[Hanna Sniper]

Raleigh was a buzz this morning when Chris Gratton, the newest arrival to the Hurricanes forward unite, arrived to RBC Arena for the fist time as a member of the Hurricanes. This was Chris’s first chance to meet with local media since Saturdays trade that sent Todd Marchant to the Dallas Stars for UFA Chris Gratton and ECHL prospect Bobby Hughes. The 6-4 center was all smiles as media types huddled below the towering center as he patiently answered the questions. Chis, whom was busy tying up loose ends over the weekend due t the fact he’ll be joining his third team within the last week. “I didn’t want to fly to Raleigh too soon for the game, I figured I’ll give Hanna a few minutes in case he wanted to ship me to Boston” joked Chis “no, after Hanna called me up and told me to just meet with my family first as they are still in Tampa and that I could fly in tomorrow morning for our game against the Devils. I was a little excited about a new start here and wanted to fly in early”

The Hurricanes took a risk in landing the UFA, a risk that Coach Sutter thinks will pay off big time as the ‘Canes are in a recent slump. With the addition of Gratton the Hurricanes are now able to mix up their lines and relieve some of the pressure from their center unit. Up to this point the Hurricanes have been riding the backs of Stephane Yelle and young Brad Boyes far too much. “Coach Sutter didn’t comment to me where I’ll be lining up, honestly I’m just happy to be here, I’m looking to just play some hockey and stick around long enough to get my mail”.

Much of the talk and whispers this morning was more about the landing a UFA for a long term player and whether the Canes will be able to lock up Gratton long term. But Coach Sutter has a different perspective. The Hurricanes are in the mist of a playoff race that has seen the team fall to a 3-5-2 in their last ten games. Todd Marchant just wasn’t fitting in in Carolina, maybe a case of having to much of the same player, who knows. All that was clear is that Todd Marchant and the Carolina Hurricanes were a poor fit from the start. Regardless if Chris Gratton is a UFA or not, this team need a bigger presence up front, Chris’s 21 goals this year will be a welcome to the clutch and grab trapping ways of the Hurricanes.

When asked if there has been any talks of Gratton extending his contract “I’ve had a short talk with both Hanna and my agent, Hanna was more concerned about getting my family to Raleigh and settled in.” and then went on to say ”There’s a lot of time from now and July 1st, I’ll let Hanna and CMPunk from Anarchy Agencies take care of that and I’ll stick with scoring the goals”


Saturdays Trade