Speculation: What center should Carolina go after?

[Meeqs]

This is a tough question as centers are really tough to come by and cost a lot. With where Car is at I can't think of anyone who would be a great fit and I'd probably hold onto my picks and try and draft one.

You could look at the best available centers but after skinner I'm unsure at how much I trust the trade acumen of Cars GM

 

[Fogelhund]

I think one of Marner/Nylander in a 1 for 1 is a more realistic value in a 1 for 1 trade. Pesce is locked up long term and is an average top 2 pairing defensive guy.

Leafs fan, I'd do Nylander for Pesce.

 

[ManofSteel55]

They don't need a 1C, they have Aho coming on for that. Staal is a capable 2C. Give them some scoring wingers to work with and pray that their goalies can make a save, and the Hurricanes would get a lot better.

Anyone they could get will cost too much, so just stay the course, and try to trade Faulk for an upgrade on the wing.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

They don't need a 1C, they have Aho coming on for that. Staal is a capable 2C. Give them some scoring wingers to work with and pray that their goalies can make a save, and the Hurricanes would get a lot better.

Anyone they could get will cost too much, so just stay the course, and try to trade Faulk for an upgrade on the wing.

If Aho and Necas pan out, you are exactly right. That said, I still think Aho might be better suited for winger even if he can play C. I guess with Rask being injured, we're going to find out.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Why not TJ for Faulk?

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Why not TJ for Faulk?

I really can't see any way TJ waives his NMC to go from a clear cup contender to the Canes. I'm also not a huge fan of Johnson, but my reasons for not being a fan of him probably aren't that rational so I won't debate value. (it's probably pretty fair value).

 

[BatVader]

Justin Faulk for Tyler Johnson makes the most sense to me

Tampa lost out on the Karlsson sweepstakes and still gets an offensive RHD

The Canes have a big 2 way C in Staal, and get a shifty offensive center in Johnson to boost the offence

This.
Whether or not the Canes could talk Tampa into it is debatable, but with SY no longer making the decisions, they have a shot.
But this does make sense both ways.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

This.
Whether or not the Canes could talk Tampa into it is debatable, but with SY no longer making the decisions, they have a shot.

TJ has a full NTC. So they'd not only need to talk Tampa into it, Tampa would need to talk Johnson into leaving a surefire cup contender to go play for a bottom dweller. I find that to be very unlikely.

 

[AndreRoy]

Why not TJ for Faulk?

1. TJ won’t waive for Carolina.
2. Faulk only has two more years left on his deal.
3. Where would we play Faulk? He’s a defensive liability so we don’t want him on the top pairing making Hedman have to worry about covering for him (and in any event there’s no way he kicks Stralman out of that spot this season.) Unless Sergachev regresses in a big way we also don’t want Faulk blocking him from moving up to the second pairing and thereby continuing his development. We could put Faulk on the third pairing but if the plan is to finally give Koekkoek a chance to prove himself we’d be better off with the more defensively reliable Girardi as his partner; likewise if Coburn continues his drop off the cliff from last season. Besides, do we really want to spend a good top six forward just to upgrade our bottom pairing for a couple years?
4. The vast majority of Faulk’s production is on the power play where we already have Hedman and Sergachev on the two units. So any gain we might expect from the addition of Faulk has to be weighed against the loss of production by one of those two defensemen; in the end we might see only a small net gain or possibly even none at all. And when we’re talking about a guy who contributes relatively little production at even strength and certainly doesn’t make our unit stronger defensively, that’s a big deal.

In short I think a trade for Faulk would have made a lot more sense if we didn’t already have Sergachev, but as things stand Serg is likely to give us similar offensive production while possibly even being better defensively if he continues to build on his playoff performance, and if that is indeed the case then all a trade for Faulk would do would be to upgrade our bottom pairing - not our top four. Maybe we can consider trading for Faulk at the TDL if Serg proves not to be ready for a top four role or if Girardi has completely fallen off a cliff and Cernak hasn’t succeeded in his place, but even then I’m not sure he’s the defenseman we should be targeting given that our real need for a RD will be for a defensively reliable partner for Hedman in 2019 (and even then only if Cernak and Foote aren’t ready.)

 

[CupsOverCash]

1. TJ won’t waive for Carolina.
2. Faulk only has two more years left on his deal.
3. Where would we play Faulk? He’s a defensive liability so we don’t want him on the top pairing making Hedman have to worry about covering for him (and in any event there’s no way he kicks Stralman out of that spot this season.) Unless Sergachev regresses in a big way we also don’t want Faulk blocking him from moving up to the second pairing and thereby continuing his development. We could put Faulk on the third pairing but if the plan is to finally give Koekkoek a chance to prove himself we’d be better off with the more defensively reliable Girardi as his partner; likewise if Coburn continues his drop off the cliff from last season. Besides, do we really want to spend a good top six forward just to upgrade our bottom pairing for a couple years?
4. The vast majority of Faulk’s production is on the power play where we already have Hedman and Sergachev on the two units. So any gain we might expect from the addition of Faulk has to be weighed against the loss of production by one of those two defensemen; in the end we might see only a small net gain or possibly even none at all. And when we’re talking about a guy who contributes relatively little production at even strength and certainly doesn’t make our unit stronger defensively, that’s a big deal.

