Hurricanes Coach Rod Brind'Amour Talks About Mass Free Agent Exodus Out Of Carolina

We usually talk about the teams that have beefed up after the start of NHL free agency, but sometimes we forget about the teams that kind of lost out on some players, and this year, the Carolina Hurricanes are one of those teams.

The Canes had a great regular season, but came up short in the postseason after being eliminated by the New York Rangers. That's a tough pill to swallow for a team that pushed its chips into the center of the table this year by bringing in Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov at the trade deadline.

However, Guentzel opted to sign with the Lightning, and more pieces of the puzzle skipped town. Teuvo Teravainen went to the Blackhawks, Stefan Noesen and Brent Pesce will be Devils next season, and D-man Brady Skjei will be part of what looks to be an absolute wagon in Nashville.

Even GM Don Waddell left and is now trying to build the Columbus Blue Jackets into a winning team.

However, one guy who stayed is head coach Rod Brind'Amour. He signed a new deal after the season and recently talked about all of the departures.

Head coach Rod Brind'Amour discussed the large number of free agents who left the team in free agency. (Photo by Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images)

"You get attached to the guys, especially when we’ve had them [for a long time]," Brind’Amour said at the Hurricanes' development camp, per NHL.com. 

"It was hard, I’ll be honest. It was hard to watch guys walk out of here. I understand it. It’s a business. They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do. But it’s also exciting because you get a whole new group of guys coming in, and maybe some of these young guys will crack the lineup, and you get to watch them grow. It’s just the evolution of it.

He also mentioned the reality of the business and that is that the team can't afford to pay everyone they'd like to thanks to the constraints of the salary cap.

But while a bunch of players left, a few will join the Canes in the fall, and they should all help the cause.

Defenseman Shayne Gostisbhere will be back in Raleigh for his second tour of duty with the franchise and fellow blue-liner Sean Walker is headed there too. Upfront, free agents William Carrier, Jack Roslovic, Eric Robinson, and Tyson Jost will all be on the Canes' roster.

They'll miss some of the guys who left — especially Guentzel and Skjei — but I think we should all expect to see Carolina in the playoffs once again next season.