The Carolina Hurricanes are at the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference and because of that, they decided to sell a bit at the deadline. One of their players they decided to sell was defenseman Ron Hainsey as he’s been traded to the Penguins in exchange for a second round pick and prospect Danny Kristo.
Ron Hainsey Traded to Pittsburgh Penguins
Ron Hainsey to Penguins in return Hurricanes gets a 2nd pick and Danny Kristo. #tvasports
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) February 23, 2017
Hainsey has one year and $2.83 million remaining on his three-year contract he signed a few seasons ago, but 50 percent of the salary will be retained by Carolina.
Carolina retains 50 percent of Ron Hainsey salary/cap hit in the trade
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 23, 2017
There have been many rumors surrounding Hainsey and what will happen with him as the deadline comes close, but it seems that Carolina wanted to get something in return for him. Hainsey has played in over 800 NHL games in his career and has not been in the playoffs once, so this could be a big deal for him that he will finally get to see playoff hockey in his career after nearly 14 seasons and 17 years since he was drafted 13th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2000. The other piece in the deal, Kristo, is a career AHL defenseman who has not cracked the NHL as of yet, logging well over 200 games in the minors scoring 25 goals twice.
Hainsey has appeared in 56 games for Carolina this season and has four goals and 17 points for them. He’s not your typical offensive defenseman but he’s very good in his defensive zone and will provide his new team with stability in their own zone. Hainsey’s best season in the past few years came last year when he had five goals and 19 points. He hadn’t had that many points in a season since the 2009-2010 season when he had 26 points. Whatever the case, Hainsey is a solid, experienced addition for the Penguins as they they look to defend last year’s championship. Hainsey in all has played 891 games scoring 49 goals and 250 points while carrying a 49.3% Corsi-for percentage.
Just after the deal was made, the team announced defenseman Trevor Daley would be undergoing surgery on his knee and will miss more than one month as he recovers.
Trevor Daley underwent successful knee surgery and will be sidelined six weeks. Details: https://t.co/IGJFsXUKoj pic.twitter.com/Mpj8cf61GJ
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 23, 2017
This was likely a stopgap deal made to stop the bleeding that has been the Penguins defense, with Olli Maatta and Justin Schultz going down in the past week with a hand injury and concussion respectively.
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