The Carolina Hurricanes have agreed to trade Cliff Pu to the Florida Panthers in exchange for future considerations. The Panthers also trade Tomas Jurco to the Hurricanes in return for future considerations as well. The two could not be a part of the same trade as Pu is on an NHL deal and Jurco is on an AHL deal.
In addition, the Canes have traded forward Cliff Pu to the Panthers for future considerations.
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) February 25, 2019
Hurricanes Trade Pu to Panthers
The Carolina Hurricanes completed two trades on Monday, January 25th with the Florida Panthers. The Panthers acquire forward Cliff Pu and future considerations in exchange for forward Tomas Jurco and future considerations.
Key Players
In Pu, the Panthers get a young center at just 20 years old. Pu was previously acquired from the Buffalo Sabres this season as a part of the return in the Jeff Skinner deal. This season, he scored 1 goal and 5 assists for 6 points in 55 AHL games this season, taking no penalties thus far. Pu just made the leap from the OHL to the AHL this season where he has struggled a bit, even playing a short stint in the ECHL. He was quite successful with the London Knights and Kingston Frontenacs in his last year in junior where he had 84 points in 65 games. He was originally drafted in the 3rd round, 69th overall of the 2016 NHL draft by the Buffalo Sabres.
What This Means for the Future
The Hurricanes did not seem to have much faith in Pu after a very poor start to the 2018-19 season in the AHL. In 55 games he has just 6 points in the AHL, so they decided to trade him for Jurco, who is on an AHL deal and does not count against the NHL contract limit. Jurco has 10 points in 14 AHL games this season, so he is already outproducing Pu in less time. This could be a precursor to a future move in order to take another contract back, or it could be loading the Charlotte Checkers for a playoff run, where they lead the league in the standings.
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