What have the Carolina Hurricanes, and other NHL teams, started doing to change their roster?

What have the Carolina Hurricanes, and other NHL teams, started doing to change their roster?

uh Kevin Weekes not on the free agent market but by gosh he’s everywhere he is an analyst uh he is a uh an insider uh he is an entrepreneur he is a business owner and tell me before we get into free agency Mr weeks about Inside Edge on YouTube which starts tomorrow right thank you so much for that kind intro hope you’re doing well i am uh shout out shout out to all the Kiacs out there yeah we’re we’re launching uh our new platform our new hockey content platform for the fans
it’s called the Z Inside Edge we’re going to be doing a ton of content breaking news breaking down breaking news inside information breakdowns interviews uh you name it and today actually we pushed it up by a day today we will be having our pre pre- agency show uh ahead of free agency opening tomorrow so we’ll be live at about 8:00 PM we’re going to have a slew of great guests elliot Freriedman fellow insider as well as uh Emily Kaplan fellow insider of course she’s with us on ESPN Elliot Freeman and Sports Net up in Canada
we’ll also have Craig Button longtime NHL general manager who’s also on TSN up in Canada won the Stanley Cup as a GM with the Dallas Stars uh also joining us will be a player guest a surprise player guest
in addition to that my guy EJ Ratic
who’s been covering the sport for 30 years works with me on the NHL network we do a bunch of games together we just did Stanley Cup together
so yeah we’re going to have uh a lot of great guests joining tonight for our inaugural show our launch show and all the details will be made available to a lot of the great fans on my Twitter Kev Weekes within the hour in terms of a direct link it’s uh it’s a pay-per-view we have a $5 pay-per-view and a $3,000 super super prize pack for a lucky fan and I love And Adam let me let me just give them the what the gold is we’re going to play on your last name let me give them the gold rush got
what the super prize pack is the super prize pack will be
two tickets to their favorite home team let’s say in this case it’s
it’ll be the Canes if it’s a Canes winner two tickets to the season home opener $1,000 gift card for NHL.com to shop NHL.com to get them all geared up for the season with all their favorite swag and a $1,000 Visa gift card so they can kind of throw themselves a party in anticipation of the new NHL season so we want to be connected to the fans as always and give back to the fans and this is kind of another expansion on that with this latest venture
that is absolutely awesome uh and and only uh for a $5 pay-per-view that very good uh the inside edge and all the information will come on uh Kevin’s Twitter at Kevin Weekes um all right so let’s let me let me get into By the way we had just had EJ Ratic on not last week but the week before i know you guys were doing the games together uh during the on the international broadcast we talk to EJ all the time our friend Ben Seltzer is now uh part of our family here so I know you Ala Feltzer
very nice
my boy that’s our boy yes
i’ll I’ll use that he’s going to hang out with me tomorrow during the first day of free agency um nice nice you got a good one in him too oh he’s great you know the organization uh well this it’s pretty unlikely i mean I think there are you can make an argument that the Hurricanes should go hard after an Aaron Eplad who’s who looks like he’s going to be in the free agent pool um but this is not an organization that goes hard after free agents because they don’t like to spend uh you know the free agent tax which I don’t know 10 15% over what the what they value the players at yeah every team has their own model for sure kings have their own model under Tom Dun Dundan and Eric Tolsky and the group uh let me just say my man Rod Bindomore is one of the best in the business he’s helped transform the franchise as well and restore it to the heights that it was at during our you know O2 team but more importantly during their cup winning team so it’s nice to see yeah you’re right they don’t they they don’t typically pay the premium and in saying that it’s not to say that they haven’t taken some swings i heard you mentioning Orlaw before but it was on shorter term you know they made a major swing this year uh in acquiring Miko Rantin we just did the Canes game on ESPN in Dallas the day before and I remember talking to Tom and Eric uh in the hallway i’m like “What do you guys have cooking i hear you guys have something cooking.” And of course you know there’s sheepish grins and they were looking the other way the next day bingo bango they trade for renting it i’m like “What
guys I was just talking to you like I’m I’m a former Kaniac what are we doing?” Uh so anyway um which was a huge move of course and
uh then of course again soul acquisition last year but I would say this they they have taken swings uh it’s not for a lack of taking swings it’s just to your point yeah they haven’t taken as many in free agency but a name that you just mentioned Aaron Ecklad I was actually just talking to my agent about him yesterday my agent doesn’t represent him Sergey Babroski there
