One Carolina Hurricanes Trade Deadline A Recurring Dream’

The trade deadline is rapidly approaching and for the NHL it becomes a busy time of year. The Carolina Hurricanes certainly have trade deadline needs like most others. Teams have their sights set on fine-tuning their squads for a playoff run or recouping assets in an attempt to build for the future. The ones in the murky middle find themselves in the trickiest spot. But the Carolina Hurricanes are fortunate enough to have another year where they are looking to make the playoffs (even though nothing is guaranteed) and should be in the buyer category. How much of a buyer they will be is another question.

Fans and analysts like to theorize about what they need and should do, but what they actually will do is up to management. At this trade deadline, there are a few pieces Carolina could look to add, but there is one that many argue is a top priority that has been that way for what feels like the last few years. This is a true goal-scoring, difference-making forward. But is that actually the case compared to years prior?

The Carolina Hurricanes Trade Deadline Outlook

If you are familiar with this song, raise your hand. Over the past few years, the Hurricanes have adopted a style that emphasises a strong man-to-man defence, a vigorous forecheck, minimising the opposition’s shot total, and barrage the opposing goalkeeper with shots, many of which are from defensemen at the point. They typically lead the league in shots and shooting differential during that time, as well as in advanced stats like Corsi, Fenwick, and anticipated goals.

The flip side to this quantity-over-quality approach has been their low actual goals scored compared to expected. The easy remark is to say “Well they don’t score goals.” That hasn’t exactly been true. It’s just that they haven’t scored enough in relation to expected. This brings up a big question over time of whether it is a product of the system or if it is a product of the players. It might be some of both, but as the deadline approaches, most focus on the player side. But first, let’s look at some of these metrics this year to see what’s going on.