Fansided

5 NHL teams John Carlson should stay away from in 2018-19

By C.L. Kohuss

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 05: John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring a first period goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on May 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 05: John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring a first period goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on May 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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RALEIGH, NC – APRIL 7: Jordan Staal #11 of the Carolina Hurricanes prepares for a faceoff against the Tampa Bay Lightning during an NHL game on April 7, 2018 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – APRIL 7: Jordan Staal #11 of the Carolina Hurricanes prepares for a faceoff against the Tampa Bay Lightning during an NHL game on April 7, 2018 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

3. Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are in the midst of big changes. They just hired former captain Rod Brind’Amour as new head coach after Bill Peters bolted to Calgary, and they haven’t made the playoffs since 2009. They have plenty of cap space, but is this team ready to win for the next five or six years? Not yet. Consider too that Jeff Skinner and Justin Williams are both free agents in 2019.

Skinner is only 25, but the idea that he leaves isn’t far-fetched, especially with his team continuously out of contention by December. In fairness, the Hurricanes have excellent young forwards outside of Skinner. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen both scored more than 60 points. They have some pieces there. They also have talent on defense, so Carlson could make the blue line dynamite if he joined. His scoring prowess would boost a ‘Canes team that still needs more production from the defense corp.

The problem is goaltending. Carolina signed goaltender Scott Darling to a four-year deal thinking he was their guy and uh-oh, he didn’t look like that this year. Even with the Hurricanes surrendering the fewest shots against per game, Darling still had a save percentage of .888 and a 3.18 goals against average. So Carlson could be a huge boon for the defense, but is it going to matter if they don’t have a guy stopping the puck?

This doesn’t seem the best option. That could change though if the Hurricanes decide that Darling is in fact not their guy and they go out looking for a Carter Hutton or an Anton Khudobin. But that doesn’t really make sense either as you potentially sign a career backup with the same question marks, for roughly the same money that Darling is making. There are better choices than a club in this big of a transition. Please avoid.

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