Following a quiet several weeks leading up to Monday's trade deadline, the Hurricanes made a splash at the 11th hour following the acquisition of C, Max Domi, formerly of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
GM Don Waddell was catching some heat in the Triangle leading up to the deadline as the Hurricanes sat back and watched Eastern foes in Florida, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and New York Rangers make reinforcements. Behind the scenes though, the Domi trade had been on the table for weeks and it wasn't until 2:45pm on Monday that everything came together to make this happen.
Waddell and coach Rod Brind'Amour were aligned in that they didn't want to lose a player from the active roster. Chemistry has been an important ingredient towards the Canes division leading status and they didn't want this to be jeopardized. Making this trade unique was that in order to fit Domi under the salary cap, a third team, in this case, Florida, needed to be added. As such, Columbus will be retaining 50% of Domi's salary for the remainder of the season, while Florida will absorb 25%. Although not unprecedented, it's a creative way to acquire a player only three years removed from a 72-point season.
This trade will add a bit of physical presence for a roster that needs it. Despite being an upper-tier regular season club over the past four years, teams with a physical bite, such as Boston and Tampa Bay, have been their kryptonite in the playoffs. While the Canes won't be rolling out the number of edge players that other Eastern playoffs teams will, there is now a greater mix of jam than 2020-21.
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