The only certainty going into the Carolina Hurricanes’ upcoming offseason is that nothing is certain. Coming off the team’s ninth consecutive playoff miss, and with majority owner Tom Dundon at the helm for his first offseason, expect changes to come fast and furious.
One of those changes already came last month, with Ron Francis being moved to president of hockey operations from the general manager position along with the announcement that the new general manager will report directly to Dundon. Don Waddell continues to serve as the Canes’ interim GM while Dundon’s search remains ongoing.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people,” Dundon said. “I have a lot more information now. I don’t have clarity about what I think is the right long-term decision.”
The other area of business to be settled in the near future is that of head coach Bill Peters. Peters, who reportedly has an out clause for the last year of his contract, has to decide if he wants to coach the team for another year — and Dundon has to decide whether or not to bring him back.
While the coaching decision will probably largely fall on the new general manager, Dundon is likely to have a large say in the decision.
“I don’t think I have an understanding with anybody about what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Dundon said. “It’s not about Bill. I don’t want anyone to feel comfortable. Everyone has to do it different if they want to be part of the way I want to do things. … But we do have an understanding. He’s the coach of the team. He’s still the coach of the team. We want him to be better. Him and I are going to work together to be better. Assuming we get where we need to get, we’ll be fine.”
The other area likely to see a major overhaul is the player roster. With a pair of goalies that combined to finish dead last in the NHL in team save percentage, that area will need an upgrade as will an offense that finished 23rd in the league.
The Canes could look for a “change of scenery” for forward Jeff Skinner. With one year left on his deal, Skinner is coming off a down season with just 24 goals and 49 points. The same could be said for defenseman Justin Faulk, who had an abysmal season in his first year as a co-captain.
Carolina could also look to package one of its younger blueliners with picks and prospects to finally acquire the top-flight center the team needs. One thing Dundon made clear is that as he evaluates the roster, no one is safe (save leading scorer Sebastian Aho).
“We need it to be hard to be on this team,” Dundon said. “There’s no number of spots. We need to go bring in some more players to fight for these spots. We may have 19 new players next year or we may have zero. It’s unlikely it’ll be either of those things, but I think every spot’s open. The conversation I had with most of the players is it’s our job to find players better than you and it’s your job to make that hard. But there’s none of them I’m not trying to replace. Every one of them, I want a better player than every one of them.”
The players also know to expect change after another failed season in Carolina.
“Regardless of the changes, you only stay together if you win together,” forward Justin Williams said. “This team hasn’t won. We haven’t won. We didn’t win. There’s going to be changes. As far as how many, that’s not up for me to decide, but I don’t think you can keep being unsuccessful in your goals and have the same things happen. So I’d imagine things will be a little different.”
As Williams said, it remains to be seen exactly how far the changes go for Carolina. What’s clear is that with Dundon looking to put his stamp on the franchise, those changes have only begun. Hurricanes fans can expect to see a much different team both on and off the ice come puck drop in October.
