Here's how the Hurricanes roster might look on opening night

By Adam Gold, 99.9 The Fan host

The first draft of the Tom Dundon era begins tonight, oddly enough, in his own backyard. Wait, let me clarify that a bit. It’s in Dallas, where the majority owner of the Carolina Hurricanes makes his home. And while the NHL could literally hold their annual selection meeting in Dundon’s backyard, it will actually be conducted at American Airlines Arena, home of the Dallas Stars.

Still, tonight will be the official start of the next iteration of Canes hockey. Not because every year is a new story to be written, but because the 2018-19 season signifies a new owner, management structure, general manager and head coach. It is also supposed to be the first season with a change in culture. However, to this point, the roster is made up of the same players, save for a few of the unrestricted free agents who are not expected to be retained.

As of June 22, Carolina’s only significant roster move was the trade of Marcus Kruger to Arizona for Jordan Martinook, a deal that, on it’s own, won’t likely put an end to the Hurricanes’ nine-year postseason drought. There are restricted free agents (Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Trevor van Riemsdyk, etc.,) to sign, decisions on free agents (Derek Ryan, Cam Ward, Joakim Nordstrom, etc.) to contemplate and trades to ponder. The puzzle General Manager Don Waddell has to solve is which of the team’s young, NHL-ready players are ready and able to help engineer the type of play that will be demanded by new head coach Rod Brind’Amour.

So with only hours to go before the Canes rush their card up to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and select Andrei Svechnikov, here’s a breakdown of the Hurricanes roster, as I view it. Keep in mind first that until trades are completed we can only base this on the players on hand. I will assume that restricted free agents will sign until we know otherwise. Next, remember that the team can only carry 23 players though will likely carry just one or two healthy extras during the season.

Key: #=Restricted Free Agent; *=Rookie; ^=Not yet drafted

Center

Jordan Staal, Elias Lindholm#, Martin Necas*, Lucas Wallmark#, Aleksi Saarela*, Victor Rask and Nicolas Roy

If I was listing this by top lines, I might flip Staal and Lindholm as I’m guessing that Elias is a better bet to play with Sebastian Aho and Tuevo Teravainen. Of course, that’s also assuming that it’s Lindy and not Aho that lines up in the middle. Necas is almost certain to be a part of the NHL group unless he’s either injured or has a dreadful training camp. I’m guessing that, barring a trade, it will be Wallmark and Saarela competing for the final slot in Carolina. Roy is still developing, and needs to be able to show some stretches of dominance in the American Hockey League before he challenges for an NHL job.

As for Rask, well, he either has to return from the summer a different player or the Hurricanes have some difficult decisions to make. The $16 million still owed to him is an albatross, and the hope is maybe to swap bad contracts with another team. I’ve long suggested that Ottawa’s Bobby Ryan would be a great return in a trade of eye-popping remaining salary (owed $30 million over next four years), but in Ryan, the Canes could get a useful player with a big body who probably just needs new surroundings.

As I wrote last week, Derek Ryan would be an ideal healthy extra for this team as he could fill a lot of holes in case of injury, but I’m not sure the team is going to go higher than the minimum salary for someone to sit around and watch.

Prediction: Staal, Lindholm, Necas, Wallmark and Rask.

Left Wing

Sebastian Aho, Jeff Skinner, Brock McGinn, Warren Foegele*, Valentin Zykov*, Janne Kuokkanen*, Saku Maenalanen*

I’m assuming that Aho stays on the wing for another season, though I do think Brind’Amour will give him plenty of time in the middle during the preseason. Sebastian will turn 21 at the end of next month and will no doubt transition to center at some point, maybe sooner than later. Skinner has been dangled as trade bait for two months and I fully expect him to be moved at some point. But Waddell is smart to demand a lot for the former Calder Trophy winner. Thirty-goal scorers don’t fall from the sky. But just the fact that Carolina — a team that leans towards offensively-challenged — is so openly shopping Jeff around the league is a red flag all by itself. If he’s here, I’d guess Brind’Amour can tap into his pride a little more consistently than did Bill Peters.

McGinn is a bonafide NHL energy winger with talent. Foegele looks like a big, fast, talented kid who can kill penalties and score in tight and Zykov is the rugged, physical, net-front presence this team has craved for years. If Skinner is dealt, the left side will be pretty young, but not without some potential, though Zykov’s defense is a problem. Kuokkanen and Maenalanen are talented, but still developing players.

Prediction: Aho, Skinner, McGinn and Foegele.

Right Wing

Teuvo Teravainen, Justin Williams, Andrei Svechnikov^, Jordan Martinook, Phil DiGiuseppe#, Julien Gauthier*, Morgan Geekie*

I recently saw Teravainen’s name in trade rumors, but I can’t see the Hurricanes dealing Turbo coming off a 60-point season with his current salary, unless it’s a massive trade that frees the organization of another contract (see, Rask or Scott Darling). Tuevo’s chemistry with Aho is obvious and I’d be hesitant to break that duo up unless it’s completely necessary. Williams is the next captain of the Hurricanes, whether Justin Faulk is traded or not, even though it wouldn’t be a surprise to see his ice time trimmed back just a bit as he’ll start the season as a 37-year old player. You should be in his shape at 37.

