Hurricanes Expected To Make Change Involving Dmitry Orlov

The Carolina Hurricanes made it back to the conference finals and were defeated again, but are moving forward. They are right there and should remain a Stanley Cup contender for years down the line, especially with some of the new blood that has been injected in their lineup recently.

Part of the change that is going to happen for the Hurricanes is regarding their defensive group. Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov's contracts both expire this year and James Mirtle reported that Orlov isn't expected back, despite the team having $28.4 million in projected cap space.

Orlov is 33 years old and teams will still look to target him in free agency and give him a 3-5 year contract. He had a rough playoffs, but has been a very stable top-4 defenseman throughout his career. His highlight may still be his short time as a Boston Bruin where he put up four goals and 17 points in 23 games to go along with a 66.7 goals for %.

It makes perfect sense that Carolina is going to let Orlov become a free agent as they overpaid him $7.75 million AAV for a two-year contract and now Alexander Nikishin and Scott Morrow have arrived. While both have one year left on their deals before becoming RFAs, the cap space and spots in the lineup have to be freed up for them who are very capable of playing in the NHL right now.

With Nikishin and Morrow in the lineup, the Hurricanes have six everyday defensemen. If they were to keep Orlov or even Burns, that would create unhappiness for one or more players. The best solution is to add a seventh and eighth defensemen, keep some cap space for the trade deadline, and sign the young players who need contracts. This could go very well for the Hurricanes and maybe their fortunes will change soon.