Jake Gardiner signing gives Carolina Hurricanes the NHL’s most stacked defense

The Carolina Hurricanes have built one of the NHL’s top defenses, and have a bolstered it to being perhaps the league’s best with the addition of Jake Gardiner.

The NHL offseason is winding down, and training camp is just around the corner. Even with most teams having their rosters set, the Carolina Hurricanes are continuing to build on last season’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals, and have had added yet another piece to their already outstanding defensive core.

The Hurricanes have signed former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner to a four-year, $16.2 million deal. The contract is identical to his last contract with Toronto, minus a single year.

The 29-year-old defenseman had 30 points (three goals, 27 assists) in 62 regular season games with the Leafs last season, but suffered through a back injury at the end of the season that leaked into the playoffs. The injury is almost certainly what him up from getting signed until September, as teams were reportedly not comfortable with anything longer than a few years.

Gardiner took to Twitter to thank the Maple Leafs organization and fans for the past eight years he spent with the organization. In his eight seasons with Toronto, Gardiner was one of the staples on the left side, putting up 245 career points in 551 games, including 125 points in his last 224 games.

Heading into free agency, Gardiner was the best defensive free agent on the market, and was speculated to get around the $6 million range. The fact that the Hurricanes got him for an identical contract to his last one is an absolute steal, and another great addition in an offseason full of them.

“Jake is a solid veteran blueliner with a proven history of contributing offensively, including on the power play,” Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell said. “He’s had options this summer, but ultimately decided that Carolina is his best fit, and we’re thrilled to have him here.”

The addition of Gardiner to the Hurricanes’ back end gives them the deepest blue line in the NHL today. Adding him to this group gives the a left side of Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and now Gardiner. The right side features Dougie Hamilton, Justin Faulk and Trevor van Riemsdyk. There are absolutely no holes here, and no other team can match that kind of depth from top to bottom.

But with the addition of Gardiner, this has increased the trade rumors around Faulk that have been circulation for years now. With Faulk’s contract expiring after this coming season, it’s becoming increasingly more realistic that he will be dealt before too long.

With the addition of Jake Gardiner, the Hurricanes are now over the $81.5 million salary cap ceiling with a team wide cap hit of $83.1 million. This is the first time the Hurricanes have been over the salary cap in the salary cap era.

While it’s not a big deal at the moment, they’ll have to make a move in order to be cap-compliant before the beginning of the season. With 14 forwards and eight defenseman currently counting against the cap, they’ll likely just have to send one of them down one of each in order to be compliant. Moving Faulk obviously would get them there, but would be a much more dramatic roster shakeup.

If the Hurricanes do end up beginning the season without moving any of their core defensemen, they will be a force to reckoned with all season long. For the first time in a long time, there are real expectations on the Hurricanes to succeed, and that begins with not only making the playoffs but competing for the Metropolitan division crown. One way or another, hockey in Carolina is back to being interesting once again.