Tough Decisions Ahead in Carolina

After losing to Montreal in round 1, the Canes look ahead to the off-season

The Hurricanes have been a perennial playoff team since GM Mike Giletto took over in 2015., only missing the playoffs once (2019-2020) in the 10 year span. However it’s been filled with a lot of playoff failures, only reaching the Eastern Conference Finals once,  losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2022. This year was no different as it was a quick exit for the Canes, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in 5 games in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and it is all but disappointment in Carolina.

The Hurricanes now stand at a crossroads. Which direction will they take? Let’s dive a little deeper.

The Hurricanes have never been a seller in Mike Giletto’s tenure, always competing and trying to get the best talent in the league. But now that might come back to haunt them. They’re an aging team, with no real “blue chip” prospect, and very little draft picks.

When looking at the contract situation; JG Pageau, Chandler Stephenson, Jaccob Slavin, Jeff Perry, Zemgus Girgensons and Ilya Samsonov are all pending Unrestricted Free Agents, while recent Hart Trophy winner Nathan Mackinnon and long time Hurricanes Brayden Point and Vincent Trocheck are all set to be UFAs next off-season.

When the Hurricanes acquired Nathan Mackinnon, it was widely suggested that the window of competing would be open until Mackinnon hits free agency, but with the lack of playoff success, and the lack of a real future in Carolina, the question becomes what will the Hurricanes front office do?

They’ve never been in this situation before, but do they hold onto players like Mackinnon, Point, Trocheck for “One Last Dance”, or with the amount of players they’re losing this off-season, do they sell off those pieces instead of losing them for nothing next July?

It largely depends on the offers they receive, but either way it will be one interesting summer in Carolina.