Canes seeking goalie; Faulk, Skinner discussed in trades

The Carolina Hurricanes have discussed parting with defenseman Justin Faulk, winger Jeff Skinner and other players in trade talks in recent days as they seek a goaltending upgrade, general manager Don Waddell said Wednesday.

"We have to look at every position on our hockey team," Waddell told NHL Network Sirius XM radio. "We've gone nine years without making the playoffs, and some guys have been here five, six, seven years. Not that they're bad players -- both (Skinner and Faulk) are some of our top players. So we want to make change, but when you make change, you want to make sure you're making the right change or making the right decision.

"(Skinner and Faulk) are guys certainly that people have called about. I talked to almost every general manager, that we're looking to make some changes, so certainly when other teams are calling, they usually want to call about your better players. So we're in discussions with not only those players, but multiple players."

Waddell, who recently had the interim tag removed from his GM title after serving as the replacement for the demoted-and-then-fired Ron Francis, was clear about seeking an upgrade in the crease, saying, "We all know we need to address our goaltending."

"It's something that we know we need to be better at," he said. "We know we need to have change there, we know we can't bring the same two guys back. Scott Darling came to camp last year probably not in the best condition, and we never got him to where he was back in Chicago. ... We feel that there's still something there, and we're going to do everything we can to put Scott in the best situation to have success.

"In saying that, we are in the market, and I've made it very clear to all the GMs I've talked to that we are going to try and address our goaltending."

TSN's Bob McKenzie said on the radio Monday that the team has only one player -- 20-year-old winger and leading point scorer Sebastian Aho -- whom it is not prepared to trade, adding "everybody else is available."

"Skinner, you name it," he said. "Skinner's getting moved, I would think. Everybody except for Aho. I think Faulk's very much in play, I think Skinner's very much in play.

Skinner, who turned 26 on Wednesday, ranked fourth on the team with 49 points in the regular season (24 goals, 25 assists) while playing all 82 games. He has 379 points in 579 games across eight seasons with the team since the Hurricanes drafted him seventh overall in 2010.

Faulk, 26, was the Hurricanes' second-round pick in that draft. He finished with 31 points (eight goals, 23 assists) in 76 games this season, one back of Noah Hanifin for best among Carolina's defensemen, and his 22:16 of average ice team ranked second on the team, trailing only defenseman Jaccob Slavin (22:35). Faulk has 186 points (37.2 per year) and 23:27 of average ice time for Carolina.

--Field Level Media