On the chance that William Nylander comes back into play in July
On Saturday, it was announced that that the circus had officially ended right at the deadline. The Toronto Maple Leafs had re-signed William Nylander to accountant’s special for six years for just under $7 million per year. The contract puts a temporary end to speculation on if and who might trade for him. But with the potential for ill will building up, the Maple Leafs’ impending salary cap challenges and most significantly the contract structure, it is possible that the whole thing restarts in July. After the Maple Leafs pay a huge signing bonus for the 2019-20 season, Nylander’s average salary is an inexpensive sub $5 million per year for the five remaining years for a team that can fit the salary cap. Could the Canes be back in the mix if a round two kicks off in July?
On the Hurricanes possibly being in the mix over the past week or two
Shortly after the deal was announced, I said the following on Twitter:
William Nylander is a good player. He could have helped #Canes. But I would not give up a similarly good player like Pesce (whose contract is below market value) to get Nylander at high end of range at $7M per year. #Canes do need to add scoring, but there are other options.
— Canes and Coffee (@CanesandCoffee) December 1, 2018
The Tweet is the short version of a longer article that said that I would not do the Brett Pesce for William Nylander that was thought to be the potential deal between the two teams. In short, as much as the Hurricanes do need another scorer or two right now, top 4 defensemen like Brett Pesce are also hard to find, and I did not like the idea of trading Pesce’s discounted contract for what I figured would be a pricey one for Nylander.
On the need for more scoring fire power
But that said, the Hurricanes do desperately need another player or two who can put the puck in the net or help someone else do it. With Micheal Ferland out of the lineup with a concussion, the team’s need for more scoring has reached a fever pitch. Just scoring two goals each in the past two games would have netted a perfect for points. Instead, the team had to settle for a single overtime loss point after scoring only once on Friday and then being shut out on Sunday. So no doubt the need is there.
On other options for scoring help
The starting point for finding scoring options right now via trade is to look at teams and/or players that are struggling. Sunday’s opponent, the Los Angeles Kings, would definitely qualify. In addition, there are a handful of players like James Neal who have a strong scoring track record but are not putting the puck in the net so far in 2018-19.
At a basic level, there are two paths. First, is to take some risk with a player who is struggling right now. Could the Hurricanes take on a current underperformer without taking on much other than contract risk?
The other option is to trade a good player to get one. During the summer, I laid out a three-step transformation that included signing Calvin de Haan and then simultaneously trading Justin Faulk for a scoring forward and Jeff Skinner for futures. The issue is that the Hurricanes completed only two-thirds of the checklist which left the the team with Faulk and an extra top 4 defenseman but also one short at forward in terms of back filling Jeff Skinner’s slot.
Justin Faulk is playing well and should have more value than he did during the summer. The difficult question is whether the team should keep him now that he is playing well or if it should instead trade from a position of strength. If one goes the first route of not trading a player who has rebounded, the unintended result is that a team only trades players at low points in value. Personally, if the right deal came along, I would consider trading Faulk not because Faulk is not a useful player right now but actually because he is and could net much-needed scoring help.
My hope is to write a deeper dive on possible scoring help options in the next few days.
What say you Caniacs?
1) How desperate is the need to trade for scoring help? Might the team figure it out on its own and/or win because of defense/goaltending? Or is the season doomed if the team cannot pull off a trade to better the offense?
2) With Justin Faulk’s rebound, are you more inclined to keep him now? Or are you more inclined to trade him from a position of strength to add offense?
3) If you were general manager, who would you consider targeting via trade right now?
Go Canes!
We need more scoring. Someone with “hands” that buries the Grade A chances no one can seem to bury consistently. We create too many good point-blank chances not to score more goals and the season is at risk without someone stepping up.
Other than his scoring, Faulk may be playing his best hockey and is greatly improved from last year. The Faulk/de Haan pairing is really clicking. Still, Faulk is signed for one more year and we have to factor in the odds of re-signing him. This isn’t a “Jeff Skinner situation” but sometime during this season would be a good time to trade Faulk if the right deal for the right player came along. If Faulk continues to play well it will only add to his value, especially at the trade deadline.
Looking at the teams “in trouble” who might be partners, it’s tough to find anything obvious. I don’t think anything major happens within the division though those teams present interesting options.
If we can’t score, the rest isn’t all that important. We started the season with fairly aggressive estimates in scoring ability for the rookies. Zykov is no longer with the Canes; Necas in Charlotte. Foegele started strong but as the Staal line sputtered and stopped, so did he. I’m hoping Svech can get on a hit streak, but even he I think is slower getting going than we thought. Without Ferland, Aho line gets nothing, and even with him, because we have no other lines really scoring; they’re getting the best an opponent can throw at them.
A true center would help. Maybe Tallon in Florida has one he’d could spare. If not, maybe see if the Islanders would trade Bellows and throw in HoSang for Hamilton. Is Chiarelli ready to trade Puljujarvi and we can reunite him with Aho? If we don’t trade, can we experiment with Saarela or Kuokkanen. If we’re going down the younger path, let’s pull that band-aid off and see what we have in some of these youngsters,
Please no on a trade for Bellows and/or Ho Sang. Bellows was a bad pick in the first round. Couldn’t even handle the college game. Had to go back to juniors. I’ve seen him play. He has a nice shot, but little else. Ho Sang has ability, but has pissed off pretty much everyone he can in the Islanders organization. Maybe he will grow up ala Taylor Hall, but that would be a big risk. He’s not much of a goal scorer anyway.