In short I think a trade for Faulk would have made a lot more sense if we didn’t already have Sergachev, but as things stand Serg is likely to give us similar offensive production while possibly even being better defensively if he continues to build on his playoff performance, and if that is indeed the case then all a trade for Faulk would do would be to upgrade our bottom pairing - not our top four. Maybe we can consider trading for Faulk at the TDL if Serg proves not to be ready for a top four role or if Girardi has completely fallen off a cliff and Cernak hasn’t succeeded in his place, but even then I’m not sure he’s the defenseman we should be targeting given that our real need for a RD will be for a defensively reliable partner for Hedman in 2019 (and even then only if Cernak and Foote aren’t ready.)

Yea Sergachev will get that first crack at the top 4 RHD spot. Just thought it would cap effective because we will need some soon and also need some vet presence at RHD if Stralman walks next year. Its not guarantee that we get Karlsson.

 

[BatVader]

TJ has a full NTC. So they'd not only need to talk Tampa into it, Tampa would need to talk Johnson into leaving a surefire cup contender to go play for a bottom dweller. I find that to be very unlikely.

I didn’t know TJ had an NTC.
Guess that’s that then

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

IMHO, they should be going for a goaltender before a center.

Canes fans will love Mrazek one game, then want him gone the next.

And it won't be their fault. That's just him.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

IMHO, they should be going for a goaltender before a center.

Canes fans will love Mrazek one game, then want him gone the next.

And it won't be their fault. That's just him.

I just don't think that's feasible at all though. They tried to trade for Grubauer and WSH wanted him out of the division. Who's going to trade a worthwhile goalie right now?

 

[StreetHawk]

Duchene.

Canes admitted he would have been in the team, but the lack of term and players involved was the problem. Sens might be more flexible on the return.

Carolina didn’t want to risk him not signing with the team. Now that he can sign one immediately, they can ask to negotiate with him prior to finalizing a trade.

Ottawa would target youth.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Just roll with Aho as the 1C. He’s had a lot of success playing center, won the FEL title centering the 1st line i believe and was the glue on that amazing top line in WJC. He already played some C in the NHL down the stretch last year and was one of the top scorers in WHC playing center for us.

Sure there’s a learning curve but i think the timing is right. While Svechnikov develops and gets his feet wet Aho can learn the C position in the small rink and couple years from now those two could be dynamite.

Sucks that Rask is out but i think there’s a silver lining in that they’re going to have to let Aho play C. He’s a natural C and has all the qualities you want. Good passer, shifty skater, high work ethic and solid at stripping pucks.

As far as the bottom 6 goes there’s Necas, Wallmark and i believe Martinook has played 4C in Arizona.

I think they’ll manage until Rask returns.

 

[Moosetache]

From Ottawa; Duchene, Stone, Ryan
From Carolina; Faulk, Jake Bean, 2019 1st, conditional picks dependent on Duchene/Stone resigning.

Uh, where do I sign up for this one?

 

[God King Fudge]

Uh, where do I sign up for this one?

I was gonna make a snarky comment about cap space, but holy **** does Carolina have a lot of capspace.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I was gonna make a snarky comment about cap space, but holy **** does Carolina have a lot of capspace.

Cap space yes. Owner willing to fill that cap space? TBD

 

[bluedevil58]

I was gonna make a snarky comment about cap space, but holy **** does Carolina have a lot of capspace.

Yeah. Glorious new owner is a big spender and committed to winning. That is why the team salary is so high.

 

[Jay haller]

TVR for Toews (50% retained), 2019 and 2020 1sts

 

[spockBokk]

TVR for Toews (50% retained), 2019 and 2020 1sts

Um...so CHI is adding firsts? Sure, deal. TVR for the Norris.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Just roll with Aho as the 1C. He’s had a lot of success playing center, won the FEL title centering the 1st line i believe and was the glue on that amazing top line in WJC. He already played some C in the NHL down the stretch last year and was one of the top scorers in WHC playing center for us.

I thought he was a winger the year they won the FEL title. In fact, I thought he was predominately a winger both his draft year and post draft (someone with more insight would have to say for sure).

He did play C and WJC and WHC though.

He'll get a chance to play center to start this year.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

Nick Shore

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I thought he was a winger the year they won the FEL title. In fact, I thought he was predominately a winger both his draft year and post draft (someone with more insight would have to say for sure).

He did play C and WJC and WHC though.

He'll get a chance to play center to start this year.

Yeah i was way off, first i thought his post-draft year was the year he won the title which wasn't the case, and apparently he did play W for the most part.

I think i caught some games where they played him at C and then it stuck in my head.

Oh well, i still think he'll be fine as a C as long as they give him the time.

 

[thadd]

Who could Carolina acquire in exchange for Faulk, prospects, and/or a 1st round pick?

Nylander.... ?