Consider Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell a man of action. Dougie Hamilton remains on the shelf with a fractured fibula, and Brett Pesce sustained an upper-body injury over the weekend that coach Rod Brind’Amour described as “long term,” meaning the Canes entered trade-deadline day minus their best two right-handed defensemen.
Hours later: come on down, Sami Vatanen and Brady Skjei.
On the same day the Canes upgraded as center with Vincent Trocheck, they scored Vatanen from the New Jersey Devils for center Janne Kuokkanen, defenseman Fredrik Claesson and a conditional 2020 fourth-round pick that can become a third-round selection.