Hurricanes make statement following trade deadline

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) —

The NHL trade deadline has come and gone and Hurricanes General Manager Don Waddell showed his hand by not showing anyone the door.

Waddell shopped soon-to-be free agent Michael Ferland up until the 3 p.m. cutoff, ultimately deciding it’s better for the Left Wing to keep his Carolina sweater. For now at least.

“If we are going to trade Michael, we’d have to replace that player. The rental players that were all out there..we didn’t see that type of player,” Waddell said at an afternoon press conference. “We told teams all along that if there’s a deal that we couldn’t say no to that we would talk in and look at it but the other day there was nothing that made sense for us to trade Michael.

Since New Year’s Eve, the Canes have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL going 18-6-and-1 over that span. They currently sit in in the last playoff spot- something that hasn’t been done this late in the season in almost a decade.

Captain Justin Williams is happy that the group is staying together. “We’re enjoying this time right now absolutely,” said Williams. “It’s obviously a lot better. Enjoying each other’s personalities and cracking some more smiles when you have a few wins under your belt.”

Waddell agrees. “It’s a great group of guys in the locker room. I’ve have been around a lot of teams over the years and this group really have come together. We believe in this team and that’s why we stuck with them and will move forward like this.”