Grading the Ryan Dzingel trade between the Carolina Hurricanes, Ottawa Senators

Grading the Carolina Hurricanes

So, let’s be clear, our opinion on the trade from the perspective of the Carolina Hurricanes has drastically changed since this trade went down on Saturday. Why is that? Well, because, believe it or not, Alex Galchenyuk was dealt once again to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.

Yes, despite only being traded to the Hurricanes on Saturday, Galchenyuk was on the move just a couple of days later after the Canes sent him to Toronto in exchange for forward Egor Korshkov and defenseman David Warsofsky. I mean, Carolina President and General Manager Don Waddell wasn’t exactly effusive in his praise of Galchenyuk in the first place, so this development was hardly a surprise.

Anyway, the key to both of these transactions are depth for the Hurricanes. They boast a young and exciting core that has the potential to lead this franchise to a deep postseason run, but they lack that little bit of grit and depth that any legit contender needs.

Waddell has addressed both of those concerns with these moves, gaining two players from the Maple Leafs in Korshkov and Warsofsky who can be sent up and down from the Taxi Squad as and when they are needed, but there is no doubt that the Cedric Paquette piece is the biggest part of these deals.

For starters, Paquette was a nice role player for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-20 as they finally won the Stanley Cup, recording 18 points (7 G, 11 A) in 61 regular-season games while averaging 13:03 of total ice time, in addition to logging 11:34 of ATOI in 25 Stanley Cup Playoffs contests. He gave the Lightning some real snarl and played with a boatload of tenacity, something he’s already doing for the Canes:

Paquette can be played up and down the lineup, be used in all situations, play on both the power play and the penalty kill and provide some secondary scoring but, more importantly, he addresses a very real need for the Hurricanes in that he plays a gritty, hard-nosed game, adds some sandpaper finish, he plays the game hard and he also knows what it takes to win having won a ring with the Lightning last year.

Overall, the Carolina Hurricanes rid themselves of a headache by getting rid of a player in Ryan Dzingel who clearly wasn’t a fit for this team, getting back one player in Alex Galchenyuk who they then flipped for some more organizational depth while also addressing some real big needs by acquiring a battler in Cedric Paquette who adds an abundance of depth and toughness for a team that needed both.

So, there you go. We have looked at this trade from all sides and, at the moment, it looks to be a deal that works out well for both teams with the Ottawa Senators getting a player in Ryan Dzingel who may just need a change of scenery in order to get hot again, while the Carolina Hurricanes have got tougher and deeper down the middle with the addition of Cedric Paquette, who could prove invaluable come Playoff time. So, everyone is a winner.