Hurricanes will trade Brett Pesce if they can’t keep him.
One way or another, defenseman Brett Pesce won’t enter next season with an expiring contract.
The Carolina Hurricanes want to re-sign Pesce, but the Canes will ship him goodbye if they can’t see eye-eye. The report was from TSN’s Pierre Lebrun, who also said the Buffalo Sabres have inquired about his services.
Pesce, 28, has one year remaining on his contract, which began in 2017. He has a $4.025-million cap hit in 2022-23 and a no-trade clause.
Pesce is coming off a career season where he had 30 points. He also has averaged over 20 minutes for seven consecutive seasons.
The Hurricanes have been dealing with Judd Moldaver, Peace’s agent.
Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns are the lone defensemen the Hurricanes have locked up past next season. Dylan Coghlan, Clavin De Haan, Maxime Lojoie, and Shayne Gostisbehere could walk. Jalen Chatfield still has another year before he’s a threat to leave.
It adds to the team’s off-season chaos. General Manager Don Waddell has 13 unrestricted and three restricted free agents to think about. Those decisions better come fast. If not, Carolina will be the one in a Hurricane of turmoil. Luckily, he has $24.1 million in cap space to work with.