Subscribe
Follow Us
The Carolina Hurricanes made a blockbuster trade for Mikko Rantanen back in January. It was one of the most stunning midseason trades in recent NHL history. The Hurricanes added the goal scorer they desperately needed in this deal. And they made a second consecutive swing for the biggest name on the trade market in a given season.
Rantanen has had a bit of a slow start to life with the Hurricanes, to be fair. The pending free agent has just one goal and two points for Carolina through six games. And he did not play in their most recent contest against the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday. Some have speculated that the Hurricanes may flip Rantanen in a separate trade before the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.
That feels incredibly unlikely at this time. What isn't as unlikely, however, is Carolina making another trade. The Rantanen deal filled the team's biggest need. They needed an elite goal scorer who could break games open for them. When he is on his game, this is exactly the sort of player Rantanen is.
However, the Rantanen deal did not solve all of their problems. There is another area of need the Hurricanes must address at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline. In fact, there is an argument to be made that the Mikko Rantanen trade may have put an emphasis on addressing this particular need for the Hurricanes.
Hurricanes have a need for bottom-six forward depth
The Hurricanes are set at the top of their lineup. Rantanen and Sebastian Aho are reunited after playing together in their junior hockey days. Moreover, the likes of Andrei Svechnikov, Taylor Hall, and Seth Jarvis give them a solid foundation. However, there is a lot of room for additions at the bottom of the Carolina forward group.
Carolina has suffered a couple of brutal injuries to depth forwards. William Carrier is on injured reserve after undergoing surgery for a lower-body injury. Meanwhile, Tyson Jost is on long-term injured reserve, also with a lower body injury.
On their own, these injuries have thinned out Carolina's forward depth. However, the team also traded center Jack Drury to the Colorado Avalanche in the Rantanen trade. Drury had been deployed up and down the lineup. He was a valuable faceoff taker and one of the team's best penalty killers, as well.
These three losses have created a need for forward depth down the lineup. Carolina can get to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a top-heavy forward group. In fact, they could go on a deep playoff run with this set up. The Edmonton Oilers did it just last season.
In saying this, they need a truly deep team in order to reach the ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup. The Oilers fell behind in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final 3-0 against the Florida Panthers. Their top-heavy offensive attack helped them force a winner-take-all Game 7. In the end, though, the Panthers won the Stanley Cup in part because they were a deeper team. Florida shut down Connor McDavid late in the series, and it made all the difference.
The situations aren't a perfect comparison. However, the Hurricanes have the talent to go on a similarly deep run. They are still short a couple of forwards, though. If they can acquire an extra forward or two, Carolina could be a tough team to beat once the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around.
