Value of: - EK to Carolina | HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League

Value of: EK to Carolina

Unsustainable

Big Kahunas
Sponsor
Apr 14, 2012
37,163
111,099
Charlotte, NC
EK to Carolina to run PP1 and pair with Slavin on top pairing.

Would be interesting to see a top Defensive player and Top Offensive player paired together.

Could come at 100% cap or retained.
 
salary wise, EK is due a total of $16. 5 million in the next 2 seasons. $4 mill in SB and $5 mill in Base for 25/26. then $1.5 mill in SB and $6 mill in Base for 26/27. Average of $8.25 mill per.
SJ is also retaining $1.5 mill of the $11.5 mill cap. That's just over 13%. So, that would drop what is due to him by 13% as SJ is covering that amount. So, that's roughly $900K per season in real money savings. So, from $8.25 mill per to like $7.35 mill on a $10 mill cap charge.

If Pitt retains than it will drop down even more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Daeavorn
EK to Carolina to run PP1 and pair with Slavin on top pairing.

Would be interesting to see a top Defensive player and Top Offensive player paired together.

Could come at 100% cap or retained.

He’s more of a 5on5 guy than PP guy at this point, FWIW.

It’s probably Morrow + first or Walker + first for EK retained of some sort.
 
It’s been beaten to death, but Karlsson at $5-$7 million for Walker and a 2026 1st makes the most sense. The amount of retention plus anything added on Carolina’s side depends on how much the Penguins would retain.

I’d throw out Karlsson at $5 million for Walker, Forsmark and a 2026 1st. I’m not wild about the term left on Walker’s deal so I’d want a prospect back there as well. I would also be really interested in seeing if Morrow+ for Karlsson without a 1st coming back would work too.

He’s more of a 5on5 guy than PP guy at this point, FWIW.

It’s probably Morrow + first or Walker + first for EK retained of some sort.

Yeah you acquire Karlsson to give you a dynamic offensive threat at 5v5 and you keep Gostisbehere to have a good PPQB.
 
No more old crappy defenseman to Carolina on bloated contracts.

Nikishin will be coming in next season to run PP1 and play top pairing minutes anyway.
Agree on the first part.

Nikishin is another lefty though so he’ll be on a separate pairing with either Chatfield or Walker.
 
No more old crappy defenseman to Carolina on bloated contracts.

Nikishin will be coming in next season to run PP1 and play top pairing minutes anyway.

You’re not acquiring Karlsson to play on the PP, you’re acquiring him to add a dynamic offensive threat at 5v5. And from looking at the Hurricanes performance in the playoffs for the last 5 years, it’s abundantly clear they need that dynamic offensive threat at 5v5.

The Canes keep losing in the playoffs because they can’t score at 5v5. Karlsson is one of the best offensive defensemen at 5v5 in hockey.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jared Grayden
I don’t see the Canes paying anywhere close to some of the proposals in this thread for a retained Karlsson. I could see them being interested if they’re getting good value on a trade, but they don’t need a Karlsson-type. They need another Pesce.
 
I don’t see the Canes paying anywhere close to some of the proposals in this thread for a retained Karlsson. I could see them being interested if they’re getting good value on a trade, but they don’t need a Karlsson-type. They need another Pesce.

Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but the stats clearly do not show this to be the case. What’s the basis for this?

In the last 5 years, this is how the Canes have done in the playoffs in terms of 5v5 production:

2025: 1.91 5v5 goals/60, 2.31 5v5 goals against/60
2024: 2.27 5v5 goals/60, 2.06 5v5 goals against/60
2023: 2.26 5v5 goals/60, 1.97 5v5 goals against/60
2022: 2.24 5v5 goals/60, 1.96 5v5 goals against/60
2021: 2.06 5v5 goals/60, 2.06 5v5 goals against/60

As an outsider, that doesn’t suggest “we don’t need a Karlsson, we need another Pesce”. Carolina doesn’t have problems giving up goals, they have problems scoring goals.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DRAGO 18
I am thinking a complete rework almost of our blue line:

Slavin - EK or Ekblad
Nikishin - Chatfield
Provorov - Burns
Canes need to fix 2C and 3C

Roslovic, Staal, KK is a terrible 2-4C depth and gets shut down easily come playoffs.

Slavin- EK65
Nikishin - Chatfield
Ghost - Morrow/UFA

Trade Nadeau + 2 1sts for the best 2C on the market you can get.

Then deal for a better starting goalie
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheBigLetowski
Canes need to fix 2C and 3C

Roslovic, Staal, KK is a terrible 2-4C depth and gets shut down easily come playoffs.

Slavin- EK65
Nikishin - Chatfield
Ghost - Morrow/UFA

Trade Nadeau + 2 1sts for the best 2C on the market you can get.

Then deal for a better starting goalie
Yes we do need a 2c, if Vegas is the clear Marner destination if he doens't take our 14m offer, I think W. Karlsson should be our target. But Aho - Karlsson - Staal - Jank will work.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if Karlsson didn't end up playing with Slavin, if Carolina acquired him. Skjei - Pesce isn't there anymore to deploy Slavin the same way, a babysitter for an offensive D. He's getting full-time shutdown minutes now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SlavinAway
I am thinking a complete rework almost of our blue line:

Slavin - EK or Ekblad
Nikishin - Chatfield
Provorov - Burns

At least IMO, I think the goal for Carolina should be to have:

Slavin-Karlsson
Nikishin-Ekblad
Gostisbehere-Chatfield

I think Gostisbehere fills a very useful role as a PPQB that no one else would fill, plus the Gostisbehere-Chatfield pair both complements each other on paper and has good numbers as a pair. I think they just need a good 2-way RD with size to pair with Nikishin, I think Ekblad fits that really well. This would let them use Morrow as a trade chip to help out their forward group.

They also have the flexibility to change up the D pairs depending on the game situation, where they can run with Slavin-Ekblad as a shutdown pair if they're winning and want to shut down the other team.
 
Yes we do need a 2c, if Vegas is the clear Marner destination if he doens't take our 14m offer, I think W. Karlsson should be our target. But Aho - Karlsson - Staal - Jank will work.
Are the canes linked to Rossi?

He's so interesting if I were a team with assets and contending

Wild are dumb and will maybe sell him due to size but he's been a 60 pt player so far and is only 23.

Nadeau, Morrow, 2025 1st, 2026 Dallas 1st, 2026 CAR 2nd, Dallas 2028 1st are assets they can use.

Something like Nadeau + 2026 Dall 1st + 2026 2nd for Rossi

&

2025 CAR 1st + 2028 Dallas 1st + Morrow + Kotka(2M retained) + Kotchkov to Seattle for Jared McCann + Joey Daccord + 2026 3rd

Trades like that if they make sense from both teams perspectives could give Canes a legit 1G + 2C + McCann a temp 2C and good top 6LW for 2 more years.

Canes should be 1 of most aggressive teams trade wise this summer
 
  • Haha
Reactions: WreckingCrew
EK and Carolina always seemed like a match made in heaven. Carolina being an elite corsi team with great possession and EK being a shot generator and a dman who is comfortable with the puck.

That being said, I feel like EK just epitomizes the issues Carolina has in the playoffs. Struggles finishing, a bit small, and not very hard to play against.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Ad

Ad