okay Paul theoponis who’s got a really good relationship with with Tom with Tom Dundan but I was talking to him last night and I Eklad is a different player like I’ve known him since he was 15 and these last three years he’s just taken his game to a different height he was always smooth and you know just uh efficient and could chip in offensively pretty good defensively but the last three years he’s got a newfound aggression and physicality in his game that I’d never seen before and uh it’s impressive so if if I’m him I would certainly love to resign in Florida for a whole host of reasons just based on what they’ve accomplished and what they’ve done if I’m them of course I would like to keep him because we drafted him and had him here since he was 18 but ultimately you know as of July 1st once that clock hits 12:01 a.m eastern um anything could happen i’m curious to see what does
I think he could be a nice fit for the Canes though i mean I said it i said it this I they won’t I don’t think they’ll get into a bidding war for uh Nick Hailers who I know they like or Brock Ba Besser who I’m not sure they like
but I know they won’t get into bidding wars for them but if I were advising them and they don’t need my advice nor want my advice
that’s to me Eblad is a guy I would try to win a bidding war for because they need a top flight right defenseman and as you alluded to he checks other boxes of physicality uh and some attitude that this is a team that’s really what separates them and there’s a lot of things that separate them in Florida every team is uh looking at the same thing uh but they need some of that element to sort of bridge the gap between them and the Panthers i agree you know listen as mentioned I’ve been saying it for the last really really since Rody’s come board and the new ownership i’ve been saying the Canes are a Stanley Cup contender and I say it every year and I said it most recently at the start of this season that just concluded the Canes are a cup contender make no mistake about it but you need a little extra X factor and what whatever that looks like whether it’s um a game breaker that can bust the game open and score a big time goal uh in the postseason when you need them whether it’s a defenseman that can lay a big hit at the right time or chip in offensively any of those different things you just need you just need some X factor juice in that group and already what’s a good team and you know if you look at Aaron Ecklad for example listen he’s played in three straight Stanley Cup now three he’s won two so he has the recipe he has the recipe so that that certainly would help and the intangibles so those things would certainly help the group there in Carolina and we know they’ve got a great blue line and they have a really good team but I I’ve always said this and I tell all my people within the Canes organizations and you know some of my friends that live all across all across uh NC i just tell them the same thing just extra a little extra X factor
to where Rody could put that player over the boards that could deliver a big moment a big big moment at a critical time i feel like that’s one of the things that’s missing from their group and hopefully they can add it
yeah and and they’ve got $28.5 million worth of cap room and really if you were looking at their roster today uh at best one player to fill out an opening night lineup they have everything else covered so it’s all about improving their team let me ask you about a couple of uh as a goalie i mean Freddy was good enough in the postseason that we I mean it’s not like they have to get uh goalending help would be it would be great and I talked to Rod about this if Kachkov if Kachchko could get some of the bad goals out of his game he might be able to take his own game to another level yeah look I’ve I’ve known both guys and I’ve known Freddy since he came into the league in Anaheim my good buddy Sudsi Maharaj is the goalending coach in Anaheims and I remember when Freddy first got called up it was a game Gibson got pulled and Freddy went in and I’m like “Oops this guy this guy I like this guy too.” He’s like “Yeah if he gets his game in order and if he continues to focus on his fitness this guy can be in the league a long time he’s got a real bright upside uh so from then I’ve been tracking him when the Leafs signed him I told Lou Lamarella then the same thing it was right before World Cup hockey in 2016 up in Toronto and I told him there I thought that was a good signing and when the Canes got him I told the people there the same thing i’ve always been a Freddy guy i think the challenge has been some some injuries as we know he’s battled some injuries but you’re right when he’s when he’s been in the net he’s been steady and he to excellent and he played very well in the postseason podor Coachtoff for a lot of the listeners my good buddy I grew up playing with uh in youth hockey in Toronto we played together in junior in Ottawa in the OHL and for the Florida Panthers Dave Dearoski he coached Kachkov in Russia and when the Canes drafted him he said “I think the Canes got a goalie here.” I’m like “Really?” He goes I go “Who?” He goes “My guy Coachette.” I’m like “Oh.” So I like I like Poder he’s got a lot of talent uh our good buddy Trip Tracy down there you know would certainly echo that i just think he’s got the talent he has the aptitude and you’re right if he can eliminate that untimely goal that you know he can stop based on his talent that would take his game to the next level but there’s a lot to work with there it’s just him finding a way to eliminate that i couldn’t agree more
