The Hockey News’ NHL summer splash rankings are into the final stretch, as we focus on Team No. 4 – the Carolina Hurricanes.
Our summer splash rankings focus strictly on every team’s off-season additions, departures, hirings, firings and, in special cases, re-signings. From there, we’re ranking them based on who improved, worsened or stayed about the same.
The Hurricanes have been many media members’ pick to do great things in recent years, but things haven’t panned out particularly well for them in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In two of the last three seasons, the Canes made it to the Eastern Conference final, but once they got there, they have won exactly one game in those two series combined.
The Florida Panthers have had their number, and you have to look at the changes Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky has made as being influenced by their need to be specifically better than the Panthers. The Hurricanes have done very well at making an already-solid team even better.
Additions
Nikolaj Ehlers (LW), K’Andre Miller (D), Mike Reilly (D)
The Breakdown: You didn’t have to make a slew of moves this summer to be this high in our NHL summer splash rankings.
In some cases, it’s the impact that one player makes that makes a team significantly better, and the Hurricanes made strategic moves at forward and on defense to make themselves a notably improved team.
While we still have some reservations about former Winnipeg Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers as a playoff performer, he’s a high-impact regular-season player, with a combined 49 goals and 124 points in the last two years.
Ehlers fits in rather well on Carolina’s top line with center Sebastian Aho and left winger Seth Jarvis. Although it cost the Hurricanes $8.5 million in salary for Ehlers for the next six seasons, they didn’t need to delete anyone significant from their forward group to acquire him.
On ‘D,’ the Hurricanes added one established NHL top-four defenseman, former New York Rangers blueliner K’Andre Miller.
At 25 years old, Miller is just entering his prime. With veterans Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov heading elsewhere, Tulsky had more than enough room to trade for Miller and sign him to an eight-year contract with an average annual value of $7.5 million.
Even after these major acquisitions and bringing on depth defenseman Mike Reilly, Carolina still has a stunning $10.6 million in cap space. Tulsky may eventually choose to use much of that space on another defenseman, but even if no other moves are made between now and the start of the regular season, the Hurricanes have improved up front, and they’re at least as good on the blueline. Mission accomplished for Tulsky and his management team.
Departures
Jack Roslovic (C), Brent Burns (D), Dmitry Orlov (D), Scott Morrow (D), Spencer Martin (G)
The Breakdown: Somebody had to pay the price for Carolina’s letdown against the Panthers, and it turns out three Hurricanes D-men are the price-payers.
Burns is the NHL’s oldest player under contract. While he moved on to the Colorado Avalanche as a UFA, he was playing nearly 21 minutes a night at the end of his Canes days – probably a little too much for a 40-year-old.
Otherwise, Orlov was a high-priced veteran, but he was a human turnstile in the post-season. He’s now playing for the San Jose Sharks. And Morrow – sent to the Rangers in the Miller trade – hasn’t made his mark in the NHL yet, so their current roster didn’t necessarily get worse by losing him. The Rangers should be excited to have him, though, as he’s shown signs of being an effective offensive defenseman who joins the rush.
Losing Roslovic stings a little, as he posted 22 goals for the Hurricanes last season. But with Miller and Ehlers on board, the Hurricanes are stronger, and the first full NHL season from youngster Alexander Nikishin could see him quickly become a vital cog for Carolina’s defense corps.
The Bottom Line
The bar for the Hurricanes next season is firmly set at the Cup final. Anything less than that, and they may need deeper changes to break through.
But Carolina is fourth on our NHL summer splash list because it did what many teams constantly struggle to do – wisely invest without indulging the urge to make a wide array of moves, in effect throwing many things against the wall in the hope one of them sticks. While that can be beneficial for rebuilding squads, it’s not as effective for Cup contenders. Tulsky avoided that potential trap, and the salary cap space he’s managed to hold onto is going to make them even better at some point this year.
When you’re an Eastern Conference finalist in two of the last three years, you have to be doing something right. So Tulsky was entirely right to double down on his core. Whether it’s Jarvis, No. 1 defenseman Jaccob Slavin or up-and-comer right winger Logan Stankoven, the Hurricanes have elite-level talent where it counts. While they still have lessons to learn, they very well could be learning them in the Cup final this time around.
So it should be clear, then, why we’ve ranked Carolina so high. They’re a more dangerous team than the one that finished as conference final losers last year, and that’s why the Hurricanes are the envy of more than a few NHL organizations.
Summer Splash Rankings
4. Carolina Hurricanes
9. Utah Mammoth
10. New York Rangers
13. St. Louis Blues
16. Ottawa Senators
17. Boston Bruins
18. Edmonton Oilers
19. Minnesota Wild
20. Seattle Kraken
27. Dallas Stars
28. Calgary Flames
30. Winnipeg Jets
32. Buffalo Sabres
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