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Hurricanes acquire two players in trade with Blackhawks

By Christian Candeloro

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 12: Petr Mrazek #34 and Calvin de Haan #44 of the Carolina Hurricanes defend the net against the Boston Bruins in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on May 12, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 12: Petr Mrazek #34 and Calvin de Haan #44 of the Carolina Hurricanes defend the net against the Boston Bruins in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on May 12, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The Hurricanes continue their busy offseason with a trade on Monday night

Carolina acquired defenseman Gustav Forsling and goaltender Anton Forsberg from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for injured defenseman Calvin de Haan and forward prospect Aleksi Saarela.

The move continues a trend of teams dumping players in an attempt to clear cap space as the trade clears de Haan’s salary and $4.55 million cap hit for the 2019-20 season.

The price of clearing that cap hit is a talented prospect in Saarela, who led the Charlotte Checkers to the Calder Cup championship, leading the team with 30 goals and adding 24 assists.

Saarela was originally acquired as the centerpiece of the Eric Staal deal and excelled in the Hurricanes farm system.

In return, the Hurricanes received Forsling, a young and talented defenseman that could potentially take de Haan’s minutes in the third pair. Forsling has struggled with injuries in his three seasons with the Blackhawks, playing a career high 43 games in 2018-19 and scoring nine totals points.

Our friends at Blackhawk Up described his 2018-19 season with this underwhelming endorsement:

"The easy route would be to give Forsling the letter of his last name for his final grade.  However, given the fact that he’s still just 22 years old, and that defensemen take longer to develop, I’m giving him a D-.  The ‘Hawks organization desperately injected him into the roster before he was ready in 2016-17. Either Coach Q saw something special in him, or general manager Stan Bowman placated the young player with a roster spot, to prevent him from returning home to Sweden."

Forsberg joins a muddled goaltender situation in Carolina and figures to compete with Alex Nedeljkovic as a potential No. 2 goalie behind either Petr Mrazek or a free agent signing. A former 7th-round pick, Forsberg is 11-24-4 in 45 career games, posting a 3.21 GAA and .901 save percentage. He played all of 2018-19 in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs and produced a 2.64 GAA in 32 games.

If the return seems underwhelming, well it is. de Haan was an overpaid third-pair defenseman and the Blackhawks will assume the final three years of his contract. The Hurricanes will lose his veteran presence but he also was slated to be out for 4-6 months after having shoulder surgery. Losing Saarela is the bigger blow, as the youngster was emerging as go-to goal scorer who could make an impact at the next level. Now Canes fans will have to watch him score for the Blackhawks instead.

In a vacuum this deal is a stinker for the Hurricanes but trades can’t be evaluated in a vacuum. The $4.55 million cap hit can now be spread to RFA Sebastian Aho and signals the Hurricanes interest in signing a top-flight goaltender option when free agency opens.

The Hurricanes can replace de Haan’s minutes with Hayden Fleury, Jake Bean, Forsling, or a free agent option but they can’t replace Aho or a goaltender like Semyon Varlamov in their lineup. If this trade opens up the space to make moves like that, then it is unequivocally a success.

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