The Francis Years — Part 2

21 min readAug 19, 2022

On April 28, 2014, after a season that saw the team come in 24th out of 30 teams in the league and out of the playoffs for a fifth straight season despite being only eight seasons removed from a Stanley Cup victory, the Carolina Hurricanes organization shook up its core by promoting franchise icon Ron Francis to general manager. The move signified a new era with the Hurricanes, who under previous general manager Jim Rutherford seemed to always be “one player away” and in doing so were never bad enough to pull the trigger on a rebuild, but never good enough to actually put forward a competitive team.

Eight years later, the Hurricanes are coming off their fourth straight playoff appearance, a second straight season at the top of their division, and a perennial Stanley Cup contender. Ron Francis, however, saw none of this success, losing his general manager role on March 7th, 2018, then seeing his contract terminated less than two months later.

On the surface, Francis’ tenure as Hurricanes GM seems bittersweet — dealt a poor hand, forced to rebuild a franchise from the ground up, and then disposed before seeing the fruits of his labor. But how much of the current Hurricanes can be traced back to the moves Francis and his team did (or didn’t do) in those four seasons?

In Part 1, we took a look at the four drafts where Ron Francis was in charge and the fates of those players. In Part 2, we will take a look at the free agent signings and trades that shaped the team more immediately between 2014 and 2018.

2014 Offseason

Fired head coach Kirk Muller, assistant coach John MacLean, and assistant coach Dave Lewis
Hired Bill Peters as head coach

The 2013–14 Carolina Hurricanes were a team in disarray. Despite a bounce-back season from Jeff Skinner and the offensive breakout of trade acquisition Andrej Sekera, the team struggled to find the promise it made during the first half of the 2012–13 season and again failed to make the playoffs. As is often the case with new general managers, Ron Francis looked to put his own men in charge of the product on the ice. A week after taking the role of general manager of the Hurricanes, Francis fired head coach Kirk Muller and assistant coaches John MacLean and Dave Lewis, only retaining assistant Rod Brind’Amour. Francis would later hire Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Bill Peters as his head coach. Peters would remain in the head coach role for all four of Francis’ seasons in charge, for better or for worse.

re-signed pending unrestricted free agent F Nathan Gerbe (2 years, $3.5 million)
re-signed pending unrestricted free agent D Ron Hainsey (3 years, $8 million)

Gerbe, a fan favorite, was an efficient gap filler for a team that had little depth and was a good lower-cost bridge signing. Gerbe would play a lot (perhaps too much for a forward with a shooting percentage of 4.2%) in a second line role during the 2014–15 season, but after an injury the following season returned in a fourth line role, then was not offered a qualifying offer the following offseason. Hainsey had previously signed a one year deal with the Canes less than a month before the 2013–14 season started, sparking rumors that he was being blackballed by the league’s owners due to his role with the player’s union during the 2012–13 lockout. Hainsey would provide a solid defensive presence for those three additional years, offering both a reliable body to put in the lineup each game while also providing some veteran leadership on a team that would get much younger during the course of his time with the team.

Signed unrestricted free agent F Brad Malone (2 years, $1.3 million)
Signed unrestricted free agent F Jay McClement (1 year, $1 million)
Signed unrestricted free agent D Tim Gleason (1 year, $1.2 million)

Francis’ first foray into free agency would not result in too much return. Malone was a fourth line grinder who provided big hits (and on the rare occasion, points) in a limited role. McClement was a defensive center who could win face offs and play on the penalty kill. While both players weren’t “bad” pickups, considering their low cost, it seemed odd to sign veteran and low-ceiling players to man the fourth line when the organization — while not overflowing with depth — did have young players who needed ice time for the organization to make decisions on. Signing a specialty player like McClement seemed more like something a team close to Cup contention would do — not a team rebuilding from the ground up. Gleason’s signing seemed more like a last hurrah than to benefit the team. Traded away the season before to Toronto, the last two year’s of Gleason’s contract were bought out, allowing for a more affordable reunion with Carolina. Unfortunately, Gleason’s career was nearing an end, as Gleason was noticeably not the player he was in previous seasons. This season would be his last as an NHL player.

2014–15 season

Claimed F Andrej Nestrasil off waivers from Detroit

With the team lacking in depth, Francis kept an eye on the waiver wire for players who could potentially make a contribution. In November, the team claimed Andrej Nestrasil off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings. Nestrasil would put up 18 points in 41 games during the 2014–15 season, contributing as a bottom six two-way forward. Nestrasil looked to break out somewhat the following season, but suffered a fractured vertebra late in the season and was never the same player.

