Canes Country’s Trade Deadline Big Board: Forwards

The NHL Trade Deadline is just about two weeks away and the Carolina Hurricanes have found themselves back in the buyer’s market.

Coming into the season, the Canes were more than likely not going to be in the market to swing big on a player with the signing of Max Pacioretty, but after the veteran forward reinjured his Achilles just five games into his return, Carolina had to start scouring.

With a bit over $10 million in deadline cap space available according to CapFriendly.com, the Hurricanes can take a stab at just about any player before the March 3, 3 p.m. deadline.

So today, we take a look at the forward market to see what future Hurricanes might be out there and be sure to check back in tomorrow to see the defense market.

Already Traded: Bo Horvat (VAN NYI), Vladimir Tarasenko (STL NYR), Ryan O’Reilly (STL TOR), Tyler Motte (OTT NYR)

THE BIG FISH

Timo Meier – SJS (RW, Shoots left)

• 26, 6’1”, 220lbs
• 31 goals, 52 points, 57 games played
• Last year of a four year, $6 million AAV contract

Timo Meier Evolving-Hockey 2022-23 Player Card

Evolving-Hockey.com

Timo Meier 2022-23 Isolated Impact

HockeyViz.com

Timo Meier Career Impacts

HockeyViz.com

The season’s top trade candidate that has every fan of every competitor drooling, Meier has been one of the two consistent bright spots on a San Jose Sharks team that has just been getting worse and worse over the last few years.

Meier is a natural goal scorer, who recently picked up his third 30-goal season in just six full NHL seasons. At 26, the Swiss winger presents a perfect scoring winger to a team looking to upgrade in the goal-scoring department, aka everybody.

On top of being a great scorer, Meier is also a two-way play driver who doesn’t shy away from physicality.

The only concern is that Meier comes with a QO of $10 million. So his next contract will be a sizable one to offset that initial cost for a prospective team, but Meier very much looks like a player that is worth that cost.

The bidding war for Meier will be substantial, but to get a bonafide top-line winger, you have to pay the price. It improves the team both today and into the future and should be a no-brainer so long as an extension can be agreed upon, prior to the acquisition.

QUALITY TARGETS

Adam Henrique – ANA (C, Shoots left)

• 33, 6’0”, 195lbs
• 19 goals, 33 points, 55 games played
• One additional year of a five-year, $5.825 million AAV contract (M-NTC)

Adam Henrique 2022-23 Player Card

Evolving-Hockey.com

Adam Henrique 2022-23 Isolated Impact

HockeyViz.com

Adam Henrique Career Impacts

HockeyViz.com

If the Hurricanes…