Carolina Hurricanes make top-six winger available for trade
During the last few seasons, teams have worked ad nauseum to try to move players to create cap space. The rigors of a flat cap world have really led to teams feeling the financial squeeze. Thankfully, with the cap beginning to rise as soon as 2024-25, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. However, in the meantime, teams still need to move money around, so some intriguing names continue to float around out there.
During an appearance on the NHL Network on Wednesday, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Carolina Hurricanes are one of the teams who are looking to move some salary out. We already know that Brett Pesce's name has been out there, but now Friedman believes there's a top-six winger available in Carolina as well.
Teravainen has struggled with his health a little bit in recent years, but he has been a productive player when he does play. After posting a career high 76 points in 82 games in 2018-19, Teravainen followed that up with a 63-point campaign through 68 games in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season, establishing himself as a star winger in Carolina. However, he suited up in just 21 games the following season, posting 15 points over that span before seeing his production jump back up to 65 points in 77 games in 2021-22.
Last season, Teravainen experienced a significant drop off in production, scoring just 37 points in 68 games and now, with the introduction of Michael Bunting in Carolina, Teravainen is in jeopardy of slipping a bit on the depth chart, especially with the emergence of younger players like Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas to contend with. A healthy Andrei Svechnikov will also mean less ice time for Teravainen as well.
Teravainen will be 29 when the season begins, and it's not as though he's too old to be an impact player. He has one season left on his current contract, which carries a $5.4M cap hit, so there's minimal risk there in terms of getting stuck with a bad contract.
Is he an option for the Leafs either this year or next summer as a UFA? I don't know. I doubt it, but stranger things have happened.
| POLL | ||
20 JUILLET | 243 ANSWERS Carolina Hurricanes make top-six winger available for trade Is Teuvo Teravainen a good fit for Toronto? | ||
| No | 112 | 46.1 % |
| Yes | 52 | 21.4 % |
| Depends on the trade | 79 | 32.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