Traded D Jay Harrison to Winnipeg Jets for 2015 6th round pick

Jay Harrison was a fan favorite defenseman who did the dirty work — blocked shots, threw hits, and occasionally threw punches. But with the team seeing what it had with players like Michal Jordan and Brett Bellemore and still employing Tim Gleason (and hell, a little Ryan Murphy splashed in for flavor), Harrison was expendable. Harrison would finish the season with Winnipeg then finish out his contract in the AHL. The 6th round pick would be used to draft David Cotton (check out Part 1 for more detail on that.)

Traded F Jiri Tlusty to Winnipeg for 2015 5th round pick (Spencer Smallman) and 2016 3rd round pick (Matt Filipe)
Traded D Andrej Sekera to Los Angeles for D Roland McKeown and 2016 1st round pick (Julien Gauthier)
Traded D Tim Gleason to Washington for D Jack Hillen and 2015 4th round pick (Callum Booth)
Re-signed F Jay McClement to a contract extension (2 years, $2.4 million)

Ron Francis’ first trade deadline saw the team as committed sellers, as they were (seemingly) committed to the rebuild. All three players were pending unrestricted free agents, so Francis was tasked with getting as much as he could for players who would be gone anyway. Sekera was the jewel of the bunch, with the two way defenseman being one of the best available players available at the deadline. Francis turned Sekera into a first round pick and Roland McKeown, a high second round selection in the most recent draft. While the move didn’t end up paying off for the Canes in the long run (McKeown never developed into an NHL-level player, and the 1st round pick turned into Julien Gauthier who also never developed for the Canes before being traded to the Rangers), it especially stung for the Kings, who dealt a top prospect and a first round pick for Sekera, missed the playoffs, then saw Sekera walk in free agency to Edmonton. LA missing the playoffs actually caused the Canes first round pick to be pushed to the 2016 draft, as it was initially a 2015 pick, but lottery protected. Tlusty, only two years removed from a season where he scored 23 goals in just 48 games, struggled for stretches — scoring 10 goals in his first 23 games, then managed only 3 in his next 29 before the trade. Could Francis have gotten more had he pulled the trigger earlier, or was the market not there? As for Gleason, the move seemed more like an effort to get the defenseman an opportunity to chase one more Stanley Cup, and resulted in a fourth round pick and veteran defenseman Jack Hillen, who got a concussion during his third game as a Hurricane which ended his career.

The puzzling move was the re-signing of McClement, whose signing in the first place was odd for a rebuilding squad. McClement looked to be an ideal candidate for a trade to a contender, with an expiring contract and the specialty profile (faceoff winning penalty killing bottom six center) that Stanley Cup contending teams always seem to drool over. Yet Francis elected to re-sign the soon-to-be 32-year-old bottom six center instead of getting assets for him, for reasons. The move was especially confusing considering the team already had the Staal brothers under contract, the emergence of Victor Rask in his rookie season, and Riley Nash, a pending restricted free agent. Don’t worry — we’ll get to Riley Nash again soon.

2015 Offseason

Signed UFA F Derek Ryan to two-way contract (1 year, $600,000/$150,000 at AHL level)

Undrafted Derek Ryan was signed by the Canes organization at the age of 28 after spending four seasons overseas playing professional hockey in Hungary, Austria, and Sweden. Initially targeted for the AHL as a depth signing, Ryan would spend most of the 2015–16 season in Charlotte, where he would be named captain.

Traded G Anton Khudobin to Anaheim for D James Wisniewski
Traded 2015 3rd round pick and 2016 7th round pick to Vancouver for G Eddie Lack

The search to find the quality backup or successor to Cam Ward (depending on who you ask) continued on during the 2015 offseason. Anton Khudobin seemingly won the job after the 2013–14 offseason, putting together a 2.30 GAA and .926 SV% in 34 starts, while incumbent starter Cam Ward struggled with injury, a 3.06 GAA, and a sub .900 SV%. Former GM Jim Rutherford, in one of his last moves as GM, re-signed Khudobin to a two year extension at an AAV of $2.25 million. Yet seemingly new head coach Bill Peters nor Francis saw much in Khudobin, and after struggling in his first season of his extension, Khudobin was essentially swapped out for Lack, with Khudobin shipped off to Anaheim for puck-moving defenseman James Wisniewski, and Lack coming in from Vancouver. Lack, much like Khudobin under Peters, was unable to escape Cam Ward’s shadow and struggled with injuries in two years with the team before being traded to Calgary. Wisniewski became famous in Canes lore for skating 47 seconds in the 2015–16 regular season opener before tearing his ACL and being lost for the season. Wisniewski would be bought out the following offseason.

