RALEIGH – The perpetual retooling of the Carolina Hurricanes increased yesterday as GM Norm Donovan pulled off two important deals. First, promising young winger Justin Williams was sent to the Boston Bruins after weeks of stubborn haggling. In return, the Hurricanes receive goaltender Robert Esche – the closest thing to a legitimate #1 starter since Kevin Weekes left – a pick and a prospect.
"It was clear that something needed to be done between the pipes," admitted Donovan, "and as much as we hate to lose Justin we think Robert will be able to step into the starter's role immediately and be there for some time."
Esche, who the Hurricanes hope to have re-signed to a long term deal by the end of the regular season, is reportedly happy to get out from under shadow of Miika Kiprusoff and play some serious minutes – even if it is for a non-playoff team like Carolina. Esche's signing puts a further nail in the coffin of Mike Dunham, who has struggled in Carolina as the starting goalie.
"Mike was aware that we were looking in a different direction in the long-term for some time now," said Donovan, "Joel [Quenneville] and I sat down with him and laid it out and he's been very professional about the whole situation. Clearly, we'd love to be able to move him to a contender before the deadline and give him a shot at a Cup, even if it is as a backup."
With a salary of $3.3 million, it has been difficult for Donovan to find takers on Dunham in the cap-conscious OTHL, but for a team in need of a quality veteran backup the price would not be great.
In a separate deal, Donovan sent the Hurricanes leading point scorer Radek Dvorak to the New Jersey Devils for young defenceman Jonathan Girard, Calder Cup front-runner Jozef Balej and highly-touted prospect Lauri Tukonen. The deal comes after weeks of heavy interest in Dvorak from a half-dozen teams.
"We were surprised by the amount of interest GMs had in Radek," admitted Donovan, "we know he is a great player but the offers we were receiving were enough to convince us that maybe he should be dealt. I think in this deal we bolster our team with some quality young players that hopefully will help us out in the long-term and we wish Radek the best of luck in New Jersey."
Despite the flurry of activity, rumour has it that Donovan is still heating up the phone lines on several fronts. In addition to Mike Dunham, other veterans like Dean McAmmond, Aaron Ward and Niclas Wallin have also been generating a fair bit of interest. Despite the rebuilding effort, the Hurricanes are also looking to next season and have been in discussion with other teams looking to unload players for cap reasons, hunting for bargains.
Esche, Girard and Balej are all expected to be in the lineup when the Hurricanes host the Washington Capitals tomorrow. Despite being last in the conference, the Capitals have consistently given the Hurricanes trouble in their match-ups this year, so expect both squads to be on their toes.