After a variety of articles consider different possible trade and/or free agent additions to improve the 2020-21 Carolina Hurricanes, today’s Daily Cup of Joe opens the floor for you to play Don Waddell for a day.
1) For goalie, would you try to make an upgrade or just go with some combination of Mrazek, Reimer and Nedeljkovic? If you would try to upgrade, who would you target?
2) If you could add only one player from the many who could at least theoretically be available, who would you target?
3) Which Canes player is most likely to be traded before the start of the 2020-21 season?
4) Who is the most likely outside addition before the start of the 2020-21 season?
Go Canes!
GMLL of NYI has said we are going to be surprised by who is available, which leads me to believe that the list is longer and different than what we’ve seen in the rumor mill and who we’ve been discussing. So maybe GMDW is aiming higher, like for Anze Kopitar … I’m staying more realistic.
1/ If someone really wants either Mrazek or Reimer in a trade with a return, I’d do it and backfill with Ned, at least for now, with an eye to making another deal as the dust starts settling. Otherwise, I stand pat and stay patient. Vasilevsky is top-notch, but no one thought Khudobin was until these playoffs; goaltending is not why BOS beat us or why TBY won the Cup.
2/ I would target one of these three players: Alex Killorn (TBY), Brock Boeser (VAN), or Josh Anderson (CBJ). I really would target Anthony Cirelli but that’s a real long shot.
3/ It’s a boring answer but I’d say one of our goalies is the most likely.
4/ I have no idea. There will be one but it’ll be a surprise because it’s not a name we’re discussing; it’s never been a name we’ve been discussing.
My thoughts on the goalie situation start with IF THE CANES CAN GET ASKAROV in the draft…? That would be pretty awesome, IMO!!
If not, then I would consider Darcy Koemper (sp?). I’d like Lehner, but probably too rich.
I’d like to see an upgrade to our top 9, preferably a CENTER, but whether they can find a trade or free agent available is questionable?
For goalie, I rally like Askarov. So I would move up in the draft to get at 8 if he is still there. Tukka Rask might be available and has 1 year left on his deal.
At forward a vet with a year or two left to replace Justin Williams or Justin Williams, Pat Maroon would work.
For D, I want to keep Pesce even though he is our most tradeable asset.
Mostly, just stay opportunistic for RFAs and teams trying to dump salary. The Canes are in position with the team and prospects to stay patient and pounce when ready. Assuming TD will spend to cap this year
Draft Askarov, trade Mrazek to Edmonton if they really want him, and then sign the King for two years. If you get something nice you can trade Reimer too and clear up some space, but Dundon doesn’t have enough money because of COVID, so why trade Reimer? He’s cheap at this point.
If Pat Maroon would sign here I would ink him today. He would be a great lift on the bottom six physically and in playoff experience.
Finally, use one of the D prospects to unload Neiderriter. Package Keane/Bean plus a pick to Detroit for cap space.
It’s unlikely that he will go that low in the draft, it sounds like.
Most people are predicting that the Canes draft Seth Jarvis (if they do, it looks like a pretty good draft pick).
If they manage to get him, Reimer is probably the better goalie trade piece. We can retain part of his cap his and his actual salary is low (which is also a reason to keep him).
If we want to go super risky but cheap we would trade Mrazek and keep Reimer and Ned as a duo (making less than 2 million combined), but it would not be advisable.
I recommend to stand pat in goal, see how Ned develops next season and draft either Askarov or Jarvis, I would not trade away a lot to upgrade the pick to get Askarov, first round draft pick goalies have been very much a hit and miss in the past, perhaps more so than at any other position.
How will Ned develop as a third goalie here?
Here’s the blog about the unpredictability of the goalie slot:
https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=105637