The trade deadline came and went, and the Carolina Hurricanes did not make a single move, betting on their current crop to hit the big time.
"It was hard to sit by and watch as other teams were active in making moves to bolster their rosters, it kind of makes you want to get in there and do some trading too," Canes GM Jay Williams had to say about staying pat on Deadline Day.
The Canes cap situation was more than likely the reason for not participating in any last-minute moves as they have just over $1 million in space.
Carolina did make two upgrade moves a couple of days ahead of the deadline when they acquired star forward Tyler Seguin from the Washington Capitals and versatile 3rd liner Derek Ryan from the Maple Leafs.
The Seguin deal cost the Hurricanes a lot of futures, but the team is built to win now and Williams pushed a lot of chips into the pot to bring in the star forward. The Canes sent Denis Gurianov, Nolan Foote, a 1st and a 2nd to Washington in the exchange. Gurianov was having a career year for the Hurricanes and looks to get a good rerate come the offseason, while Nolan Foote is an up-and-coming star.
"I feel with (Taro) Hirose playing the way he is this year and having (Mason) Raymond both on the left wing with Foote, that Nolan was expendable in a move like this," Williams said. "Seguin will slot in on Tavares' wing to give a potent combo on the top line."
Derek Ryan was more of a utility move for the Canes to strengthen an already productive bottom six. The faceoff specialist will anchor the third line with Barclay Goodrow moving to wing with Brock McGinn. This will allow Warren Foegele to move down to the fourth line with Tomas Nosek and Boo Nieves.
Maxim Shalunov, who was brought up from the farm earlier in the season, will move to a healthy scratch and remain with the big club for the remainder of the season.
Carolina (80pts) currently sits in second place in the Metro behind the New Jersey Devils (82pts) and ahead of the last wild card spot in the East by 11 points. With less than 20 games to go in the season, the Canes look set to make their first appearance in the BEARD Hockey playoffs - and the fans are excited.
With the team set to look drastically different next season with so many free agents and possible retirements, the time to win is now.
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