Carolina Hurricanes are taking a huge risk with Sami Vatanen
By Ant Barberio
Sami Vatanen was one of the top defensemen available at the trade deadline, but he’s injured. The Carolina Hurricanes are hoping he can get healthy.
In a move everyone expected, the New Jersey Devils shipped off pending free agent defenseman Sami Vatanen to the Carolina Hurricanes at the 2020 NHL trade deadline. Vatanen was the Devils best trade chip outside of Kyle Palmieri.
He has also had a polarizing relationship with New Jersey fans. No doubt he was one of the team’s best defensemen, especially for his offensive capabilities, but the team had to trade Adam Henrique to get him. Henrique became a fan favorite after scoring the goal that sent the Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup final.
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The move to the Carolina Hurricanes may not seem too surprising, but considering where the team sits it raises some questions. While not perfect, the argument could be made that the Hurricanes won the deadline by acquiring pieces to solidify their playoff push. The real question is, where does Vatanen fit in?
More importantly, when will Vatanen fit in? Vatanen has been out with injury since February 1, so it seems odd that the Hurricanes who are suffering from an injured blue line acquired another injured blueliner.
Canes general manager Don Waddell said Vatanen is expected back in early March, and the draft pick sent over to New Jersey is conditional on Vatanen’s games played as a minor bit of insurance. Waddell seems to completely ignore the fact Devils interim head coach Alain Nasreddine openly admitted his injury was taking longer to heal than expected.
Even if the Hurricanes made another notable defensive acquisition in sending a first to the New York Rangers for Brady Skjei, among other moves, doubling down on defense with an injured player ignored other areas that needed improvement.
The Hurricanes didn’t acquire a goaltender, despite both their number one and two in Petr Mrazek and James Reimer being injured. Remember this was a team that was lead to the playoffs last season by their goaltending, namely waiver wire pickup Curtis McElhinney performing over expectations. Dave Ayers can only save this team once this season.
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While some were predicting that Vatanen might cost a first round pick, the Hurricanes paid less with a package mainly of prospects. If Vatanen gets healthy early enough, he’ll be an excellent addition to what has been a patched together defensive core for Carolina. If he doesn’t, and Carolina’s goaltending can’t be more than adequate, the Hurricanes might be out of the playoffs, and this trade might be part of the blame.