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Could adding a defenseman affect Hamilton's long-term future in Carolina?

February 22, 2020, 6:17 PM ET [10 Comments]
Ben Shelley
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
With Dougie Hamilton’s injury, the Carolina Hurricanes find themselves in a difficult situation. They’re currently battling for a playoff spot and according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, they’re open to adding a top-four, right-shot defenseman, who would preferably come with term.

Obviously the fact that they’re looking for a top-four, right-shot makes sense based on the injury, as the Hurricanes now clearly have a weak spot for the remainder of the year. But after that?

Something that catches my eye is “with term.” Why would the Hurricanes be looking to add a defenseman long-term if Hamilton and Brett Pesce are still around? Pesce is locked up for four more years and while Hamilton still has a year left on his deal, you’d have to imagine the Hurricanes will do everything they can to keep him after that, right? Before his injury, Hamilton was playing the best hockey of his career and at 26 years old, he’ll be a top defender in the league for a long time to come.

But if Carolina was willing to allocate the money to keep three right-shooting defensemen, who are all capable of playing top-four minutes, on the roster, which is the situation they’d be in should Hamilton and the newly acquired player start next season with the Hurricanes, wouldn’t they have just re-signed Justin Faulk? Of course, one defenseman could always play his off-side though and we don’t know how much term is ideal in this hypothetical scenario. Jeff Petry was a name LeBrun used and he'd only come with one extra year remaining on his contract.

It does make me a bit curious as to how far the Hurricanes will go in trying to lock Hamilton up long-term, if this really is their ideal deadline target. If they’re able to add a top-four right-shot defenseman who comes with term, maybe they’d make a similar move to what we saw with Faulk this season and flip Hamilton before the deadline next year.


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Hurricanes need more secondary scoring

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