Metro free agency: Hurricanes add impact forward, defenseman
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In his introductory press conference after being named Penguins director of hockey operations, Kyle Dubas explained how he evaluates his team against its opposition.
“I think that the major focus, No. 1, is inside our division. That’s the way I always looked at things,” Dubas said. “Rather than try to stack ourselves up against all 31 other teams, let’s focus on our division. Let’s focus on trying to win our division. We play the most games there. That’s what’s going to set our playoff seeding. We’ve got to be inside the top three to lock ourselves in, and our goal is going to be to win the division.”
Last season, the Penguins finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division, just two points behind the fourth-place New York Islanders but 16 points behind the New York Rangers, who held down the third guaranteed playoff spot behind Carolina and New Jersey.
How much has the division changed in the offseason? The Trib is offering a team-by-team look this week:
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes are rarely aggressive in spending big money on free agents. They typically re-invest in their own free agents such as former Penguins forward Jordan Staal, who was re-signed to a four-year contract with a salary cap hit of $2.9 on June 24. But they did sink significant capital into new forward Michael Bunting (three years, $4.5 million salary cap hit) and Dmitry Orlov (two years, $7.75 million salary cap hit).
2023 finish: 52-21-9, 113 points, eliminated in the Eastern Conference final
Key additions: Forward Michael Bunting (82 games, 23 goals, 26 assists, 49 points), forward Brendan Lemieux (45 games, two goals, seven assists, nine points), defenseman Dmitry Orlov (66 games, seven goals, 29 assists, 36 points)
Key departures: Defenseman Calvin de Haan (53 games, two goals, 10 assists, 12 points), defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (75 games, 13 goals, 28 assists, 41 points), forward Ondrej Kase (one game, zero goals, zero assists, zero points), forward Mackenzie MacEachern (eight playoff games, one goal, one assist, two points), forward Max Pacioretty (five games, three goals, zero assists, three points).
What it means: Bunting is a power forward who can consistently find the back of the net while also providing a measure of physicality. He and Lemieux provide a level of snarl that the Hurricanes typically never coveted. Orlov is an all-around defenseman who doesn’t do any one thing at an outstanding level but does a lot of things well.