kevin Weekes is joining us here and if you want the inside edge it starts tonight at 8:00 on YouTube all the information will come in Kevin Week’s uh on Kevin Week’s Twitter pa Twitter page let me ask you uh about it just a couple of players kind of down the board that might be available via free agency uh Muel Granland had a really good postseason for Dallas they did
they have no room to keep anybody um is he somebody that Carolina should look at why not you know he’s proven that he could play in the postseason he’s proven he could play in the regular season he plays multiple positions hardworking Finnish player i’m sure he knows and has a relationship with uh Fishy who they call down there
Mr ao among others and uh yeah I’ve always liked his versatility i like his skill set he’s unafraid to make plays in the hard areas and you know the every team I shouldn’t say every the good teams have an identity they have a defined identity and what their characteristics are the Canes have those i think he’s somebody that they can plug into their system and you don’t necessarily it doesn’t have to be a huge out-of- pocket spend but I think there could be some value there uh as a good good top six maybe middle six player for the Canes that’s a professional you know I I know the way our boy Rody B operates and respect the hell out of him and uh and I don’t think that Granland will have any problems with that he’d fit into that seamlessly into that group and uh I think he could be a nice piece for them potentially i really do but here here’s the one thing too for the listeners
sure
is as I broke the Noah Dodson trade the other day the morning of the draft from LA and then uh Yeah what’s the other one I broke on the plane uh there’s another one that I just broke on the plane as well i got to go to my Twitter but but but the reason but the reason why I say that the reason why I actually referenced that is even though the draft was going on you know there’s still trades that were that are being made
and yeah it was a John Gibson one john Gibson to Detroit
but even though the draft was going on there’s still some trades to be made not as many as we thought but I certainly believe with free agency opening uh there’s going to be a lot of activity and also keep in mind I’ve spoken to two agents about this last night with the upcoming CBA the max term contract if you resigned with your original team will drop from 8 to seven years and if you sign with a new team it’ll drop from seven to six
so that could also spur activity you could also see instances where teams may even resign their own unrestricted free agent and trade them because the player wants that extra year now they want to maximize on the eight year now
right uh so there’s there’s a lot that’s in play there’s certainly been a lot that I’ve been privy to and I’m just curious to see how much of this shakes out
yeah I I do think well we might see that with Toronto and Mitch Mner um that that that could happen i wonder if that would happen with Raasmus Anderson and the Calgary Flames how do you see that coming out yeah I’d be interested to see what happens there like obviously they resigned Kevin Ball to that deal yesterday signed him to an extension he’s a part of their top four for whatever reason like they I’ve never gotten the sense that it’s been 100% with with Anderson there and I don’t know why he’s been a good player for them but yeah I I do know that he’s from teams that I’ve spoken to he’s an attractive piece the the Flames has certainly been gauging interest and it would be of benefit to him certainly if he can get the extra year if he wants to move on to sign with Calgary and do a sign and trade and then obviously it would then be of value to the team because they would get an asset or some type of a package in return so it’s a good way to do business we haven’t seen it very often not certainly not as much as you see it in the NBA
right
but as mentioned you know that’s that’s the that’s that’s one of the flavors of choice in the NBA but as mentioned in the NHL uh now with this kind of changing of the landscape with this new CBA extension uh I think we could see a lot more of that going forward
kevin Weekes a man who breaks news on planes i don’t know how you do that but uh you do uh at Kevin Weekes the Inside Edge uh a the pre- agency show tonight at 8:00 i appreciate your time sir i know you are a busy man with a lot of irons in the fire so thank you very much for carving out a few minutes
no problem Adam thanks for having me i see our little guy looking at me through the screen door so I’ll go in there and put him down for his nap um before you ask for another treat but uh anyway no thanks so much for having me uh and al and always man shout out and love to the Kiacs down there appreciate all of you uh you know how much I love my time there and in Greensboro too with the Monarchs so shout out to everybody down there in beautiful Kesville hope you’re doing well
Kevin thank you very much
all right my man thanks for having me do you got it kevin Weekes here on the Adam Gold

Kevin Weekes, ESPN/NHL Network/TSN, joins the Adam Gold Show to discuss the Carolina Hurricanes’ potential for next season, an assessment of what the did in the 2025 NHL Draft, as well as other teams around the league.

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