The Carolina Hurricanes lost to the Florida Panthers in five games in the Eastern Conference Final. In seven years with Rod Brind'amour behind the bench, Carolina has made the East Final three times. They have won just one game. Something has to change for the Canes to compete for a Stanley Cup. Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky says he is going to improve the roster by spending in free agency.

“If there’s any chance to get better, we’re going to take it,” Tulsky said, per NHL.com's Kurt Dusterberg. “We have the full buy-in to spend to the cap if there are ways to do it to get better. We have so much space and such a strong team. There’s no guarantee we can find ways to spend all that money, but we’re going to spend all summer trying.”

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The Hurricanes had a plan for their salary cap budgeting that went out the window at this year's trade deadline. They dealt Martin Necas to the Avalanche as part of the Mikko Rantanen deal. So all the money they were planning to spend on Necas was going to go to Rantanen. But they could not agree to an extension with the Fin, sending him to the Stars for Logan Stankoven and two first-rounders. Stankoven won't need a big-money contract for a while, so the Hurricanes have money to spend.

The first name that will be connected to the Hurricanes is Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner. The Ontario native can leave his hometown squad after nine loud seasons, and Carolina has interest. Reports surfaced after the deadline that the Hurricanes tried to flip Rantanen for Marner, but Marner denied it using his trade protection. If that was more about moving mid-season than a fit with Carolina, that would fit the Hurricanes' biggest need. They need an elite scorer, and Marner is that.