The 2016 NHL trade deadline was a high profile affair that saw Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis needing to make a sell decision with his team still trying to climb into the playoff chase. And after he made the sell decision, he needed to do deals for 3 big assets that had significant trade value but also complications. Francis traded and gained a good return for all of Eric Staal, John-Michael Liles and Kris Versteeg who needed to be move.
For the 2017 NHL trade deadline, the stakes were a bit smaller with only a collection of bottom half of the roster players to be pedaled. But it is still important to be diligent, execute and put the team in as good of a position as possible going forward.
If you are checking in late, here is a menu of articles on the 2017 NHL trade deadline that includes reviews of the 2 trades the Hurricanes made and also assessments on what the team needs to add to improve.
2017 NHL trade deadline: Simple checklist
Francis entered the trading period with 5 players who were scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season and therefore had the potential to be dealt. All of Ron Hainsey, Matt Tennyson, Viktor Stalberg, Derek Ryan and Jay McClement were potentially tradeable. (Bryan Bickell is also scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent, but was not tradeable because of his contract and the fact that he is still playing his way back up to NHL speed after being diagnosed and treated for multiple sclerosis.)
Of the 5 players potentially on the trade block, Ron Francis moved early and received a good return for the top 2 players on the list in Ron Hainsey and Viktor Stalberg.
Ron Hainsey
Hainsey garnered a second round pick which exceeded my estimate of a third-rounder part 1 of my trade deadline preview after the Hurricanes also agreed to retain half of Hainsey’s $2.5 million salary for the remainder of the 2016-17 season. The return was favorable considering the rest of the trade deadline too. Depth defenseman Kyle Quincey yielded only reclamation project Dalton Prout who had been a fairly regular healthy scratch with Columbus. And partly because of salary probably, Johnny Oduya netted only a wayward prospect and a conditional fourth-rounder. And Dmitry Kulikov and Cody Franson were not moved at all when the game of musical chairs ended. With a decent selection of depth defensemen that outweighed the demand, Francis did well to move early and even get a modest premium on his return with a second-rounder.
Viktor Stalberg
Similarly with Stalberg, I think Francis did well. He received a third-round draft pick that matched the same return for Thomas Vanek who brings much more scoring-wise. Drew Stafford and P.A. Parenteau garnered only sixth round picks, and Jarome Iginla and Dwight King only conditional fourth-rounders. And when the dust settled Radim Vrbata who certainly had value at some point was not moved at all. Only top half of the roster forwards Brian Boyle and Martin Hanzal netted more with a second-rounder and a first and a second-rounder respectively. Again, I think Francis did well acting early and collecting a third round pick. I like Viktor Stalberg and would actually like to consider bringing him back this summer, but he is a fourth line forward, so collecting a top 100 draft pick for him is a solid return.
Jay McClement, Derek Ryan and Matt Tennyson
Francis did theoretically have 3 more players with expiring contracts who could have been rented out. But Derek Ryan and Matt Tennyson are really fringe AHL/NHL players who slot only as off the roster depth on most, if not all, playoff-bound teams. Many teams have that same caliber of player at the top of their AHL depth chart or otherwise could possibly claim that level of player for free off of waivers. Jay McClement is more of a proven NHL player but as a #12/#13 type of player really would only have had value for a team with a very specific need for a veteran fourth-line center who could play on the penalty kill. Past that I do not think his skill set is good enough to break onto most NHL rosters. So in an ideal world, Francis might have collected another 1-2 fifth or sixth round picks, but it is reasonable to believe that he explored those options and there just was not really anything to be had.
2017 NHL trade deadline: Building for the future
The greater excitement for the Hurricanes during the days of wheeling and dealing was the potential to do a bigger deal to begin making longer-term additions with the aim of taking first steps to bolster the 2017-18 roster. I listed a handful of this type of deal in my Daily Cup of Joe for trade deadline day. None of those deals happened, nor did even a lesser wild card deal of seeing Ryan Murphy traded for a similar age prospect or Lee Stempniak included in the trade list despite having a year remaining on his contract.
In a best case scenario, Ron Francis would have brokered a trade for a difference-maker at forward, but 2 things jump out in his defense. First off, despite a handful of big names allegedly being on the trading block, there was not a single deal of this variety completed at the trade deadline. Of the handful of players traded with contract term past 2016-17, none were really in the difference-maker category. And because of the lack of activity around the big names with contract term leading up to March 1, this game will roll forward to June when Ron Francis could be a player with his growing stockpile of draft picks, prospects and futures.
