Smolar: Hurricanes moves in free agency plentiful and expected

When a team finishes with the third most points in the NHL while also qualifying for the playoffs six years in a row, the traditional thought is that there’s not much to change with the team since they are always so competitive. Usually when a team has had a sustained period of success but repeatedly falls short in the postseason the goal is to add a couple more pieces to get themselves over the hump once and for all, not to undergo significant change. The situation the Carolina Hurricanes found themselves in this offseason has been interesting to say the least.

During the playoff streak the Hurricanes have yet to reach a Stanley Cup Final. They have made it to the conference finals twice in 2019 and 2023 but have also lost in the second round three times and in the first round once. Clearly something is there but some additions have to be made.

When Eric Tulsky was permanently named the general manager, he admitted that there were going to be challenges to tackle over the summer. Carolina had a lengthy list of free agents, a number of whom were key contributors last season.

After the first couple of days of free agency, it doesn’t look like Tulsky’s job is going to get any easier. Due to the salary cap, the Hurricanes have already lost Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce among others. That is undeniably a lot of playmaking, scoring and important defensive pieces leaving the team.

In an attempt to fill some of these holes, Carolina added Shayne Gostisbehere, Sean Walker, William Carrier and Tyson Jost among others to modest deals while also re-signing Jaccob Slavin and Jordan Martinook. No matter how you look at it this team will look a lot different next season.

The harsh reality that Tulsky faced in his first summer as general manager is that they were going to lose good players no matter what. They simply had too many players hitting the open market and not enough money to give everyone what they were going to command in free agency. That being said, Tulsky is still doing a solid job keeping Carolina afloat.

This is a team that narrowly fell to the Presidents Trophy winning New York Rangers in the second round this past spring. They still have enough talent to compete with anyone in the NHL and are by no means in rebuilding mode, they simply have to retool a little bit. With still the entire summer to make more signings and trades, the team as presently constructed will not be the one that takes the ice in October.

That being said, Carolina still has work to do. They have certainly made at least an effort to address the defensive losses but still have to fill the offensive holes left by Guentzel’s and Teravainen’s departures. With many of the top forwards like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Patrick Kane and Jeff Skinner already finding new homes, possible solutions are dwindling quickly. Throw in their own remaining free agents and Tulsky still has some key decisions to make.

If there’s one thing Tulsky made clear in his opening press conference it was that he didn’t sign up for an easy job. So far his job has been far from easy. Still, he is doing a good job at attempting to fill holes as they appear within a reasonable price range. With a team looking to win now undergoing significant change, he will continue to have his work cut out for him.