The loss of Joni Pitkanen this week was a hard one to take, something the Carolina Hurricanes were not going to take lightly. On Thursday, the team announced that they have signed Ron Hainsey to a 2-year deal, worth $2 million. Hainsey was an unrestricted free agent this Summer after playing in Winnipeg last season, where he picked up 13 assists in 47 games last season for the Jets.
In terms of a direct replacement, Hainsey isn't going to completely fill the void left behind by Pitkanen, but defensively, he should be adequate for the Hurricanes this year. Having a reliable defensive defender still on the market was a stroke of good luck for Carolina.
Looking within their organization, the Hurricanes do have one of the top up-and-coming defenders in Ryan Murphy, who I have now locked in for an appearance this season and likely for the whole year, as he could be looked upon to quarterback the team's power play this season.
With Pitkanen now announced as being out for the whole season, he qualifies for the Long Term Injury Reserve, so for mathematical purposes, he can be stricken from the calculation. I would imagine that the Hurricanes will try to get the cap relief as soon as possible. With that being said, it looks like Carolina needs another forward on the books, a couple defensemen and a backup goalie and they will have about $8.55 million to play with, which is plenty. Even if the Hurricanes took Elias Lindholm, Ryan Murphy, Mike Komisarek and Anton Khudobin, they would still have plenty of room to play with.
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