2017 NHL trade deadline: Final grade
When I net it out, I give Ron Francis an A-. It is not so much that he made any mistakes or did not do incredibly well on the deals he made. Rather, I guess I am a hard grader and demand something above and beyond the simple checklist to push up into A or A+ range. Plus with the target of building a playoff capable team for 2017-18, the trade deadline is only the midterm with the final exam and big project still coming. I want to leave room for improvement for what should be a crazy time in late June and early July with the expansion draft, regular draft and free agency line up back to back to back.
Burning questions
How would you rate Francis’ work on Wednesday and in total for the NHL trade deadline?
Did anyone else feel a big of angst and disappointment being a seller yet again?
Are you optimistic that Francis will spend some of what he collected to make a sincere push for the playoffs in 2017-18?
Go Canes!
Grade = Incomplete. If Francis doesn’t obtain a first or second line centerman and a true #1 goalie via free agency or at the draft, then he failed miserably and needs to be kicked out of school. I’m ok with what he did and didn’t do with the trades. However, unless they are setting up a bigger play for the summer it will be a disaster attempting to get fans to pony up more bucks to see this team lose out for yet another year. I believe they’ll add someone by June but my fear is somehow they’ll pick up a second line ok center and another #2 goalie and hope for the best. That’s the Canes way for whatever reason ($ most likely) but they better step out of the comfort zone with an aggressive strategy if we are to have any hope of seeing a playoff team in 2017-18.
I would give RF a B+/A-. Given what he had to work with, I don’t think he could get any higher of a grade right now. This summer is the true test. There should always be some disappointment in your team having to be a seller at the trade deadline, but the type of players that this team needs are typically dealt for during the summer when your team is a seller at the trade deadline. This team needs a 1C, and #1 goalie, and a veteran d-man to help shore-up and mentor the youth on defense. I don’t know if RF will be allowed to spend the money or will be willing to move the necessary players in the offseason to address all 3 needs. Right now I am just hoping for a sincere push to get better.
I agree with your analysis even if I was secretly hoping (like you were) for something more or surprising. There just weren’t deals to be done, not just by the Canes, but for anyone else either. There are going to be more than the normal number of moving pieces this summer with the expansion draft so I’m hopeful that we’ll be spending some of our capital (draft picks) in trades.
Having said that, it’s going to come down to money and the budget, which is conservatively $10-12 million less per year than almost every other team in the league. That’s two high-end players. That would be like adding any two of Milan Lucic/Chris Krieder/Matt Duchene/Frans Nielson/[insert #1 goalie here] and squeezing out two of McLement/Nordstom/PDG/McGinn/etc./[insert either current goalie here].
I think we all know it would make a huge difference – probably the difference between watching the playoffs and making a respectable run. Stockpiling picks and then using them will only get us so far. This team simply needs to invest more money in its product (the team on the ice) to get any real return (better performance/attendance/profit).
In addition to scouring the league for great hockey deals, which I’m confident RF will do well, we should be looking for someone with deep-pockets that loves NC hockey to step forward to buy the team from Peter Karmanos. That’s the real solution.
“In addition to scouring the league for great hockey deals, which I’m confident RF will do well, we should be looking for someone with deep-pockets that loves NC hockey to step forward to buy the team from Peter Karmanos. That’s the real solution”. That is the real solution isn’t it? Odds of anything changing in the immediate future? Unlikely. We can only hope…
I’m not a candidate – quite a few hundred million short.
By the way, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t hope for a promising and competitive team. It just makes RF’s job that much more challenging.
I would say B+. Good return for the players we let go–though I agree I would like to see Stalberg back as a free agent. IMHO, the Canes front office is actually doing things the right and best way. They are drafting and developing talent. They are also using analytics. The two best sports teams of the past decade are Patriots and Spurs. Neither made flashy free agent moves (in fact the only superstar either team brought from the outside was Randy Moss who was actually a reclamation project). And while the Spurs did have a top draft pick in Tim Duncan, the franchise for the Patriots was actually a late-rounder. It seems to me that Peters has a commitment to a system, which is what make both Belichick and Popovich stand out. Fundamentals wins games (or in Popovic’s case The Big Fundamental). Yes, stars often seem to rule, especially in the NHL, but Raleigh will always be a small market–even with a new less thrifty owner. I mentioned before that one of the more scientific websites has shown that Carolina has the brightest future based on strength/age of current roster, young players not yet in the NHL, and draft picks in next two drafts. I am with everybody else that I would love to be in the playoffs now and at the top of the list for finals’ contenders next year. But being the best positioned team for the future is a very close second. If you don’t give RF credit for that, then you are only ranting to hear yourself rant.
ctcaniac, that’s spot on. I agree with all of that. I’ve been a season ticket holder since 02 and am as frustrated as anyone else. RF inherited a complete mess and empty cupboard. It takes time to build a winner and RF is going about it the right way. In a couple more years, we will all be happy.