Carolina Hurricanes, Ron Francis Ready to Explode into NHL Trade Market

Ron Francis entered the Carolina Hurricanes' general manager position last summer knowing that hesitancy would not be tolerated.

As the countdown to the 2015 NHL trade deadline approaches two weeks remaining, Francis's GM office appears to erupt with activity, trades and conclusive non-hesitancy.

The 'Canes, second-to-last in the Eastern Conference and 18 points out of a playoff berth, have little in the way of tangible goals still viable for the 2014-15 campaign. What they do have, however, are a plethora of upcoming free agents and valuable rental items that could be dealt for tomorrow's assets.

Chip Alexander of the News & Observer received a straightforward statement from Francis on his pre-deadline plans:

TSN's Bob McKenzie has reported that all three of Andrej Sekera, Jiri Tlusty and Jay McClement are expected to hit the market hard in the coming weeks:

The trio all offer skill sets that should be quite intriguing to top contenders around the league.

Player	Age	Points	Cap Hit
D Andrej Sekera	28	18	$2.75M
LW Jiri Tlusty	26	20	$2.95M
C Jay McClement	31	12	$1.0M

Sekera, a 28-year-old ranked 15th among all league defenseman with 44 points (a career high by a mile) last season. His production has declined significantly this season, but he's remained a first-pairing stalwart alongside Justin Faulk and carries a Goodwill-caliber $2.75 million cap hit.

Tlusty, meanwhile, has just 12 goals and 20 points in 46 games but should garner a trade return that seemingly exceeds that mediocre production. He doesn't even turn 27 until March and has shown excellent potential as the quiet finisher alongside superior linemates—much like Jussi Jokinen did in Pittsburgh and Mike Ribeiro did in Washington.

McClement, 31, leads the Hurricanes in both faceoff percentage (55.3 winning percentage) and penalty killing (averaging a team-leading two minutes, 24 seconds shorthanded time on ice per game, per NHL.com, on the NHL's second-best penalty kill). He's tallied six points in his last 11 appearances, as well.

The soon-to-be-rebuilding 'Canes will likely be seeking primarily upper-round draft picks and prospects for their rental items. At exactly what quantity of return Francis is willing to pull the trigger will provide a good indication of just how far he plans to deviate from former GM Jim Rutherford's timid, sour legacy.

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At the 2013 deadline, the Sabres dealt Robyn Regehr to the Kings for two second-round draft selections. Just moments before, the Flames had traded Jay Bouwmeester to the Blues for first- and fourth-round picks and two prospects.

Back on Jan. 14 of this year, the Oilers traded David Perron (at the time scoring at about the same per-game rate as Tlusty) to the Penguins for a first-round pick and depth forward.

Those deals could give Francis and the Hurricanes a bit of a baseline asking price for Sekera and Tlusty.

The defenseman is likely somewhere in between the 2013 values of Regehr and Bouwmeester, although only if his destination club is confident that he can be smoothly extended before July free agency. Getting a first-rounder for Tlusty could be ambitious, but it's within the realm of possibility as deadline inflation kicks in.

The 'Canes won't get any return whatsoever on either, however, unless Francis is willing to commit to the trade. After all, his predecessor wasn't always.

The long-term boss of the next-generation Hurricanes will get a chance to begin a different tradition before February even comes to a close.

Salary-cap information courtesy of Spotrac.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more or follow him on Twitter.