Tweetmail No. 243: Priorities, Extensions & Summer Training

Hello and welcome to Tweetmail, a regular feature on Hurricanes.com in which I take your Twitter questions about the Carolina Hurricanes or other assorted topics and answer them in mailbag form. Hopefully the final product is insightful to some degree, and maybe we have some fun along the way.
Let's get to it.

What do you see as the team's top priority this offseason from a roster building standpoint? Do you think the team will place a higher priority on bolstering its goaltending, scoring or defense, and do you think Don Waddell will mainly utilize free agency or trades? - @coryspiers
As I alluded to in
last week's mailbag
, I think everything from a roster improvement standpoint has to be on the table. With that said, I think you're likely to see more changes made with the forward group and goaltending than on defense.
Though the Canes have four contracts expiring on the blue line, they also have five returning players
already under contract
for next season - Jake Gardiner, Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei and Jaccob Slavin. Joel Edmundson, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Sami Vatanen are all unrestricted free agents, and I wouldn't be surprised to see at least two move on in the offseason. Haydn Fleury is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, but I would imagine his new contract, which should produce a bit of a raise, wouldn't be too hard to hammer out. The five under contract plus Fleury is a solid group of six, and you could factor in Jake Bean as a potential seventh defenseman. And, this is all assuming that the unrestricted free agents don't re-sign, and the Canes don't make any additional moves. Any one of those factors could change, but I don't think the blue line needs much attention this offseason.
I do think the Canes could use some help up front - depth scoring, especially on the second and third lines could use a boost - and potentially in net. Of course, Petr Mrazek, James Reimer and Alex Nedeljkovic are all under contract for 2020-21, but that doesn't mean the team won't at least explore options through trades or free agency.
With all that said, the Canes aren't going to have a wealth of cap space at their disposal, which might limit how aggressive they can be in free agency - unless, of course, a trade helps clear some space. It's going to be an interesting offseason around the league, and I would expect to see the Canes make any and all effort to improve their squad.
What's one thing you have planned for the offseason? How often do the players have to check in with Bill Burniston on workouts? - @HHandorf
Well, I'm currently enjoying Sunset Beach, but through the magic of technology, this mailbag has found its way to the World Wide Web for your enjoyment. Vacationing during a pandemic is pretty limited, but we're enjoying having our toes in the water and bums in the sand for the week.
In regard to your question about players checking in with Bill Burniston on summer workouts, we actually were able to pose that question directly to him on this week's episode of CanesCast.
Here's a snippet from Billy B: "They're pros. They're doing what they need to do. Once we get them their program, they know what they need to work on. Our guys are awesome. They go and do it. It's more of a check-in just to stay connected, not to make sure they're doing the work because we know they are."
Thoughts on what the Svech and Dougie extensions may look like? - @AndyElliott1999
You know

during which Huell eyes the massive stack of cash in front of him, and he can't resist laying down on it?
Yeah, maybe like that.
In all seriousness, it's no secret that Andrei Svechnikov, who is set to enter the third year of his entry-level contract, will be due a massive raise. After equaling his jersey number in points in 2018-19, Svechnikov then tallied 61 points (24g, 37a) in 68 games this season. He scored 20 goals as a rookie, and he likely would have reached the 30-goal mark as a sophomore had the season not been cut short. With that sort of trajectory, it wouldn't be a bad idea to initiate contract extension talks before he goes and tickles a 40-goal campaign.
Hamilton was on track to put up career numbers in 2019-20 before his regular season unfortunately ended in mid-January. He had played in just 47 games but had already scored 14 goals - four shy of his career high set the season prior - and recorded 26 assists - 11 short of equaling his career best from 2016-17 - for a total of 40 points. He set a career high in points (50) in 2016-17 and was well on pace to smash that. Even still, he finished fourth on the team in scoring, still pacing all team defensemen in points. His current contract carries an average annual value of $5.75 million, and based on his recent performance, that number is due to increase, but how much? The free agent market this summer is going to help determine that figure.

As for the when of it all?
"They're important players for this organization, and it makes more sense to get to it sooner than later," President and General Manager Don Waddell said in his end-of-season press conference. "There's no timetable or deadlines. They both have another year left. We have a good relationship with both players, and I fully expect both players to want to stay here."
Have any changes been happening behind the scenes and at the rinks? - @caniac\_nation97
With nothing in the building since March, things have been pretty quiet at PNC Arena. Ice was down very briefly during Phase 3, but there hasn't been much activity since, and those of us who can work from home are continuing to do so.
Where there has been significant progress made is at Wake Competition Center, the site of the Canes' new practice facility. We last visited during the pause,
first in May
and
then a few weeks later
as the Canes began to customize their 12,000 square-feet of dedicated space.
Since then, the new twin-rink facility has quietly opened its doors as finishing touches continue to be added.

In a typical year, the Canes would already be on the red rink, carving up the sheet of ice with informal skates as training camp approaches.
Alas, that will have to wait for another couple of months, at least.
Will the Canes reveal and sell their Stadium Series jerseys next season if the Stadium Series game is postponed to the 2021-22 season? - @IronCaniac
Everything regarding the
Stadium Series
is somewhat up in the air at the moment. Waddell had this to say in his end-of-season virtual press conference:
"The date is obviously going to be in flux depending on where we're at with how many people you can have in the building, inside or outside. A lot of that is driven by the state. … It could even get pushed back a year depending on what happens with the schedule. We actually just in the last few days had to order our jerseys for it, so we're still proceeding as if it's going to happen. We just can't say it's going to happen in February. That will be more dictated once the schedule gets set and the NHL decides we're going to open up."
The team did indeed recently place its retail order for jerseys through Adidas, but that doesn't mean they'll hit the shelves upon arrival. There are still a lot of moving parts to be determined - an opponent, included - and a lot of those decisions and announcements may get pushed down the line if the game does as well.
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More questions and more answers coming your way soon!
If you have a question you'd like answered or you're looking forward to the Stadium Series as much as I am, you can find me on Twitter at
@MSmithCanes
, or you can
drop me an email
.