FHN Today: Could Carolina offer sheet end up costing Vincent Trocheck?

The Carolina Hurricanes made headlines late last month when it signed Montreal’s Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet — one the Canadiens declined to match. The $6.1 million price tag put the Canes up against the salary cap this season and could end up costing them center Vincent Trocheck as he can be a free agent next summer.

Trocheck goes into the 2021-22 season in the final year of the six-year deal he signed with the Panthers in 2016.

Florida traded Trocheck to Carolina at the trade deadline in 2020.

On Sunday, Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now was told by an NHL executive that Carolina owner Tom Dundon “basically ordered” Carolina GM Don Waddell to make the offer sheet to the 2018 third overall draft pick.

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“This was pure ego pleasure by an owner who has no idea what he’s doing,” the source told BHN. “Take a look at what they have coming up to sign. Dundon royally (expletive) Waddell here. This is what happens when an owner doesn’t understand how to run a team and doesn’t let the hockey people do their jobs.”

Next summer, Carolina will not only have to sign RFAs Martin Necas and Kotkaniemi, but also Nino Niederreiter and Trocheck. Niederreiter currently makes and average of $5.25 million per season; Trocheck is at $4.75 million.

Per CapFriendly.com, Carolina has around $25 million in cap space in 2022-23 but only 12 players are under contract.

“There was clearly no big picture vision here,” the source continued.

FLORIDA PANTHERS LINKS

The Florida Panthers won’t have as many new faces as they have in previous seasons, but the ones they have brought in should provide an impact.

We look at how the new guys are going to fit in with the Panthers with training camp a few weeks away. (FloridaHockeyNow)

— D’Eriq King isn’t the only South Florida collegiate athlete to team up with the Panthers. On Wednesday, the team announced it has offered “the first-of-its-kind name, image and likeness contract to every eligible female athlete at Florida Atlantic University.”

The Owls have over 200 female student-athletes in a variety of sports. The Panthers are the first pro team to sponsor an entire collegiate women’s athletic program. (Panthers.com)

— Tim Reynolds joins Territory Talk to discuss the Miami Heat’s upcoming season. OK, he’s talking about the Panthers. (Panthers.com)

— Five questions facing the Panthers. (NHL.com)

AROUND THE NHL

Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy knows he is going to get paid — and he is no hurry to get a new deal with the Bruins. (BHN)

— Connor McDavid says he is jacked to play alongside Sidney Crosby with Team Canada. (Edmonton Journal)

— Does Mathew Barzal need to control his temper a bit? (NYI Hockey Now)

— Former captain Nicklas Lidstrom reflects on the life of mentor and friend Brad McCrimmon on the 10th anniversary of his passing in the tragic Yaroslavl plane crash. (Detroit Hockey Now)

— More on that sad day 10 years ago. The Florida Panthers lost three members of their family. (SI/Hockey News)

— Some way-too-early predictions for the Canucks. (Vancouver Hockey Now)

— Carolina Hurricanes defenceman Jake Gardiner will undergo hip and back surgeries and is expected to miss the entire season. (TSN)