Carolina Hurricanes Face Shortage of Right-Handed Forwards

Elias Lindholm and Riley Nash.

Above is the entire list of Carolina Hurricanes forwards who shoot right-handed—a mere two out of 11.

As the discussion surrounding whether Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis will or will not make another signing or trade this offseason carries along, the vast imbalance in the team's current composition of forwards is a key shortcoming to consider.

During this past Saturday's interview in front of fans at the Summerfest event, Francis noted the importance of keeping NHL roster spots open for prospects to vie for during training camp. Given that the 'Canes are just one forward short of a regular-size cast of 12, one could interpret this as meaning that the team won't dip into the remaining free-agent pool.

Francis also claimed that he's still on the phone every day, however, and if adding another forward on a one-way contract is not in the cards, an acquisition via trade could still be possible.

Left-Handed	Right-Handed
Nathan Gerbe	Elias Lindholm
Brad Malone	Riley Nash
Jay McClement
Andrej Nestrasil
Victor Rask
Jeff Skinner
Eric Staal
Jordan Staal
Chris Terry

If a modification is to be made to the Hurricanes forward corps before September, it will almost certainly bring aboard another right-shot right winger.

Since the team bought out Alexander Semin and let Patrick Dwyer hit free agency, Lindholm has temporarily become the Hurricanes' only player of such type (Nash is a center).

Unlike the general world population—10 percent of which is left-handed—the majority of NHL players shoot left-handed, although many write with their right hands. An "unscientific" study by Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe at the beginning of the 2014-15 season found that roughly 63 percent of the league used left-handed sticks.

Then-Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli also stated in the Globe article that "teams try" to balance their lefties and righties, but "it’s just that sometimes you can’t.”

A 2011 study by Arctic Ice Hockey found that at least 70 percent of NHL players at each position shot left-handed—except right wingers, of whom just 25 percent shot left-handed.

It is that elusive right wing position that currently confounds the 'Canes.

Jonathan Kozub/Getty Images

As far as available free-agent wingers go, Brad Boyes, Eric Fehr and Lee Stempniak are all right shots.

Sean Bergenheim, Curtis Glencross, Mike Santorelli, Jiri Tlusty and Scottie Upshall, conversely, are not.

And as far as prospect forwards who could earn opening-day jobs go, only Justin Shugg, Brody Sutter and Patrick Brown are right shots.

Lucas Wallmark, Brendan Woods, Brock McGinn, Sergey Tolchinsky and Phil Di Giuseppe—the flashier, more potential-laden players in the prospect pool—are not.

Having few right-handed shooters is not necessarily a no-go; the Red Wings ranked 10th in goals in 2014-15 (2.82 per game) despite sporting a mere one such player (Luke Glendening).

The heavy tilt toward the left side, nevertheless, could prove to be the fault that sinks the boat in the Hurricanes' situation. Carolina, after all, hardly boasts the same overall offensive firepower that Detroit does.

Whether ultimately addressed or not, the need for more right-shooting wingers should at least weigh on Francis' decision-making for the remainder of the offseason.

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.