Hurricanes' Top Trade Candidate To Be Used In Larger Trade

The Carolina Hurricanes are in a very unique position where they are well below the salary cap, are a top team in the East and the NHL, and have plenty of assets to spend to upgrade and get over the hump on the way to a Stanley Cup. With all the cap space, they don't necessarily need to trade anyone out to bring in a gamechanger, but they still can.

It appears as though that is the plan for Jesperi Kotkaniemi as David Pagnotta said, "I don't see Carolina trying to dump him off. I think they've been trying to include him in a trade where they can upgrade in another area."

Given that statement, that means that the Hurricanes may be looking to use Kotkaniemi in a deal to either upgrade goaltending, defense, or both. Given the way Frederik Andersen has played this season, Brandon Bussi cooling off a bit, and Pyotr Kochetkov done for the season, there is a need in net to solidify their crease for a playoff run.

When the defense is healthy, it is a strong group, but that hasn't been the case for much time at all this season. This could be a concern moving forward and something the Hurricanes want to address and get ahead of.

In both of these areas, the most likely outcome is that the Hurricanes are looking at rentals because they are mostly set for the future. They haven't necessarily not liked the play of many or any of their players outside of Kotkaniemi, but seeing as his cap hit is higher than most teams would like and the Hurricanes have so much to spare, there could be a situation where Carolina retains a bit to get a deal done. The 25-year-old still has four years left on his deal at $4.82 million AAV.

The destination for Kotkaniemi that isn't mentioned by Pagnotta, but has been brought up in the media, is part of a return for a top-6 center/elite player that the Hurricanes will also be targeting before the trade deadline this season.