Carolina Hurricanes To Move Four Defensemen?

There's been months, if not years, of speculation surrounding the Carolina Hurricanes and their defensive depth, but now as the team has started playing well and is pushing closer to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference things are heating up.

Today, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic is reporting that the Hurricanes are willing to move one of their top-four defensemen, and noted that both Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce are generating interest from teams around the league. Carolina is interested in landing another top-six forward, especially given that pending free agent Micheal Ferland is “all but gone” according to LeBrun.

The Hurricanes have already indicated that Jaccob Slavin is the untouchable one on the blue line, so trading a top-four option would likely come down to Hamilton, Pesce or former co-captain Justin Faulk. Calvin de Haan also has a claim to a top-four role of his own, but between just signing with the Hurricanes in the summer and not being part of the right side of the ice, his availability seems more unlikely.

The fact that the Hurricanes are listening to a potential trade of this proportion should not surprise anyone. This is the team that has gotten rid of Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask, Noah Hanifin and Jeff Skinner in the last six months as they try to find a new identity under owner Tom Dundon and Canes head coach Rod Brind’Amour. Dundon has made it clear that he wants to win and win now, so it tells me that they’re going to need more scoring to accomplish that goal.

Hamilton and Pesce both represent the biggest targets for other teams around the league, but they come with different financial situations. Hamilton is signed for two years after this season and comes with a $5.75MM cap hit. After starting the season strong he has seen his minutes reduced, playing fewer than 20 minutes in 16 of his last 20 appearances. Pesce’s ice time, on the other hand, is in a much different situation. He is logging four of his top-five totals in this month alone including nearly 23 minutes in a win over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. The 24-year old also comes with five additional seasons under contract at a reasonable $4.025MM cap hit, which may make his contract more attractive to teams as the deadline nears.

It's still very unclear on if one of the Hurricanes defensemen is going to be moved at all. As the trade deadline nears, that may change. One thing is for certain, though. The Hurricanes are in a win-now mode and that could be a big risk between this team continuing to climb for eliteness in the future or taking it baby steps. However, Tom Dundon has moved things in a fast-pace direction and we'll see if some Hurricanes are jettisoned before the end of the deadline in order to fulfill his wishes.

Manitoba Moose's Comrie Named Player of the Week

The American Hockey League announced on Monday that Manitoba Moose goaltender Eric Comrie has been selected as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending on January 20, 2019.

Comrie started four games for the Moose this week, going 4-0-0 allowing only seven goals on 138 shots faced in 244 minutes of play.

Comrie began the week this past Monday, putting up a 34-save effort to backstop the Moose to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Admirals. On Wednesday, Comrie stopped 31 shots – including 15 of them in the third period – in a 4-2 win over the Admirals. On Saturday, he made 19 of  37 saves in the final period of a 4-1 win over the San Antonio Rampage. Finally, on Sunday, Comrie faced 31 shots – his 10th consecutive start with at least 30 shots against – and turned aside 29 as the Moose defeated the Rampage, 4-2. Comrie’s performances for the week include 62 saves on 64 shots in the third period and in overtime (.969).

Comrie is now 5-0-1 in his last six starts and has a record of 15-11-2 in 28 appearances overall for Manitoba so far this season. He ranks first in the league in saves (870), second in minutes played (1,654), tied for fourth in wins (15), fourth in save percentage (.923) and 12th in goals-against average (2.65). The 23-year-old is in his fourth pro campaign and has made 164 AHL appearances with Manitoba and St. John’s, with a record of 67-78-18, a 2.89 GAA, a .911 save percentage and eight shutouts. Comrie was a second-round choice (59th overall) by Winnipeg in the 2013 NHL Draft and has played four games for the Jets in his career to date.

In recognition of being named the CCM/AHL Player of the Week, Comrie will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Manitoba Moose game.

My congratulations to Eric Comrie on his selection as the Player of the Week for this past week!

Vegas Golden Knights Trade Brad Hunt to Minnesota Wild

Defenseman Brad Hunt is on his way out of Las Vegas.

On Monday, Vegas Golden Knights GM George McPhee announced that the team has traded the defenseman, along with a sixth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, to the Minnesota Wild for a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

McPhee will discuss the trade situation on Tuesday, January 22 at City National Arena following a team practice.

Brad Hunt spent the past two years with the Golden Knights, appearing in 58 games and finishing with 25 points, (5 G, 20 A) as well as eight penalty minutes. Prior to joining the Golden Knights, Hunt spent some time in Edmonton, Nashville, and St. Louis.

Erik Karlsson Traded to the Sharks

For months, there has been speculation that the Senators would try to trade their star defenseman Erik Karlsson, as his contract is up after this coming season. They finally made that move today.

The Senators have traded Karlsson, as well as prospect Francis Perron, to the San Jose Sharks. In return, the Senators will receive forwards Chris Tierney and Rudolfs Blacers, defenseman Dylan DeMelo, prospect Josh Norris, as well as two picks. They’ll gain an additional pick if the Sharks re-sign Karlsson.

Karlsson is a two-time Norris Trophy winner, both with the Senators in 2012 and 2015 and was the runner-up in 2016 and 2017. He has led defenseman in points since the 2009-10 season with 126 goals and 392 assists in 627 NHL games. He has also finished among the NHL’s top-1o leading scorers twice, once in 2011-12 and in 2015-16. He was also among the top-10 assist leader four times (2011-12; 2013-14; 2015-16; 2016-17).

Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson said about acquiring Wilson today, “It’s extremely rare that players of this caliber become available. The word ‘elite’ is often thrown around casually but Erik’s skill set and abilities fit that description like few other players in today’s game. With Erik, Brent Burns, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, we feel we have three of the NHL’s top defenseman and stand as a better team today than we were yesterday.

The other player going to the Sharks, Francis Perron, has spent the last two seasons with Ottawa’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Belleville Senators, and will most likely spend time again in the AHL with the San Jose Barracuda.

Meanwhile, for the Senators, they gain four players and two draft-picks (possibly three) as they continue their rebuild.

Dodgers Leading To Get Manny Machado?

A new leader has appeared in the running to land Orioles star Manny Machado, and it looks like that team is the Dodgers.

The latest coming from Bob Nightengale of USA Today is that the Dodgers are currently in the lead right now, and appear to have a framework in place to get Machado from the Orioles. However, Nightengale also says that the Phillies are still "aggressively pursuing" Machado, and reports are that the Phillies are willing to give up one of their prized pitching prospects in order to land Machado.

I will update more on this when Nightingale or anybody else has new news regarding this or the players that the Dodgers are willing to give up on this deal. As for now, it looks like it's no surprise that the Dodgers have jumped out in front. Without Corey Seager on this team for the rest of the year, the Dodgers are desperate to find a short-term fix. They've had okay moments from current shortstop Chris Taylor, but it's clear they would like an update.

Landing Machado could put them over the top in the NL West and the National League, in general. Question is: Who are they willing to give up in order to land Machado?