Welcome to our offseason initiative — 30 teams in 30 days.
From July 16 until Aug. 14, we’ll be dedicating each day to a new team by recapping the offseason and looking ahead to 2012-13.
There will also be a series of posts looking at key stories, player profiles and burning questions regarding each squad.
Today, that squad is the Carolina Hurricanes.
Last season, the Hurricanes were a storm of disappointment. They spent last summer spending money on Tomas Kaberle and Alexei Ponikarovsky only to trade them away later on. Meanwhile the team finished out of the playoffs while leaving goalie Cam Ward hung out to dry. GM Jim Rutherford admitted his mistake on Kaberle, he was determined to make a splash this offseason.
Boy did he.
During the NHL Draft they traded Brandon Sutter and a first-round pick to Pittsburgh for Jordan Staal. They signed Alexander Semin. They’ve now, reportedly, locked Jeff Skinner up to a six-year extension.
Is that enough to make the Hurricanes a playoff team in 2012-13 though? Stick around with PHT throughout the day as we’ll break down a team looking to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2008-09.