Noesen, 29, scored a combined 57 goals for the Chicago Wolves in the regular season and playoffs as the Wolves won the AHL’s Calder Cup championship.
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 1:59 PM with the headline "How different will the Hurricanes’ roster be after NHL free agency begins Wednesday?."
