3 Landing Spots For Hurricanes' Brett Pesce After Huge Rumored Contract Ask

The Carolina Hurricanes have indicated that contract talks with Brett Pesce have not gone their way through attempting to re-acquire Tony DeAngelo. If another right-shot defenseman is brought in, that means there would be four and one would have to move. Brent Burns is going nowhere and Jalen Chatfield is very cheap and useful in his role. This indicates Pesce is bound to be traded this offseason.

It has been reported by The Athletic that Pesce could be pushing for a max-term deal at around $6.5 million AAV. That seems a bit too rich for the Hurricanes, but not for some other teams. Let's look at three who could sign Pesce to a deal like that if he's dealt to them.

Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are a young team and are looking to get some experienced help on the back-end, especially on the right side. Three of their top four defenders shoot left, and the fourth, Henri Jokiharju, could definitely be utilized in a third pairing role. Pesce seems like the perfect target seeing as the Sabres currently have a lot of cap space still. They will still have to make some bigger signings, but the Hurricanes' defender could definitely be one of them to shore up the back-end. He's very competent in his own end and would help prevent lots of goals.

Detroit Red Wings

After the Detroit Red Wings traded Filip Hronek to the Vancouver Canucks for a first round pick at the trade deadline, everyone has been waiting to see exactly what Steve Yzerman does to address that big hole on the back-end. Cap space isn't an issue with Detroit either and since there aren't a ton of high-end talent on defense in free agency, a trade seems logical. The Red Wings haven't been great at defending, so a player like Pesce could really impact the team in a positive way.

Dallas Stars

Despite making it to the conference finals this season, the Dallas Stars are in need of a defensive makeover. 38-year-old Ryan Suter struggled and could either be bought out or moved with two years left on his deal. The team does have a little bit of cap space to work with without making any moves as there's just a few minor signings to deal with. If Miro Heiskanen is able to shift back over to the left side, Pesce could be a great partner for him. But he could also fit nicely alongside Esa Lindell as Jani Hakanpaa is playing a bit too high in the top-four.