After a long and initially unsuccessful attempt to bolster his team via free agency, Carolina GM Norm Donovan has finally made some significant headway. As announced tonight, the Hurricanes have signed star winger Cory Stillman and centre Jason Allison. The pair immediately move into the team's top 6 forward spots, with promises of more free agent signings to come.
"We are not done," affirmed Donovan "not by a longshot."
Last season, Stillman was Calgary's top forward and had an impressive 21 points in their long playoff run. An excellent passer with a nose for the net, he will likely create a deadly 1-2 punch with Eric Staal on the Hurricane's top line. He will earn $15 million over 3 seasons, with a substantial signing bonus. Though some free agents have shunned Carolina as being too far removed from Cup contention, Stillman was swayed by Donovan's pitch about the future of the team.
"My agent and I heard what he had to say," said Stillman, "and we both walked away from the meeting convinced that he was genuine in his commitment to make this team competitive immediately."
Jason Allison, who played with Stillman in Calgary last season, agreed. "This wasn't a purely financial decision," said the big centre, "if I didn't think there was a chance to win, I wouldn't have signed."
Allison, another great offensive passer, signed a 2 year, $4,000,000 deal and will likely centre the Hurricanes second line. Donovan hopes that the prospect of playing won the wing to one of two big, passing centres might entice other free agents to jump onto the Hurricanes bandwagon.
"We have offers pending for some very big names," admitted Donovan "we've had ongoing discussions with a number of impact players and hopefully, these signings will show them that we are serious - we want to build a winner now."
To do that, the Hurricanes will need to bolster their mediocre defence. Although some progress was made by the acquisition of Dan McGillis, the blueline is sorely lacking top-pairing talent. Donovan was one of the finalists in the bidding war for Chris Pronger, but the star blueliner opted for a more Cup-ready team. Donovan says that was a mistake.
"I think that the free agent defencemen have to look now at the team we have," explained Donovan, "with Staal, Stillman, Allison, Martin Gerber, Geoff Sanderson, Ales Kotalik, Jason Williams, Alex Steen and the other guys we have coming up and realize that we are only a few defencemen away from being not just competitive, but a huge threat in the Eastern Conference. The defencemen who make that leap of faith and sign in Carolina stand to reap more benefits than the naysayers are giving us credit for."
With a number of large offers still on the table and considerable cap room remaining, the next few days could prove to be a turning point in the franchise's history.