Bought out F Alexander Semin

Alexander Semin was one of the great “what-ifs” of the mid 10s Hurricanes. Signed initially to a one year deal, Semin performed well on a first line with Eric Staal and Jiri Tlusty, earning him a five-year, $35 million extension from previous GM Jim Rutherford. However, Semin’s numbers dropped the following season, then Semin ran into new head coach Bill Peters, who did not see eye-to-eye with the Russian foward. Semin’s ice time diminished, while sportswriters talked about the “enigmatic Russian” while anyone who actually looked at Semin could tell he wanted to be anywhere but with the Peters-led Canes. Francis gave Semin his wish, buying him out during the 2015 offseason, and ensuring Semin’s cap hit would stay with the team until the 2021 offseason. Could Semin have been a productive player under a different head coach? Possibly, but there was no way it was going to happen under Peters.

Did not submit a qualifying offer to F Riley Nash, making him an unrestricted free agent
Signed unrestricted free agent F Riley Nash (1 year, $1.15 million)

I told you we’d get to him soon. As mentioned earlier with the extension of Jay McClement, the Hurricanes had depth at center, especially with the McClement signing. So, when the Canes did not tender a qualifying offer to Riley Nash — a player who honestly did many of the same things that McClement did — it was just assumed that the team had made their choice, preferring McClement over Nash. Hey, who knows what happens in the locker room, right? Maybe he stepped on the logo, who can tell.

Then, on the first day of free agency, the team announces that it has signed Nash to a one year, $1.15 million contract. Some speculated that Nash was not offered a qualifying offer because he was arbitration eligible, and the team did not want to risk going to arbitration and having to pay an uncertain amount. But again, this didn’t add up. The Hurricanes in 2015 were not a cap ceiling team and Nash’s numbers (25 points in 68 games) didn’t line up to an artificially high payday, so what really happened? Nash would put up similar numbers in 2015–16, but leave as a free agent, signing a two year deal with Boston for less money per year than the Canes signed him for here.

Traded D Dennis Robertson, rights to Jake Massie, and a 2017 5th round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for F Kris Versteeg, F Joakim Nordstrom, and a 2017 3rd round pick (later traded)

The first of two deals Francis would make with Stan Bowman to give Bowman’s Chicago Blackhawks cap space, this made much less long term impact to the organization than the other one. Versteeg was a middle six winger who was making too much for his role, and the Blackhawks were pushing the cap ceiling with Johnathan Toews and Patrick Kane’s combined $21 million cap hit going on the books for the upcoming season, so the price was minimal — Robertson was a low ceiling AHL defenseman, and Massie had been drafted months earlier in the 6th round. While Versteeg was projected to be flipped at the deadline by the rebuilding Canes, Francis and Coach Peters saw something in Nordstrom, giving him first and second line time his first season and making him a regular part of the Francis/Peters Canes era.

Signed unrestricted free agent F T.J. Hensick (1 year, $600,000/$250,000 AHL)

Signed G Eddie Lack to a contract extension (2 years, $5.5 million)

The decision to extend Lack — without playing a regular season game for the team — can be second-guessed now, but at the time, it was seen as a coup. Getting Lack to commit to the future of the team going through a pretty strong rebuild was a win, as most — if not all — veterans were seen to be expendable come the trade deadline. However this move seemed to signal that perhaps Francis and Coach Peters weren’t on the same page, as Peters never seemed to be a “Lack guy,” so why extend a player the head coach isn’t sold on, especially when he still has a year on his contract to see if the goalie can win the coach over?

2016 Trade Deadline

Traded F Eric Staal to the New York Rangers for F Aleksi Saarela, a 2016 second round pick (later traded), and a 2017 second round pick (Luke Martin)
Traded F Kris Versteeg to Los Angeles for F Valentin Zykov
Traded D John-Michael Liles to Boston for F Anthony Camara, a 2016 3rd round pick (Jack LaFontaine), and a 2017 5th round pick (later traded)

None of these trades were unexpected, but they were still impactful, especially the trading of a franchise icon like Staal. Due to Staal’s history, the return was expected to be much larger, and there was frustration among fans that the team was unable to secure even one first round pick. Staal probably didn’t help his value by reportedly stating that he would only accept a trade to New York (who his brother Marc was playing for), while also putting up his worst offensive season of his career. Whether it be years of losing, Peters system, or just needing a new start, Staal would bounce back to his glory years — not for New York, but for Minnesota, where he would sign in the coming offseason. Meanwhile for the Canes, Saarela became a fine AHL player, but was never able to break the big club for Carolina, or later Chicago or Florida and eventually left North America to play in Europe. The 2017 pick would turn out to be nothing (see Part 1 for the history of Ron Francis draft picks), but the 2016 pick would have much greater impact.

