On the Carolina Hurricanes …
Chris Nichols of FRS Hockey: Bob McKenzie put out his ‘Bobcast’ this week and was talking about the Carolina Hurricanes. ‘Change’ is a word associated with the Hurricanes since owner Tom Dundon has taken over.
McKenzie says that ‘everyone is available except for Sebastian Aho‘ doesn’t mean everyone will be moved. doesn’t see Jordan Staal, Teuvo Teravainen or Martin Necas being traded.
There is a good chance that Jeff Skinner is traded according to McKenzie, but he doesn’t the return for him will be huge though.
“Couple of things. Skinner has a full no-move clause. So let’s make it clear on this: He drives the bus on when or where he goes. And he’s also just one year away from unrestricted free agency, and he’s got one year left on his deal with a cap hit of $5.725 million.”
McKenzie believes the Los Angeles Kings will be among the teams interested in Skinner, and that he can’t see a long-term future for him in Carolina.
Victor Rask is another player McKenzie thinks the Hurricanes would listen on, and that he be surprised if they moved Brett Pesce or Jaccob Slavin as they are signed to long-term deals. They would likely listen on Noah Hanifin and Justin Faulk, but may not be shopping them.
Sabres Ryan O’Reilly would interest the Hurricanes, but McKenzie doesn’t see them wanting to trade for him, but they may not want to pay his $7.5 million signing bonus that is due on July 1st.
Chris Nichols of FRS Hockey: Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 960 and was asked about the Carolina Hurricanes and how they appear to be open to trading anyone not named Sebastian Aho. Friedman adds they are likely not interested in trading 2017 1st round pick Martin Necas either.
“But look, I just think it’s Carolina’s way of telling people they’re open for business. I do think Skinner is going to get dealt. I think there’s a lot of interest in him. I’ve also heard that Carolina is willing to keep money on him if it’s going to make the deal even better. So I do think that there’s a lot of interest in Skinner.”
Friedman continues that Noah Hanifin is an interesting one, There would be lots of interest, but the price to acquire him would be high.
“People take that to mean that all of these guys are getting traded. You simply don’t trade all of those guys. But I think it’s Carolina’s way of saying, ‘Give us a call, we want to hear what you’ve got to say.’
“I think the key thing is the Hurricanes – especially in Skinner’s case – they’ll keep money if it makes the deal better, which says to me they’re willing to consider a lot of things.”
