Carolina Hurricanes: Top 3 goaltenders they should trade for this offseason
The Carolina Hurricanes could turn to the trade market if they want to upgrade their goaltending.
This NHL offseason is going to be mighty interesting. There’s never been one like this. The pandemic has put a lot of teams in an uncomfortable situation financially and the flat salary cap ceiling of $81.5 million means teams are going to be strapped for cap space. However, the Carolina Hurricanes won’t be one of them.
While it remains to be seen how badly the pandemic has affected their finances, it’s worth pointing out Thomas Dundon, in his short tenure as the Canes owner, has not been afraid to open up his checkbook. Also, the Hurricanes will have cap space this offseason.
Let’s assume they don’t bring back any of their UFAs – Sami Vatanen, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Justin Williams. This leaves their restricted free agents, most notably Warren Foegele and Haydn Fleury. Between them, they shouldn’t cost more then about $3.5 million combined.
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While the Hurricanes do have to be mindful of next offseason, when they’ll have to back up a Brinks truck to keep Andrei Svechnikov around, the Hurricanes have the resources to make some upgrades.
They’ll have 11 forwards signed if they call up Morgan Geekie, who deserves at worst a very long look on the NHL roster. The same goes for Jake Bean, who has put up very impressive numbers in the AHL. Carolina will have seven defensemen signed, so they could trade one, but I imagine they won’t.
This leaves their goaltending, which is probably the one area the Carolina Hurricanes need to upgrade in. James Reimer and Petr Mrazek were expected to provide league-average goaltending last season. They did not, as the Hurricanes finished 17th in team save percentage. The Hurricanes would clearly like to upgrade there.
But to upgrade in net, they’re going to have to move out a goaltender. Both Mrazek and Reimer have one year left on their respective deals, with the former carrying a $3.125 million cap hit and the latter having a $3.4 million cap hit.
You might think Mrazek would be the more attractive candidate since his cap hit is lower, but you’d be wrong. Reimer is due less actual money, as he’s due $3.1 million (and just $850,000 after his signing bonus) while Mrazek is due $3.25 million. That extra $150,000 is meaningful in today’s NHL.
The trade market is probably where the Hurricanes will turn if they want an upgrade in goal. Let’s look at three potential candidates.