As for the other two players, little came out of those deals. Zykov spent time in the AHL for the Checkers but, like Saarela, couldn’t break through on the NHL level. Camara was a minor league body put into the trade for roster balance and was gone from the organization after the season. LaFontaine didn’t even spend a year with the organization after being signed out of college, and the 5th round pick would later be traded (we’ll get to that.)

2016 Offseason

Traded 2016 2nd round pick and 2017 3rd round pick to Chicago for F Bryan Bickell and F Teuvo Teravainen

Another case of Ron Francis and the Hurricanes bailing out Stan Bowman and the Chicago Blackhawks, but this one came at a much greater price. Bryan Bickell got himself a sweetheart deal after a great 2013 Stanley Cup Playoff run, including the game tying game six goal with 76 seconds left to play in the eventual Cup winning game. But a $4 million cap hit, especially for a player who found himself buried in minors that past season, was a tough pill to swallow. In order to get the Canes to take Bickell and his $4 million cap hit, the Blackhawks would have to give up Teravainen, who would be seeing his entry level contract end the following offseason and require a raise. Teravainen was coming off a season that saw him score 35 points in 78 games as a 21-year-old, and fit wonderfully in a young core that was beginning to take shape including Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce, and Jaccob Slavin, all under 25 years old.

The Canes planned to use Bickell as well, but after only seven games with the team, Bickell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, essentially ending his NHL career. Bickell would come back on his own terms, playing the last four games of the Hurricanes season, including scoring a shootout goal in his final career game.

Re-signed G Cam Ward (2 years, $6.6 million)

The running narrative in the three seasons that followed the original rock bottom 2014–15 rebuild season for outside observers of the Canes was that if the team had even league average goaltending, they could be a dangerous and even playoff contending team. Is it true? Unfortunately for Francis and Peters, they would never get to find out, and a good portion of that came down to their loyalty to Cam Ward. Francis inherited Ward and a 6 year, $37.8 million contract that hung on the neck of the Canes like an albatross, especially following two injury-plagued seasons before Francis took over. However whether it an edict from team ownership (a $6 million+ per year player wasn’t going to be a backup), a jingoistic head coach (who never seemed to give his Swedish or Russian-born goaltenders the opportunity to be the #1 goalie), or just blind loyalty to the player who won the Conn Smythe Trophy from the franchise’s only championship, Cam Ward returned to the starters crease more often than Jason returned to the campground in the Friday the 13th series.

While the first two years of Ward during Francis’ tenure were through no fault of his own, Francis’ decision to bring Ward back for two more seasons of less than league average goaltending was his own. Neither Ward nor Eddie Lack “won” the starting goaltender role after the 2015–16 season, but with Lack’s extension scheduled to kick in this offseason, the thought might have been to look for another option at goaltender to pair with Lack and move on from Ward. Instead, Francis chose to bring back Ward, pairing him with Lack again, resulting in another season of less than league average goaltending on the horizon. Ward would go on to finish his contract in Carolina, then sign a one-year deal with Chicago as a backup before retiring.

Bought out the contract of D James Wisniewski

Speaking of goaltending, the player the Canes received when they dumped off former goaltender Anton Khudobin would be bought out, ensuring that Wisniewski would only play 47 regular season seconds as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes. Despite a surprise appearance on the 2018 USA Olympic men’s hockey team, Wisniewski would never play another NHL game.

Signed unrestricted free agent F Lee Stempniak (2 years, $5 million)
Signed unrestricted free agent F Viktor Stalberg (1 year, $1.5 million)

With the team still in a rebuilding phase and cap room being spent… conservatively, the Hurricanes and Francis weren’t really in a position to “splash the cash”, so to speak, with the majority of their free agent signings being two-way AHL depth signings. The team did sign two free agents from other teams this offseason, however, bringing over Stempniak from Boston and Stalberg from the New York Rangers. Both were veteran middle six wingers, but Stempniak’s two-year contract was significant — due to the Hurricanes rebuild and youth movement, the team lacked players eligible to be made available to the new Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Stempniak, who would be still under contract to the team the following season, could be exposed. After all, what would a rebuilding team be doing signing a 33-year-old middle six forward to a multi-year deal, right?

