Best Brett Pesce destinations if he leaves Hurricanes in free agency
The Carolina Hurricanes may be facing a worse cap crunch than any other team in the NHL, entering the offseason.
The team’s list of players in need of a new deal includes Jake Guentzel, Brady Skjei, Martin Necas, and others. Without enough available cap space to keep everyone in the fold, we can expect some cap casualties.
One of the Hurricanes players who looks poised to find a new home is Brett Pesce. After spending his entire career in Carolina to this point, Pesce has the opportunity to cash in on a thin free-agent market. Pesce is coming off a bit of a down year with the Hurricanes but still remains a very reliable, top-four defenseman. Nearing 30 years old, we can likely expect a mid-length deal, in the range of four to six years.
Best Brett Pesce destinations if he leaves Hurricanes in free agency
The Carolina Hurricanes may be facing a worse cap crunch than any other team in the NHL, entering the offseason.
The team’s list of players in need of a new deal includes Jake Guentzel, Brady Skjei, Martin Necas, and others. Without enough available cap space to keep everyone in the fold, we can expect some cap casualties.
One of the Hurricanes players who looks poised to find a new home is Brett Pesce. After spending his entire career in Carolina to this point, Pesce has the opportunity to cash in on a thin free-agent market. Pesce is coming off a bit of a down year with the Hurricanes but still remains a very reliable, top-four defenseman. Nearing 30 years old, we can likely expect a mid-length deal, in the range of four to six years.
The Ducks are just coming out of their rebuild, but we can expect them to add for the third offseason in a row.
The team has built a really promising group of young forwards, and are set on the left side of their defense group. However, especially after trading Jamie Drysdale midway through the season, the Ducks are in dire need of a high-end, right-shot defender.
Pavel Mintyukov, Cam Fowler, Olen Zellweger, Jackson LaCombe and Radko Gudas are the locks as lineup regulars next year. Of the bunch though, Gudas is the only right-handed defenseman, and even he shouldn’t be taking on too large of a role.
Pesce could slot in as a top-four, defensive defenseman to pair with one of the younger, more active left-side defensemen. With Anaheim holding a lot of cap flexibility heading into the offseason, Pesce to Anaheim is a very realistic outcome if he leaves the Hurricanes.
Ottawa Senators
On paper, the Senators already have a fairly strong defense group. But while Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub worked well, Thomas Chabot and Jakob Chychrun failed to have the same impact. With three left-shot defensemen within the top-four group, the Senators need help on the right side. After Zub, the depth really falls off, getting to Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker.
The team also faces major uncertainty in the form of Chychrun’s contract status. The defenseman was acquired just one year ago, but is entering the last year of his contract. With two other left-handed defenders already making $8 million per year in Chabot and Sanderson, it seems somewhat unlikely that Chychrun is a long-term piece.
You also have to think the team should be well on its way to sorting out the Chychrun situation, before bringing in another piece in Pesce. But if they’re able to swing it, Pesce would be a huge help towards stabilizing the team’s blue line.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Through the duration of the Auston Matthews era, the Leafs have still never had a top right-shot defenseman. While they’ve been able to build a much better defense group, it’s been on the back of a lot of left-shot defenders. Along with Morgan Rielly, the likes of Jake Muzzin and T.J. Brodie have played key roles at times in recent years. But names like Justin Holl and Timothy Liljegren obviously never moved the needle on the right side.
With a huge portion of their defense group coming off the books, we can expect Toronto will look to add to their blue line. As the team looks towards getting over the playoff hump, a defenseman like Pesce is the exact kind of piece the team is missing. The Leafs may not be able to win a bidding war over other teams based on their cap situation, but Pesce would be a great fit. His impact with the Hurricanes is evident.
Utah
Heading into their first offseason out of Arizona, Utah will have the cap space to make some moves. Plus, without a single NHL-level defensemen under contract for next season, we can expect an addition to the blue line. Pesce would immediately provide an upgrade for what’s a very young defense group.
Sean Durzi may be the team’s top right-handed blue liner, but he’s not without his flaws. A primarily offensive defender who can be prone to mistakes, Durzi may be able to develop better if someone like Pesce was brought in to take on tougher matchups.
Perhaps the main issue with a Pesce signing for Utah though is his age. Pesce will be 30 years old in November, and while the age itself isn’t necessarily an issue, you have to wonder whether he’d fit the team’s timeline to compete. With a very young group, Utah will still be a couple years out from really making noise.
As a result, Pesce could end up nearing a decline, by the point in which Utah is a playoff team. While a longer-term contract could present issues though, we could see Utah get creative. If they could go for a higher cap hit on a shorter deal, Pesce could be a realistic fit.
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