In the salary-cap world, it's never too early to start thinking about next season. And while the Hurricanes have a full load of forwards, they'll probably be looking for a defenseman via trade or free agency.

Assuming the Canes can get their restricted free agents and Sergei Samsonov signed for reasonable amounts and replace John Grahame with Michael Leighton, they'll have 14 forwards, six defensemen (assuming Casey Borer or Brett Carson as the sixth/seventh guy) and two goalies for about $47 million.

That leaves $2 million to add a defenseman to replace Glen Wesley and Bret Hedican, assuming (again) both retire while keeping the payroll at about $49 million. There would be another $800,000 in the pot if they trade or waive Jeff Hamilton, as they tried to do this spring.

(And all of this would be moot if they bring back Cory Stillman, which given the financial situation and the way they played without him would seem to be subtraction by addition -- Stillman's return would by necessity doom the Hurricanes to many of the same defensive problems they had this season.)

So, taking all those assumptions with a large grain of salt, what can you get for $2.8 million? Well, not Brian Campbell. But here are a few potential free-agent defensemen who might fit the bill (literally and figuratively), and with the caveat that they may all get $5 million or more as teams plan on the cap going up … and up … and up … and up:

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John-Michael Liles, Colorado — The Canes had him on their list this season but decided to make the trade for Joe Corvo instead. (Hard to argue with that one.) Coming off a down year but is only 27. A U.S. national team regular who would be a good fit in the dressing room and on the ice.

Ron Hainsey, Columbus — Another 27-year-old American offensive defenseman, albeit slower to develop than Liles. Hainsey was cut loose by Montreal but appears to be coming into his own with the Blue Jackets. They will — and should — make a push to keep him, but the grass may well be greener outside of Columbus.

Brad Stuart, Detroit — A veteran with an all-around game who has his fans and detractors around the league. Carolina's interest would depend on how well the Canes think he'd fit their system. He's bounced around a lot lately — Boston to San Jose to Los Angeles to Detroit — and made $3.5 million this season.

Mark Streit, Montreal — Swiss national team captain can play forward or defense as well as the point on the power play. Will command a high price if he hits the open market after a breakthrough season. The Canadiens will do everything to keep him, but they've already got two high-priced defensemen in Andrei Markov ($5.75 million) and Roman Hamrlik ($5.5 million) and Mike Komisarek is only a year away from free agency.

Dmitri Kalinin, Buffalo — More of a defensive-oriented blue-liner than the others mentioned here, but he's a smooth, steady veteran who has been a key part of the Sabres' defense for almost a decade. Plus, you can't have too many Finns. (Technically, Kalinin is Russian. But Tripp Tracy called him "the talented Finn" a few years back and I've thought of him that way ever since.) After the Drury-Briere-Campbell departures, the Sabres may overpay to keep him.

04/06/08 at 09:29
Thank you, thank you for talking about moving Michael Leighton up and letting Grahame go!!

I haven't heard many people call for that, but I've been waiting for Leighton to move up all season! I know his brief time with us this season was due to being an AHL All-Star and wanting to be a Number 1 in Albany instead of getting tons of bench time in Raleigh, but he might even need to be our #1 next year. Cam rallied late in the season, but he's too young to be consistent all year long -- it would be great to have TWO tough goalies who can give each other a rest instead of relying on one and watching the other collect an NHL salary on the bench week after week!!

Bravo!!

04/06/08 at 11:12
Since this is about post-season plans, what do you think about the possibility of shipping a forward off either to get a defenseman in return or to free up budget/cap space to make a run at a UFA?

04/06/08 at 14:14
Luke is right on target. Defense and goal-tending are the fix-it's for JR in the off-season. The Canes gave up more goals than any team that made the playoffs.

Will Wesley retire? On the one hand, his short-handed pairing wasn't as effective this season, and he went from a plus early in the season to a minus at the end (so did many other Canes). On the other hand, it was very apparent Friday night that Wesley still has the fire in his belly to compete, and he played 78 games with some strong performances. I recall Luke's writing to the effect that Wesley can play with the Canes as long as he wants to.