Ahem. Moving on.

Re-signed F Victor Rask (6 years, $24 million)

Ron Francis re-signed three young players in the Hurricanes organization to long term deals, buying out their arbitration years in an effort to lock them in at a lower, known salary for an extended term. For two of those players, the gamble paid off.

This would be the one who didn’t.

Rask was coming off his sophomore season scoring 21 goals and 48 points, which looked like his breakout season. However, Rask would never reach that point total again, and after nearly matching that total the following year, struggled with injuries (including a major hand injury while cooking in his home before the 2018–19 season). Luckily for the Canes, they were able to deal Rask for Nino Niederreiter, but that move took place under the next regime.

Re-signed head coach Bill Peters to a three year extension

On the surface, this looked like a logical move. Peters had been in charge for two seasons, and during that time saw his team make a 15 point improvement despite trading off veterans at the deadline. But later it would be revealed that Peters had abused players on his team and those incidents were reported to management before the time of this extension, meaning that Francis was aware of his head coach physically abusing his players, and still felt that he should continue on as head coach.

2016–17 Season

Signed unrestricted free agent D Jakub Nakladal
Claimed F Martin Frk off waivers from Detroit
Claimed D Klas Dahlbeck off waivers from Arizona
Lost F Martin Frk off waivers to Detroit
Released D Jakub Nakladal
Claimed F Ty Rattie off waivers from St. Louis
Lost F Ty Rattie off waivers from St. Louis

Another signal that the general manager and the head coach weren’t on the same page was the Jakub Nakladal/Martin Frk/Ty Rattie saga. All three players came to the team, played minimal games (Frk played in two games, Nakladal three, Rattie five), and were jettisoned within a month (Frk and Rattie back through waivers, Nakladal having his contract mutually terminated.) In the case of Nakladal, the acquisition of Dahlbeck likely spelled the end for him (preferring to play in the KHL than the AHL, hence the termination), but with Frk and Rattie, the bottom six were pretty open. Why not give either an extended look?

Traded D Keegan Lowe to Montreal for D Philip Samuelsson

That’s the third son of a former teammate acquired by Francis, if you’re keeping score at home.

2017 Trade Deadline

Traded D Ron Hainsey to Pittsburgh for F Danny Kristo and a 2017 2nd round pick (later traded)
Traded F Viktor Stalberg to Ottawa for a 2017 3rd round pick (later traded)

Not much of an impact here, but between a young team and needing to hold onto veteran contracts for the expansion draft, there wasn’t much to deal. Hainsey was the biggest chip, fetching a second round pick (and Danny Kristo, an AHL body for roster balancing purposes,) but getting a third for Stalberg, a low scoring bottom six winger, was a decent bit of business.

2017 Offseason

Traded 2017 3rd round pick to Chicago for the rights to pending UFA G Scott Darling
Re-signed pending UFA G Scott Darling (4 years, $16.6 million)

Francis took the third round pick that he acquired in the Viktor Stalberg trade at the deadline to acquire the rights to pending UFA goaltender Scott Darling. It might be hard for Canes fans to remember, but Darling was going to be the best available goaltender on the free agent market, so Francis used a third round pick to jump the line to sign Darling, a goaltender who put up great numbers as the backup in Chicago to Corey Crawford.

By now, we all know how this story ends. Darling, who had essentially been given the starting goaltender role over Cam Ward going into the season (a departure from Coach Peters’ past actions), struggled a bit to begin the season, but wasn’t horrible. Then, in a November 22nd game at home against the Rangers, Mika Zibanejad lofted a dump in from the blue line that Darling attempted to glove but missed, landing directly into the net. It was all downhill from there. After a nightmare first season, Darling reportedly got into better shape, but was injured shortly before opening night of the 2018–19 season. When he was able to return, the team already had two goaltenders entrenched on the roster, and eventually sent Darling to the AHL, where after some time he elected to step away from hockey for personal reasons. He would be traded to Florida and his contract bought out the following offseason.

