What’s next for the Carolina Hurricanes?

The Carolina Hurricanes just had their best season in franchise history.

They posted a 36-12-8 record and finished just a few points back of winning the Presidents’ Trophy. Unfortunately for them, they ran into the juggernaut Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the playoffs and got bounced in five games.

Where do they go from here?

The Hurricanes have a big off-season ahead of them. @Dougie Hamilton, the team’s top defenceman, is set to hit free agency. So are two goaltenders, @James Remier and @Petr Mrazek, and some quality veteran forwards in @Brock McGinn and @Jordan Martinook. The Hurricanes also need to figure out a new contract for head coach and franchise legend Rod Brind’Amour.

It’s going to be a busy summer.

Another challenge the Canes are going to have to navigate is the Seattle Expansion Draft. The reality of being a good, deep team is that you can’t protect everyone and a quality player is going to become a member of the Seattle Kraken. Carolina could opt to trade from the blueline, a position of strength, and acquire players on entry-level deals or draft picks in order to avoid losing somebody like @Jake Bean for nothing.

The Canes could also consider trying to make a side deal with Seattle so that they take on a problematic contract. The one that sticks out is Jake Gardiner, who scored just eight points in an injury-riddled season in 2021. Gardiner is owed $4,050,000 for two more seasons and getting out from under his contract would make it much easier to keep Hamilton around.

Ultimately, 2021 was a success for Carolina despite only making it to the second round. This is a very strong and fairly young team and the key to growing into a Stanley Cup contender is keeping the band together.