The Carolina Hurricanes announced today the club has acquired forwards Kris Versteeg, Joakim Nordstrom and a third-round pick (in 2017) in exchange for defensemen Dennis Robertson, Jake Massie and a fifth-round pick (in 2017).
Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis discussed the deal with the Carolina Hurricanes official website.
Kris is a skilled forward who has won a pair of Cups with the Blackhawks and can provide veteran leadership in our room,” said Francis. “Joakim is a solid, 200-foot player who can kill penalties. This gives us more options up front for this season, while also now giving us 10 picks in the first three rounds over the next two drafts.
The Blackhawks continue the deconstruction of the 2015 Stanley Cup winning team, while continuing to clear cap room. A total of $2.2 million of Versteeg’s $4.4 million cap hit (and $4.7 million salary) was retained when the Florida Panthers dealt him to Chicago, so the Blackhawks are dumping the remaining amount. He had a solid year in 2014-15, scoring 14 goals and 34 points in 61 games played. Nordstrom, a depth forward who scored three points in 38 games, is set to make just over 600k and becomes an RFA at the end of the year.
The players Chicago acquired aren’t top prospects.
Massie, a defenseman, was drafted in the sixth-round in 2015 and will play in the USHL this season. Robertson is a 24-year-old defenseman coming off his first full pro season. Originally drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2011, he signed with the Hurricanes as a free agent in 2014, and put up 17 points in 57 games with the the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL.
The Hurricanes may have taken on salary, but they’ve improved their roster and moved up in the 2017 draft at the same time. One of the luxuries of having cap space is you can take on deals like Versteeg’s in order to add draft picks. While it was a necessary move by the Blackhawks (they still need to sign Marcus Kruger), the Hurricanes did well here.
