As the clock ticked closer and closer to 3 pm on Friday afternoon a handful of Hurricanes fans reached for the panic button. The comment “We’re the third best team in the Metro!” was easy to find on Hurricanes’ social media. Metropolitan Division foes the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils both added major pieces.
Patrick Kane who will stand in history as the finest American-born player in NHL history joined the Rangers alongside Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasemko would have been a major acquisition in his own right. Paired with Kane the Rangers have elevated themselves to Stanley Cup contenders. Across the river, the New Jersey Devils who’ve nipped at Carolina’s heels for first in the division added Timo Meier.
Carolina’s front office led by General Manager Don Waddell didn’t stay silent. From the Edmonton Oilers, Carolina added Jesse Puljujarvi on the right wing. And Shayne Gostisbehere on the blueline from Arizona. Both moves were seen as underwhelming by portions of the fan base that wanted to see Waddell push some chips to the center of the table and acquire a player who they believed could help the Hurricanes finish more of their scoring opportunities.
Bo Horvat, Timo Meier, and even Patrick Kane were identified as targets by Canes management. “You never know what you’re bidding against,” Waddell said thirty minutes after the deadline passed on Friday afternoon. “You can only put your best foot forward. Which we did.”
Waddell acknowledged his disappointment at missed opportunities. “It’s always disappointing when you go after players. But, it’s also a reality that you’re not going to get everybody you want.”
Waddell had been open about his reluctance to trade a member of the Hurricanes’ current roster. In terms of gambling with the team’s future assets, Waddell remained conservative. Protecting the team’s top prospects and high draft picks.
Early in the season, Waddell hoped to avoid any major moves at the deadline. Instead, he hoped Max Pacioretty could solve the team’s scoring problem after returning from the team’s injury reserve in January. Saving the organization from paying the premium for an in-season transaction. “I’ve always said you try to build your team the best you can in the summer.” He said. When Pacioretty reinjured his Achilles two weeks to the day after his return Waddell had to go back to the drawing board.
“We aren’t going to pay a ransom price for a short-term result,” Waddell said. “There are a lot of good teams that aren’t going to win a round this year and that’s just the way playoff hockey goes.”
When asked by Spectrum Sports reporter Mike Solarte if the organization thought New York and New Jersey made moves to try and match Boston or Carolina, Waddell revealed a lot about how the organization thinks when it comes to deadline moves. “You pay attention to what’s going on, but you don’t react,” Waddell replied. “You go in with what you feel is your strategy and needs and stick to it. Don’t get caught up with what other teams are doing.”
Don’t let me fool you. Waddell is happy with the pieces he picked up. If he didn’t he wouldn’t have traded for them in the first place. “Making a trade just for the sake of making a trade is not what we do here,” Waddell said.
24-year-old Jesse Puljujarvi has struggled since being selected fourth overall by the Oilers in 2016. Waddell believes he has untapped potential. “It’s a guy we kind of talked about for about a year,” Waddell said. Puljujarvi has yet to join the team due to a visa issue. Waddell expected his debut early next week.
Shayne Gostisbehere made his Hurricanes debut Friday against his former team the Arizona Coyotes. He scored a power-play goal for his trouble. “We have the 23rd-best power play in the league or 8th-worst. However you want to look at it,” Waddell said. “We really needed to address that. With Ghost [Shayne Gostisbehere] I think we did.”
Waddell also addressed concerns over his choice not to spend to the cap. “You want to leave yourself some room,” Waddell said. “To make sure guys like [Jake] Drury get a chance. If we need to bring up Kochetkov. We have cap space to do that. – You have to make sure you have enough money to recall some guys.”
With only 22 games remaining Don Waddell along with fans of his team will have to wait and see how deep of a run Carolina can go on. Besides callups, Waddell doesn’t have much left to do this season besides watching the team he assembled attempt to win the hardest trophy in professional sports. Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Comentarios