RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The NHL draft begins on Friday, but the real fireworks as far as the Carolina Hurricanes are concerned could start on Tuesday when the free agent market begins.
“If there is a premium goal scorer that we can get, we’re going to try and bring him in,” said Carolina Hurricanes General Manager Eric Tulsky.
Mitch Marner is the biggest fish on the market and the former Toronto star will be the target of every organization with the cap space to sign him, including Carolina. Marner will command upwards of $14 million a year and the Canes, with close to $30 million in cap space, can certainly pay that.
“We’re not going to make a move just for the sake of making a move, that goes without saying but if there’s any chance to get better, we’re going to take it,” said Tulsky. “We have the full buy-in to spend to the cap if there are ways to do it to get better. We have so much space and such a strong team there are no guarantees we can find ways to spend all that money but we’re going to spend all summer trying.”
Signing Marner is not a long shot but Carolina is by no means the favorite to ink him. Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Dallas appear to be the three teams most linked to his landing spot. For Dallas to sign Marner, though, the Stars would most likely have to part with Jason Robertson to free up cap space. Carolina has plenty of capital to offer in a trade for a guy who scored 35 goals and tallied 80 points a year ago.
“The picks and the prospects can help us by producing players in the future, they can help us by being used in trades to bring in players that help us now,” said Tulsky. “We are open to everything, it’s just a question of what the best path forward is and what opportunities we see in front of us.
The Canes’ window of opportunity is now so trading for proven talent is a must. But at what price? The Canes have six first-round picks over the next four years that they could deal. And would they consider trading some of their top prospects like Jackson Blake, Scott Morrow or Bradly Nadeau? Apparently, everything is on the table.
“Until we have the 20 best players in the league, there’s still room to get better,” said Tulsky.