1. I think our scoring issues are as much a product of coaching and management decisions as it is scoring-based talent (we do have a lot of gritty wingers, don’t we?). Don’t trade for talent if you are not going to use it properly. Similarly, seek to maximize the talent we already have in place (something I don’t think we are doing). We have the talent – both forwards and D – to be a much better scoring team than we currently are.
2. Given his rebound in defensive play, the offensive play history, and his UFA status at the end of next season I would certainly consider moving him. His trade value goes down the closer to the end of the contract we get. And how likely do you think it is that he will want to resign with the Canes? I think it is a lot like Skinner – he is ready (or will be) ready to move on.
3. N/A. I tend not to do fan-based trade spec.
Pardon me for my thinking out of the box. But I don’t think we should trade anybody in order to get anybody. We have what we need in the organization.
The game we played against the gigantic Ducks revealed that a bigger stronger team will wear us down.
We need more size and grit. We have it right here a 3 hour drive away.
William Nylander? We could have had him had we decided to take him with our draft pick. Instead we took Haydn Fleury. The Leafs took Nylander at 8. There is no way we can steal him. If we trade for him, we will pay far too much. Not because we don’t know what we are doing. But because of the way things are in the NHL. Let’s forget about Nylander.
I suggest we bring up Gauthier and Carrick. Carrick can score. And he is gritty. He might well be the catalyst our d needs to start scoring. Let Haydn stay in Charlotte for ten years or so.
Gauthier should fit in and make it the TAG line. Let’s shoot for making it the GAG line (Goal A Game).
But let’s give each more than a cup of coffee in the NHL.
The team is definitely in need of scoring help. There are plenty of “2-way” players on the Canes, but many of these players are severely challenged offensively. Staal, Mcginn, Martinook, DiGiuseppi and all aren’t going to add a whole lot offensively. Never have. Martinook has been a pleasant surprise, but you really can’t count on him for scoring.
The young guys are being young guys. Aho is supremely talented and has shown he can produce in the NHL, but he still goes through flat periods. He’s in one right now. Svechnikov is improving, but hoping an 18 year old will carry you offensively is asking a bit much. Foegele? Not sure what’s going on there. His confidence seems to have plummeted. I don’t even mention TT. He’s not a youngster anymore, but is a perimeter player who apparently needs someone else to make him effective.
What to do? Trades? Fire your coach? Lack of scoring has been a Canes issue for years. We like to think our talent level is better, it is, but scoring talent? Still limited. The Canes scouting staff needs to think in different ways. Too many of the Canes prospects seem to be clones. Two-way players who they hope can score. The Canes need to look for guys that can light the lamp.
In general defensemen score when the forwards they pass to light the lamp or when their shots from outside go in. Faulk is putting shots on net. Who is screening goalies? Who is putting rebounds back in? Who is tipping pucks? Not many. Defensive scoring will increase with more traffic in front of the net.
Faulk may be the Canes best player so far this season. Unless you know he wants out, why would you trade him? He is still relatively young. If you are building a winner why trade a guy who could be a cornerstone player for another 5 plus years?
Oh! And one more suggestion. Offer a contract to Dougie Hamilton’s brother. Give him a player’s contract in the minor leagues or a job in the office. This has worked before.
And those of you who would say that is asking too much, ask yourselves some questions. What is it worth for Dougie to return to his 20 goal per year form? What are we willing to pay for a Matt Duchene type of savior scoring catalyst? How has that been working for the Senators? What would they give to have Turris back? What would they give to get next year’s first round pick back? Let’s look at Dougie’s brother as a poor man’s savior scoring catalyst.
1. The need for scoring is approaching desperation, but the problem could lie more with the coaching or the system than individual players.
2. I’m inclined to trade Hamilton, not Faulk. Hamilton hasn’t really found a fit on the Canes defense. His offensive ability has not been utilized, he has yet to find a steady partner and he has high upside. I’d trade him over Faulk personally, but to win the Canes need a balanced team, they are overstocked on D and under manned at forward so it’s on management to find trade opportunities to balance it out.
3. It’s hard to even suggest trade targets when the Canes give their players away.
I think the Canes could have gotten Sam Reinhard from Buffalo for Hannifin or Skinner, I think the kid has tremendous upside. Too late now.
I would’ve explored trading Zykov or one of our D prospects to Pit for Spron (Vancouver just pulled of that trade).
On a grander scale at the trade deadline I’d explore something like Kapanen + Nylander + Sparks or one other forward for Jordan Staal or Jordan Staal plus Faulk.
Jordan Staal would be the ideal third line center on a high scoring team that is in win now mode.
If the Leafs keep playing well and the pressure to win the cup this year keeps goeing up, they will be looking for a shut down center and upgrade on D at the deadline and might be willing to go all in.
The Canes could’ve signed James Neal as a UFA this summer, but didn’t.