Hurricanes have B’s need
Hanifin appears best fit for price
There are 30 teams with whom Don Sweeney can deal in order to improve his team this season, but no partner seems to fit so well as the Carolina Hurricanes.
Cam Neely pretty much confirmed everyone’s speculation that his team is indeed looking for more size on the left side of the blue line. New Carolina owner Tom Dundon possesses a stable of good, young defensemen, and has said everyone but budding superstar forward Sebastian Aho could be had.
Is there a trade marriage to be made? The B’s certainly have the pieces to get a player they’d want, but will the cost be too much?
The Canes have two left-shot defensemen in whom the B’s should be interested, Jaccob Slavin and Noah Hanifin. The 24-year-old Slavin should be ahead of 21-year-old Hanifin on the wish list because of where he is in his development and with what the B’s need right now, but forget about that. Though Slavin wasn’t a part of Dundon’s untouchable class of one, it would take a huge return to pry him from the Hurricanes. Entering the sweet spot of his career, Slavin’s new extension, inked by the old regime there, runs seven more years at a reasonable $5.3 million. Cost certainty is always a good thing for a budget team.
That leaves Hanifin. The B’s had designs on the Nowood native during the 2015 draft, but they couldn’t make the jump up to No. 5, where he was taken. While Hanifin may be more obtainable, he won’t exactly come cheaply, either. The guess here is that he’ll cost an impact roster player, a prospect and a draft pick.
Let’s start with the roster player. With the stated desire to get bigger on the left side, that would mean either Torey Krug or Matt Grzelcyk would have to go. Based on Carolina’s needs — the Canes were 22nd on the powerplay — and the salary that the B’s would need to shed to sign some of their young players in the upcoming years, Krug and his $5.25 million for the next two years would be the more likely candidate to head south.
The prospect? Center Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson is a must-keep because of the position he plays. Same goes for Trent Frederic and Jack Studnicka. Less heralded Ryan Fitzgerald, a left-shot forward, had a very good rookie season in Providence and is worth keeping. Not knowing how long 41-year-old Zdeno Chara can keep up his remarkable play, I wouldn’t move any of the high-end defensemen in the pipeline, either.
Peter Cehlarik is a good prospect who would be movable. He has shown, albeit in a small sample size, glimpses that he can be a top-six forward, but he’s not about to supplant Brad Marchand or Jake DeBrusk any time soon. Despite late season inconsistency, Danton Heinen looks like a good third-line wing for years to come. Cehlarik cannot be kept in Providence in perpetuity, so Cehlarik it would be in this imaginary package.
When it comes to the pick, the Canes would have to settle for a second rounder with the B’s having dealt their first rounder for Rick Nash. And in truth, I’m not sure I’d want to give up a first rounder with what you’d already be giving up.
While you know what you’d be paying for Slavin, there’s no such certainty with Hanifin. He’s a restricted free agent, coming off his first AllStar season and looking for that dreaded second contract this summer. And while there’s still potential for a lot of growth, Hanifin hasn’t yet established what he’s going to be exactly. He’s a solid, character kid who looks at least like a solid top-four defenseman. But the question is whether he’ll grow into a top pair player. He just had his best offensive season with 10 goals and 26 assists, averaged just under 19 minutes a game and had good possession numbers. The guess here is that his minus-20, making him minus-53 in his threeyear career, had as much if not more to do with the disastrous Carolina goaltending situation — a league-worst .893 team save percentage — than the Boston College product’s defensive prowess. With Charlie McAvoy, the B’s may not need Hanifin to develop into a true No. 1, but his value still needs to be set. And let’s not forget what the B’s would be giving up. Since the season ended, so much of the focus has been on what Krug isn’t. He is not a stout 5-on-5 defender. His small stature is not offset by blazing speed. The penalty kill is not his strong suit. But Krug is a fierce competitor who lives to prove people wrong. He has become a leader in the room, helping bridge the gap between the Stanley Cup winners and young players. He quarterbacked one of the best power plays in the league, and he is the type of player who will, when you’re losing by a goal in the third period of a Game 7, blast the puck past the goalie from the blue line. With all that being said, after it became clear in the playoffs that the B’s do not have the right mix on the left side, it is a deal I would do. But I wouldn’t begrudge the Bruins GM a few sleepless nights before he pulled the trigger on something like that.