With the start of the 2019 NHL Draft weekend now only four days away, the trade market should be starting to heat up. Most of the deals are usually announced over the weekend, but that does not mean things are not active right now.

In that vein, here are some watch points for this week.

 

The goalie position

Most likely for the Carolina Hurricanes at the goalie position for the 2019-20 season is that the team goes with some combination of Petr Mrazek, Curtis McElhinney and Alex Nedeljkovic. But the team has not really tipped its hat to indicate that it for certain is headed in that direction. If the team is looking to go a different direction, the next week could be when it happens. On the possible trade front, probably the biggest name floating around right now is Jonathan Quick. Quick is a proven, elite goalie with a strong playoff resume. But he is also 33 years old with four more years remaining on his contract with an average actual cost of $4 million and a yearly salary cap hit of $5.8 million. I like Quick but consider the four-year at his age to be very risky. But regardless, if the Hurricanes wish to look outside the organization for a goalie, this week could be the time.

 

The three second round picks

Another interesting situation for this week is the three second-round picks that the Hurricanes currently own. On the one hand, it would seem reasonable to trade one or two of these picks to another team looking to move up. On the other hand, the second round is an interesting place to draft. The Hurricanes found Sebastian Aho in the second round and have had decent luck (still too early to declare success) on Janne Kuokkanen and Eetu Luostarinen. If Tulsky values those second-round picks relative to what the broader NHL does and the scouting staff believes they can identify three good second round options, just maybe the Hurricanes actually keep and use all three picks.

 

Another blockbuster?

It took until the waning moments of the draft weekend, but in the end the Carolina Hurricanes pulled off a blockbuster last year sending Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm to Calgary in return for Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland and prospect Adam Fox. So the potential seems to be there for the Hurricanes to again pull off a significant trade this week.

 

What say you Canes fans?

 

1) In general, do you expect the Hurricanes to be active this week in terms of trade activity?

 

2) What are the odds that Hurricanes go the trade route to fill an open goalie slot or two?

 

3) Who has a trade prediction or trade wish or two?

 

Go Canes!

 

 

 

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