NHL Rumors: Carolina Hurricanes & St. Louis Blues Talking Trade

In a recent piece for Daily Faceoff, Frank Seravalli noted that the Carolina Hurricanes should aim to add a second-line center before the trade deadline passes. This ultimately makes sense, as the Hurricanes lost Vincent Trocheck this past offseason and failed to find a legitimate replacement for him. With the St. Louis Blues struggling and Ryan O’Reilly being a pending unrestricted free agent, perhaps Carolina could aim to bring him in as a rental at the deadline.

There’s no question that O’Reilly would give the Hurricanes a notable boost in their top six, and this is especially so if he can find his previous scoring touch. Furthermore, he also is a very effective penalty killer because of his strong defensive play, so he would offer strong play on both sides of the ice. With that, he is of course a proven Stanley Cup winner, so he could be a fit for the Hurricanes in all aspects.

If the Blues are unable to turn around their rough season before the deadline passes, it seems rather likely that they will be sellers rather than buyers. If so, there’s a good chance that their captain will be on the move, and the Hurricanes would be very wise to take advantage of it. Let’s see if that does in fact come to fruition from here.