Carolina Hurricanes Free Agency Outlook, Potential Fits

Carolina Hurricanes Free Agency Preview/Outlook, Salary Cap Situation, Restricted Free Agents, Team Needs, and Potential Fits

Carolina Hurricanes will have money to spend this summer in free agency or via the trade market.

GM Ron Francis has been busy this past week. First, he signed a pair of prospects in Sebastian Aho and Aleksi Saarala. Then, he re-signed Cam Ward (3yrs $3.3 million dollars). He also traded two draft picks to acquire Bryan Bickell and Teuvo Teravainen from the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Canes could be busy this offseason trade wise. They have an overload of depth defensemen, and need to figure out what to do with James Wisniewski, who played less than a minute in 2015-16 after a season-ending injury in game one of the regular season.

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It was another disappointing year for the Hurricanes after a 10th place Eastern Conference finish. The team went 35-31-16 with 86 points, and were one of the few teams not to score more than 200 goals (198).

For much of the season, it seemed as though the Canes had a shot at securing one of the Wild-Card spots. Once it became more obvious the team wasn’t good enough, GM Ron Francis pulled off deals to acquire assets by moving Eric Staal, Kris Versteeg, and John-Michael Liles.

Carolina Hurricanes have the option to re-sign Eric Staal if they so choose. They have more than enough money, but it would be important to add another significant piece. There’s no way you can bring Eric back to be the leader after proven unsuccessful in recent years due to a lack of support cast.

The Canes also have a few players that could find themselves on the trade block.

Lets call Noah Hanifin and Jaccob Slavin the closest to untouchable on that back end.

Brett Pesce ranks third in least likely to be moved, which leaves us with Justin Faulk and Ron Hainsey. Ryan Murphy is likely to be traded, but won’t garner much value after his game has failed to develop.

Among the trade options up front: A year or two ago, Jeff Skinner would top many lists. It would be surprising to see him moved at any point in the near future. Two names that could be dangled in conversation, Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm.

Carolina Hurricanes Free Agency Outlook/Preview

Salary Committed to 2016-17: $48,333,331
Number of Players Signed: 36

Notable Unrestricted Free Agents: Nathan Gerbe, Riley Nash, Chris Terry, Brad Malone, T.J. Hensick

Feb 26, 2016; Raleigh, NC, USA; Carolina Hurricanes forward Victor Rask (49) skates with the puck as Boston Bruins defensemen Zdeno Chara (33) defends during the second period at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /

Notable Restricted Free Agents: Brendan Woods, Victor Rask, Ryan Murphy, Michal Jordan, Danny Biega, Keegan Lowe, Patrick Brown, Brody Sutter, Zach Boychuk, Justin Shugg

The most expensive re-signing should be Victor Rask, otherwise the Canes are spending virtually nothing to retain whoever they want.

This leaves GM Ron Francis with lots of money to spend in free agency or absorb via trade. Look for the Canes to be active this summer.

Carolina Hurricanes Free Agency Team Needs

Top-Six Upgrades, No.3 Goalie (AHL Starter)