• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

2026 Hurricanes Off Season Thread

Kotkanemi is such a puzzle. You have to figure he's not a lazy malcontent because if he was, he would have been gone a while ago. Was this just an instance of where his effort does not translate to the style demanded of him? I mean when has anybody ever said, "nice pass by KK"? He's physically capable of playing at Hurricane speed, but his brain just can't keep up.
 
I still see Nikishin's ceiling as crazy high, even though he looked like a rookie at times, which he is. I would want to hang onto and watch that learning curve a little while longer. Even with his occasional clunky shifts, he has shown the poise to recover from his own mistakes. And his passing is elite. Even more important than his physicality, he does not take himself out of position to make "big hits". I would love a shiny object like Larkin, but not at that cost.
 
Kotkanemi is such a puzzle. You have to figure he's not a lazy malcontent because if he was, he would have been gone a while ago. Was this just an instance of where his effort does not translate to the style demanded of him? I mean when has anybody ever said, "nice pass by KK"? He's physically capable of playing at Hurricane speed, but his brain just can't keep up.
Some guys just can’t do what’s required of them. Sometimes that’s because of a lack of effort, sometimes it’s an ability issue, and sometimes it’s mental. With Kotkaniemi I suspect it’s all of the above, with a heavy lean towards the mental. Either way, the sooner he gets bought out or traded the better because there has never been a Hurricanes related topic I am this sick of talking about.
 
I still see Nikishin's ceiling as crazy high, even though he looked like a rookie at times, which he is. I would want to hang onto and watch that learning curve a little while longer. Even with his occasional clunky shifts, he has shown the poise to recover from his own mistakes. And his passing is elite. Even more important than his physicality, he does not take himself out of position to make "big hits". I would love a shiny object like Larkin, but not at that cost.
Yeah, I don't see it. I’d like to see it, but I just don’t. I like the kid, don’t get me wrong, but I think he’s a secondary player and not the 1st pairing battleship he was supposed to be. I’d love to be wrong and I promise I’m not going to argue the point all summer but suffice to say that I wouldn’t be broken hearted if they moved him
 
Yeah, they were pretty fortunate to keep everybody functional this playoffs, and that played a big role in their success. But even then, I’m absolutely certain that 4-5 guys were playing through some stuff. We’ll get word on that fairly soon. The only one I’m really concerned about is Slavin, because I think he probably needs knee surgery and it could impact next season.
 
Some guys just can’t do what’s required of them. Sometimes that’s because of a lack of effort, sometimes it’s an ability issue, and sometimes it’s mental. With Kotkaniemi I suspect it’s all of the above, with a heavy lean towards the mental. Either way, the sooner he gets bought out or traded the better because there has never been a Hurricanes related topic I am this sick of talking about.
The Canes have 2 weeks to figure it out. His buyout cost is $850k per year so if trading him is going to require eating more than that, they should just buy him out, unless they don’t want $850k of dead money against the cap from 2030-31 through 2033-34.
 
Yeah, they were pretty fortunate to keep everybody functional this playoffs, and that played a big role in their success. But even then, I’m absolutely certain that 4-5 guys were playing through some stuff. We’ll get word on that fairly soon. The only one I’m really concerned about is Slavin, because I think he probably needs knee surgery and it could impact next season.
I would bet the farm that Chatty was playing through something after being hit through the bench door. *I'm* still feeling the pain from that one. And Niki just didn't look the same after coming back from the concussion.
 
At the rate of revenue growth for the NHL, $850k of dead cap starting in 2030-31 will be like .5% of the cap or less. Almost a rounding error. That isn't even enough cap space to ice a minimum salary player.

Don't mess around trying to find a trade partner, even one willing to take an asset (draft pick/prospect) to take KK in a trade and then either keep him or buy him out. We should just do the buyout.
 
I would bet the farm that Chatty was playing through something after being hit through the bench door. *I'm* still feeling the pain from that one. And Niki just didn't look the same after coming back from the concussion.
Miller, Slavin, Aho and Jarvis all had some stuff going on at some point, if not throughout. And Freddie, obviously.
 
I would bet the farm that Chatty was playing through something after being hit through the bench door. *I'm* still feeling the pain from that one. And Niki just didn't look the same after coming back from the concussion.
Yea, I’m betting at least
Chatty
Slavin
Jarvis (lingering shoulder)
Niki
Hall? (Lots of bruising hits)
 
At the rate of revenue growth for the NHL, $850k of dead cap starting in 2030-31 will be like .5% of the cap or less. Almost a rounding error. That isn't even enough cap space to ice a minimum salary player.

Don't mess around trying to find a trade partner, even one willing to take an asset (draft pick/prospect) to take KK in a trade and then either keep him or buy him out. We should just do the buyout.
This. It’s simple, effective and cheap.

That said, they’ll probably take a little time to see if they can’t trade him without retaining just for Dundon. He hates to retain and doesn’t want to buy anybody out, and it’s his money.
 
The “rules” - since he played in 42 games he qualifies

A player automatically qualifies to have their name engraved if they appear in either at least 41 regular-season games for the winning team or one game in the Stanley Cup Final.

Generally, the team is allowed to submit a total of 52 names for engraving, and the league is fairly flexible about honoring players who spent the bulk of the year with the team.
KK gets his Cup ring, day with the Cup and lots and lots of millions of dollars in cash...he's a winner no matter what his play here looked like...the world is a beautiful thing sometimes.
 
I still see Nikishin's ceiling as crazy high, even though he looked like a rookie at times, which he is. I would want to hang onto and watch that learning curve a little while longer. Even with his occasional clunky shifts, he has shown the poise to recover from his own mistakes. And his passing is elite. Even more important than his physicality, he does not take himself out of position to make "big hits". I would love a shiny object like Larkin, but not at that cost.
I do too, but I will say, he appeared to be playing somewhat sheltered minutes and a sheltered role as the Cup chase went on. I think that concussion did slow him down a bit too that factored into things. He is certainly worth holding onto if you can this summer (if he is not part of a trade package) because the Canes defense is deep enough to let him grow into his game again next season. Let's not forget there were plenty of regular season games in the first half of the year where the Canes barely had 3/4 regular/healthy D carrying the mail and Nikishin was playing a substantial role in keeping that defense afloat with no Slavin, no Ghost etc...
 
Back
Top