Carolina Hurricanes
Hurricanes Trade for John Carlson, But With an Expensive and Risky Catch
The Carolina Hurricanes traded for John Carlson, but with no guarantee he’ll sign. His ask is also quite high, according to reports.
The Carolina Hurricanes made a trade with the Anaheim Ducks to acquire John Carlson on Saturday. The pending UFA has told the Ducks he won’t be back, preferring to play out east. The defending Stanley Cup champions see Carlson as a solid fit and wanted to jump the line and talk to Carlson ahead of free agency on July 1.
However, there’s a catch.
According to NHL insider Chris Johnston, “There’s no pre-arranged deal in place for John Carlson with Carolina. The Hurricanes just bought an early chance to speak with the pending UFA before the market opens Wednesday.”
In other words, they’re taking a risk that he’d be open to signing. They don’t know that he will. They’re just hoping to persuade him in the few days they have before he opens up the bidding to any other team. The Hurricanes gave up a 2026 6th Round Pick (No. 192 – Noah Kosick) and Kyle Masters to find out.
Hurricanes AGM Darren Yorke said of the trade: “As Eric [Tulsky] mentioned last night, we’re always trying to get better and a move like that is no different. Just trying to make sure that we are always in a position to look at every opportunity to try and get better.”
How Much Will It Cost to Sign Carlson?
According to Pierre LeBrun, the minimum entry point for signing Carlson, whether with the Hurricanes or another NHL team, is two years at $10 million. He writes, “There are other teams with interest who still want to get involved on July 1 if Carolina doesn’t sign Carlson before then. Tampa? Boston? Philly? Having said that, the Cup champs I think are on a list of 4-5 teams of interest to Carlson.”
How close to that number will the Hurricanes be willing to go? What they can offer that no one else can is the fact they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Maybe that doesn’t matter. If Carlson is looking at another team, the Hurricanes took a shot for nothing. Tampa Bay had been considered the runaway favorite to sign Carlson. If he wants to go there, he can just wait until July 1. One would then assume they’ll pivot torward trying to trade for Zach Werenski.
Next: Did a Red Wings Star Hint at Joining the Maple Leafs and Gavin McKenna?
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