'Added Twist' Revealed In Hurricanes' Reported Summer Offer Sheet Threat For Edvinsson

There had been rumors out there that the Detroit Red Wings' unsigned RFA Simon Edvinsson might have been targeted—or at least, 'threatened'—with an offer sheet this past summer. Elliotte Friedman has revealed on Sportsnet that it was the Carolina Hurricanes, and it came with an 'added twist'—they weren't intending to keep him. 

Carolina, which has a history of threatening offer sheets, did so with Edvinsson. My understanding is it was right around July 1, and may have contained an added twist: they were going to trade him to a third team. Obviously, that didn’t happen, and I have no information (if) this was re-visited any time after Detroit’s GM change.

He added on The Fan Hockey Show that Carolina "was kind of waving the offer sheet at Edvinsson," and they had another trade target on another team specifically in mind. Acquiring the Red Wings RFA on that offer sheet would have been the first step of that process.

The Hurricanes had their own sticky situation with a restricted free agent defenseman to deal with over the course of the offseason. Alexander Nikishin, coming off a strong rookie season, was looking for a big contract that the Canes weren't interested in providing. But he had no leverage without any arbitration rights, and he wasn't eligible for an offer sheet. In the end, he was forced to sign a one-year deal with Carolina for $3 million for the rest of this year, essentially putting off his big extension prize to next summer when he'll be an RFA again, but this time with arbitration rights as well as being offer sheet-able.

For now, it doesn't seem like the Hurricanes are a major player in the Edvinsson sweepstakes any longer. But we should never assume to know what GM Eric Tulsky has up his sleeve.