Gold: Contracts and acquisitions for the Hurricanes
Posted March 21, 2022 8:25 p.m. EDT
Updated March 22, 2022 10:01 a.m. EDT
Monday marked the NHL’s trade deadline. The last day in which teams could make trades to improve their teams for the playoff push. Or, in contrast, for those to deal away assets that might help them down the road.
All deals had to be into the league by 3 p.m. ET Monday in order to be approved, and the Carolina Hurricanes were in line to complete a trade that would net them former 20-goal scorer Max Domi from the Columbus Blue Jackets. We’ll explore that in a moment.
Around 3 p.m. Monday, something else happened and that something is far more significant for the now – and later – for the Hurricanes. They announced the signing of 21-year-old center Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an 8-year contract that will pay him an average of $4.82 million per season.
This summer, in the search for a young forward, the Canes zeroed in on Kotkaniemi, the third overall draft pick by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2018 draft that saw Carolina take Andrei Svechnikov second. Three years into his career, Kotkaniemi had yet to break through to Svechnikov's level and was having difficulty agreeing on a contract with Montreal.
In stepped the Hurricanes with a devious plan. They would sign the restricted free agent to an offer sheet – theoretically, one that the Canadiens could not match – and buy the player that Montreal didn’t want to trade to Carolina. Now, that maneuver comes at a cost, the Hurricanes forfeited their first- and third-round picks in this upcoming draft to Montreal as a result. But, based on where the Canes figured to be selecting, meaning the late stages of the first round, they gambled that trading late first- and third-round picks was worth it to get a 21-year-old, big-bodied player who just might center their second line for the next five-plus seasons.
This season looks like it will be Kotkaniemi’s best in the NHL in terms of goal-scoring. Even though he’s gone without a goal in his last 13 games – which puts him in a boat with a lot of his teammates that are fighting through it of late – Kotkaniemi’s 11 ties his career-high. And, with 20 games to go in the regular season, it’s a fair bet that he’ll get at least one more.
Not to oversell this contract one way or another, it’s really a gamble both ways. If Kotkaniemi doesn’t raise his production to the point where he’s in the 40- to 50-point range – think, 15 goals and 30 assists – then he’s overpaid and the Hurricanes are stuck with a long-term financial commitment. However, if Kotkaniemi fulfills his draft status and becomes a cornerstone player for your team and bumps that production up to where he’s a 60-point player the Carolina front office will have hit the jackpot having Kotkaniemi at less than $5 million per season until he’s in his 30s.
That was the best part of today’s festivities.
As for the acquisition of Max Domi, Carolina was looking for some forward help today and they acquired the former 28-goal scorer from Columbus as the centerpiece of a three-team deal. Because of financial constraints, the Blue Jackets will retain half of Domi’s $5.3 million salary cap charge. Carolina will send a college defenseman, Aiden Hreschuk, a 2021 third rounder who plays at Boston College, back to Columbus in the deal.
But wait, there’s more. The Hurricanes still needed more money siphoned off the deal so the Blue Jackets are shipping a sixth-round pick to Florida, the Panthers will swallow another 25% of the Domi contract and the Canes will send them the rights to 25-year-old Russian forward Egor Korshkov. Florida is kicking college defenseman Tyler Inamoto back to the Hurricanes. When the University of Wisconsin product’s season is over, the team can decide if it wants to sign him or allow him to become a free agent.
That’s a ton of moving parts for the Canes to take a flier on Domi, who has 9 goals on the year, but just 1 in his last 31 games. Domi,the son of legendary agitator Tie, is in his seventh NHL season, his second with the Jackets. The two previous seasons in Montreal, Domi combined for 45 goals and 116 points in 153 games played. That includes a 72 points season in 2018-19 in which Domi potted 28 goals and amassed 72 points.
His next year was a bit of a drop off, but Domi was still at 17 goals and 44 points through 71 games at the time the pandemic shut down sports. Domi’s only playoff experience was during the bubble hockey summer when he registered 3 assists in 10 postseason games.
He’s traveling to Raleigh on Tuesday and won’t be available for the game against Tampa. The earliest he could draw into the line up will be Thursday against the Dallas Stars.
As for where he’d slot into the line up, a full practice will give us an idea, but let’s explore this as a guess, at least until Jordan Martinook returns from his latest injury.
- Niederreiter-Aho-Teravainen
- Svechnikov-Trocheck-Jarvis
- Lorentz-Staal-Fast
- Domi-Kotkaniemi-Necas
Derek Stepan would resume the role of the healthy extra. But remember, the playoffs is a viscous grind and you will absolutely need all of the NHL depth you can grab onto. When Martinook returns, the guess is that he’d replace Lorentz assuming Domi is making his presence felt.
Tuesday night the Hurricanes will take a swing at snapping this four-game losing slide when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Yes, it’s always a fun time trying to bust out of a goal-scoring slump against the twice-defending Cup champs. The Bolts have added a couple of new pieces to the mix in forwards Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul that were acquired in deals with Chicago and Ottawa, respectively.
This will be the second of three meetings with the Lightning. The first came all the way back in November, a Carolina 2-1 win in Tampa. The Hurricanes trailed entering the third period until Teuvo Teravainen scored on the power play with 10 minutes left in regulation. Then it was Martin Necas’ third goal of the season, in overtime that gave Carolina the win. Let's hope there are positive vibes for the Canes' fourth-year winger who has scored just twice in his last 33 games.
Coverage begins on 99.9 the Fan at 6:30 p.m. with Storm Watch starring Alec Campbell. Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy follow with the live play-by-play just after 7:00. Make sure to follow the Canes Corner Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. A new episode drops the #MorningAfter every Hurricanes game.
