The Carolina Hurricanes are desperately trying to sign defenseman Andrej Sekera to a contract extension.
He's an offensively talented blueliner with plus movement skills that plays with good positioning - it's easy to see why Carolina GM Ron Francis wants to keep him in town.
The problem is, the Hurricanes, while they have plenty of cap space, operate with a tight internal budget and Sekera, scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, may simply price himself out of Carolina.
"Getting him signed to an extension will be difficult. Carolina is very much a budge team. Not even close to the salary cap. They've got a strong internal budget. Sekera, because he puts points on the board, is going to be a guy that's going to generate between $5 million and $6 million a year on a longer-term deal," said Bob McKenzie on NBCSN's NHL Live, per NicholsOnHockey.com.
While that's bad news for fans of the Red and White, there is a silver lining to potentially losing Sekera.
As McKenzie noted in a conversation on Vancouver's TSN 1040 on Tuesday, as transcribed by NicholsOnHockey.com, the return on a deal for a rental defenseman ahead of the trade deadline tends to be substantial.
"The normal price for a rental defenseman at the deadline is usually a second round pick and a pretty decent prospect or a young player. Depending on how much interest there is, you can sometimes parlay that second round pick into a first round pick."
With Sekera headlining a limited group of available rental defenseman - including the Maple Leafs Cody Franson, the Coyotes Zbynek Michalek and the Senators Marc Methot - rumors have already begun to build that there are a number of teams interested in acquiring him.
While the Canes would prefer to keep such a talented player, the stunted market may eventually produce a deal too sweet to pass up.