Lost F Connor Brinkley to Vegas in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft
Traded 2017 2nd round pick to Vegas for D Trevor van Riemsdyk and a 2018 7th round pick
Traded 2018 5th round pick to Vegas for F Marcus Kruger

I group these three together because they may be related, though there is no official confirmation. Going into the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, numerous teams worked out deals with Vegas to select (or not select) specific players on their respective teams’ exposed player list. Many of the deals became public knowledge, but not the Canes. That said, the selection of AHL pending unrestricted free agent Brinkley essentially was a “punt” on the Canes expansion list; a list that included low-cost NHL players like Lee Stempniak, Joakim Nordstrom, and Klas Dahlbeck. Yet the team would send a second round pick to Vegas the day after the draft for van Riemsdyk, which seemed a bit high for someone projected to be a bottom pairing defenseman. Then, the team would send another draft pick to Vegas for fourth line defensive center Marcus Kruger, who never seemed like he fit on the Canes roster. Were these moves somehow “compensation” for staying away from Stempniak and Nordstrom?

Signed unrestricted free agent F Josh Jooris (1 year, $775,000)

I had to look this one up, because I was trying to figure out the reasoning for Francis to sign a player like Jooris. It’s not that Jooris is a bad player to have in the organization, but as a depth two-way contract just in case. But Jooris’ $775k deal was a one-way deal, implying that he was meant to stay at the NHL level, presumably to play on the fourth line. With the acquisition of Jooris and Kruger (and Joakim Norstrom already on the roster), the Canes had locked in their fourth line, despite having Andrew Poturalski, Lucas Wallmark, and Valentin Zykov having nothing left to prove at the AHL level. Jooris wasn’t a heavy hitter (averaging around a hit a game), was 27 years old at opening night, and had 13 and 12 points the prior two seasons. Jooris wouldn’t last the entire season.

Signed unrestricted free agent F Justin Williams (2 years, $9 million)

Easily the highest profile signing in the Francis era — how could this not work out? Not just a legacy pickup (though the flashbacks to the 2006 Cup Champions didn’t hurt), Williams’ 48 points the previous season would have been third on the Canes, and the 16 year veteran 36-year-old would provide leadership, presumably wearing the captain’s “C” to begin the 2017–18 season after a year of going with only alternate captains after the trade of longtime captain Eric Staal at the 2016 deadline.

Except it wasn’t. Instead of giving Williams the captaincy, Coach Peters named Jordan Staal and Justin Faulk “co-captains”, with Jeff Skinner being named alternate captain. Williams, brought in for leadership and the most experienced member of the team with three Stanley Cup Championships, including the only one in Canes history, couldn’t even get an alternate captaincy. Williams, in what should have been a feel good story for the player and fans alike, found himself frustrated and at a breaking point near the end of the season. He wasn’t alone.

Extended the contract of D Jaccob Slavin (7 years, $37.1 million)
Extended the contract of D Brett Pesce (6 years, $24.15 million)

At the time, the Victor Rask deal didn’t look bad, so Francis elected to roll the dice again, this time with his young defensive duo. Both Slavin and Pesce had one year remaining on their entry level contracts, but both looked like strong NHLers, playing tough minutes in their first full season the year prior. The risk more than paid off, as both Slavin and Pesce sit as bargains some 3–5 million below market value. Easily, combined with the drafting of Sebastian Aho, the most impactful moves Ron Francis has made on the Hurricanes as they stand today.

Traded F Josh Jooris to Pittsburgh for F Greg McKegg

Ron Francis’ last transaction as Hurricanes GM seems small, but the Church of McKegg is still remembered strongly in parts of the Triangle, so it would be a shame not to acknowledge it, especially since it erased an earlier mistake made by Francis.

Epilogue

Ron Francis’ general manager run ended on March 7th, 2018, when he was “transitioned” into the role of “president of hockey operations” by new owner Tom Dundon. The role, whatever it was, would not last long, as Francis was fired less than two months later. Change came quickly — of the 33 players who would play on the 2017–18 Carolina Hurricanes, less than half played on the 2018–19 roster.

While I think it’s easy to scapegoat the Francis era by cash restraints, the moves that Francis did make look questionable at best. The most questionable decision — and the one that really tends to get overlooked and really shouldn’t be — was the decision to keep Bill Peters as head coach. Peters “my way or the highway” approach to his players clearly affected the play of established veterans on the team, affecting the performance (and psyche) of players like Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, and Justin Williams, not to mention the toll he took on the players he physically abused.

Regardless, take a look for yourself at Ron Francis’ tenure as Carolina Hurricanes GM, both here and in Part 1, where we looked at his draft history, and come to your own conclusions.