04/07/08 at 06:52
Let's not forget what team toughness did for this team down the stretch. Abandoning that for veteran forward (albeit injured) talent in the final few games may have been our demise, You cannot argue that the grit seen by the Walker/Bayda/Aucoin line and that of Conboy and Brookbank added something tangible to the chemistry of the team. Perhaps we need to trade some forwards, who may be in our hearts due to history, to strengthen defense and make us a younger hungrier team. Also....Hamilton look sharp on the PP the last few time we saw him. Do we want to give up that shot?

04/07/08 at 08:27
Correct me if I am wrong but if Hedican ($2.4mill) and Wesley ($1.4mill) combine for $3.8mill, would it not be fair to suggest that is how much we have to seek some defensive help? Plus we need to ensure Justin Peters or somebody is capable of filling that #1 AHL spot, and capable of making the NHL jump if needed.

Is it safe yet to assume that Tanabe is gone???

Also how sure are we that Wesley and Hedican are going to retire? I love 'em both, but I think it is time to move on. If I were JR I would say to Glen:
"Thank you for your time and service to this team, if you hang up the skates we will hang up your jeresy/number in the arena"
... Maybe the same for Hedican too.

Also has JR made any indication that Grahame is gone? I actually like Grahame a lot, but I don't think this team is the right fit for him. I would certainly root for him in another NHL city, as he seems like a class guy and deserves a steadier job somewhere.

Just throwing this question out there (similar to Akulas) but should we consider more shake ups by trading a bigger offensive name? I would suggest Cole or Williams. I know they have a huge following here, and I like them both a lot, but think of how much we could get in return for players like that … especially ones who have recently endured huge injuries.

Before anybody knocks my question, consider this... how well has Tampa Bay done by keeping its "untouchable 4" players? I don’t want to see the Canes keep struggling just to hold on to a core team that won us a Cup... 2 years ago... and have to keep saying that same thing year after year. Stillman, Commodore, Ladd, and both Adams could be enough of a shake up, but we also need to ensure we have a fresh core that doesn't get complacent. 2 years ago we had a team that could easily look up and down the bench and know that each player there was going to show up every night 110%, now... we don't have that. We are about 75% there. A tougher more agile blue line could help hold the back end down allowing the offense to do their job.

2007-08 GF totals by team...
1) Montreal 262
2) Ottawa 261
3) Detroit 257
4) Buffalo 255
5) Carolina 252
6) Philadelphia 248
7) Pittsburgh 247
...after this there isn’t many teams over 240 or even 230 GF.

This says to me that scoring the most goals doesn't mean a whole lot. We scored so many goals in our last 4 games (7-1, 6-2) but didn’t score them when it counted. Ottawa scored most of their goals in the 1st half of the season, Pittsburgh in the 2nd half. Buffalo and Carolina missed the playoffs, and Philly barley made it in. Anaheim and New Jersey barely cracked 200 hundred goals and are considered to be the biggest contenders for the cup.
My point is, we can score goals, we need to stop getting scored on... it couldn’t get any more elementary. If we trade a 20 goal scorer and get a 20 goal "stopper" we still stand a shot at being able to score AND win more often, but also able to stop goals on us... very basic idea really, but when you miss the playoffs but mere points each year after winning it all then something has to give.

I think we as fans need to be able to let go of players we love in order for the team to have a shot at winning it all, not just settling for making the playoffs. I am not considering a major overhaul/rebuilding, but we need more than just a tweaking, we need movement this summer.

Just my 2cents;)
Johnnyg

04/07/08 at 12:02
A big chunk of Hedican and Wesley's contracts would go to re-signing Gleason and Seidenberg, among others.

04/07/08 at 12:07
The first thing JR needs to do is to get rid of Grahame. Ward didn't have a #2 he could depend on to back him up and Grahame should have developed into a better goaltender by now. He's in his 30's and there are younger goaltenders doing better than he is. He has great puck handling skills and I've often wondered what he could accomplish out of the goal as a defender maybe. I'm a huge Cole fan and I don't want to see him traded. With that being said if they can get someone in here that can score I'm up for anything. I'll support Cole wherever he ends up at and continue to wear his jersey to every game.
Besides the comment about Grahame I totally agree with what Johhnyg had to say. Sounds a lot like John Grahame. lol!