Yes, they haven’t yet drafted Svechnikov, but they will and he’ll be in the line up on Oct. 4 when the Islanders come to PNC Arena. Jordan Martinook is a solid, fourth-line forward who is probably the safer play, but that last spot would likely come down to which DiGiuseppe shows up during the preseason. Phil’s ceiling is significantly higher and he closed the year a much more confident player. We’ll see what kind of carry over there is from April to September, providing the team signs the restricted free agent.

Gauthier and Geekie are products of the 2016 draft. The former, the 21st overall selection, struggled through most of his first professional season. The latter dominated in his final year in the WHL. They’ll both probably be in Charlotte to continue earning their way to the NHL.

Prediction: Teravainen, Williams, Svechnikov, DiGiuseppe and Martinook

Left Defense

Jaccob Slavin, Noah Hanifin#, Haydn Fleury, Trevor Carrick*, Jake Bean*

Slavin received one fifth-place vote in the league’s Norris Trophy voting last night. To me, this is significant not because he deserved it — frankly, I don’t think he was one of the five best defensemen in the league and he certainly wasn’t as good last year as he was the year before. No, this is about establishing himself as one of those players which often begins with simple recognition. Slavin was better, offensively, in 2017-18. It might be completely necessary that he continues that progression next year as the rumors of trades from this group abound.

Hanifin is one of those players rumored to be on the move, but 21-year old talents like Noah don’t fall of trucks at your doorstep. It would take a hefty price to let the Boston College product leave town. Fleury was at times good, at times bad and at times indifferent. In other words, a rookie defenseman who was a former top-10 pick. Trevor Carrick is a solid, young player who might end up in the mix, based on deals and Jake Bean will start his pro career in the minors, but the 13th overall pick in 2016 bears watching when the prospects convene in Raleigh next week.

Prediction: Slavin, Hanifin, Fleury and Carrick.

Right Defense

Brett Pesce, Justin Faulk, Trevor van Riemsdyk#, Roland McKeown*, Michael Fora*

Pesce’s season ended with a shoulder injury that was reportedly going to require surgery, but was ultimately avoided. That’s either a good thing or a bad thing as you just hope that it’s not something that will linger into the next season. Brett has another step to take to justify his 6-year contract, but he’s a steady, reliable player who compliments Slavin incredibly well. Growing offensively is the next step for him as they might need a right-handed shot from the point if they trade Faulk.

There are reasons to move on from one of last year’s co-captains and there are reasons for Waddell and friends to keep him around. The pro-Faulk column starts with, “do you see that bomb of a shot he’s got from the point?” Really, unless Carolina can replace that shot — as best they can, anyway — then they should be very careful how they proceed. In addition, can’t imagine Faulk’s value has been lower in years considering how turrbl (Charles Barkley voice) his season was. Not only did Justin carry a minus-26 rating (getting sick emoji), but after averaging 16 goals per over the last three seasons Faulk plummeted to just 8 in 2018-19. And, when you consider that five of Faulk’s goals came in two games, that means he only scored in five of his 76 games a year ago.

The reasons to move on are, I guess, intangible. Like Skinner, Faulk has been here a long time, and while it might not be fair, there hasn’t been a lot of winning, so that’s as good a place to start if you really want to make a statement about culture. That shot, though.

As for the rest of the right side of the defense, van Riemsdyk is a restricted free agent and was a pleasant surprise. He seems a perfect fit on the 3rd defensive pairing, which could be impacted by the aforementioned decision regarding Faulk. Beyond van Riemsdyk, there’s McKeown, who played a handful of games a year ago and Fora, the newly-signed blue liner from Switzerland. He helped his country to the gold medal match at the World Championships in Denmark as part of a defensive group that held high-scoring opponents Finland and Canada to a total of four goals in the knockout portion of the tournament.

Pesce, Faulk and van Riemsdyk.

Goaltending

Scott Darling, Alex Nedeljkovic*, Callum Booth*, Jeremy Helvig*

Welp.

If this is the group, the Hurricanes will not contend for the playoffs this year. End. Of. Story. But I can’t fathom a scenario where that is the group so we’ll make this short and sweet. Darling was given a big contract and handed the crease as a result. I’m not saying he didn’t earn his contract, his performance in Chicago as the backup goalie on a Stanley Cup championship club was worthy of that confidence on its face. However, there was nothing remotely meritorious about how he was gifted the job. The proper thing to do would have been to have him earn the job through his performance here.

Alas, that is not what happened, and after starting the season out of shape (which is another discussion entirely), he never gained his footing and his play suffered. Statistically speaking, Darling was the worst goaltender in the league among those who could reasonably be considered starters.

Nedeljkovic had a good year in 2017-18, but isn’t close to being ready to challenge for the net at this point and figures to stay in Charlotte barring Injuries. Booth and Helvig are further away, but Helvig had a really good year in juniors and could be the more intriguing prospect down the road.

As for the best goaltender in Hurricanes history, just can’t see Cam Ward in the mix as long as Darling is still here. But the free agent pool isn’t very deep beyond the 30-ish Carter Hutton and Jonathan Bernier, who are both good, but it’s hard to trust either of them as viable number one options. Washington has been rumored to be interested in dealing Philipp Grubauer, but he was chased early as a starter at the beginning of the Capitals Stanley Cup run, so there are some questions about the 26-year old from Germany as well.

Prediction: None of the above? They’ll have two goalies, that’s for sure.

That’s 14 forwards, 7 defensemen and a pair of goalies to be named later (fingers crossed).

See you at the prospect camp next week, cool?