Hurricanes moving on from Fiala

The Carolina Hurricanes are actively shopping long-time winger Kevin Fiala. According to general manager Kevin Lacy, there are no plans for the 26-year-old Swiss forward to return next season.

Fiala, the Hurricanes' first-round draft pick in 2015, has struggled with consistency in four years with the NHL club. Both head coaches Sheldon Keefe and Gerard Gallant before him routinely shuffled Fiala throughout their lineups each of the past two seasons in an effort to help him break through.

The team had hoped that in changing the coaching staff entering the season, Fiala would finally break out offensively and solidify himself on one of the top two scoring lines.

"The talent is absolutely there," Keefe believes. "I think we've only seen half of what he can actually do. We just haven't been able to find a way to get the most out of him."

Fiala is currently a restricted free agent. Lacy indicated that negotiations of a new contract have little bearing for his decision to move on from one of the team's few young scorers. He added that it is possible the team could sign and then trade Fiala if a move does not come before the end of the summer.

"It just seems like the appropriate time to make the move since he is an RFA."

Lacy says that he wants to be perfectly clear of his intention to move Fiala. "This isn't about moving a player that we no longer want. Kevin is a great guy. Our preference would be to keep him and see him flourish with our club. We just feel that he needs a fresh start somewhere else and changes need to be made in order for us to compete in a division that is only getting stronger."

The Hurricanes are looking to bring in a new scoring forward in conjunction with Fiala's departure. According to TSN reporter Pierre LeBrun, Lacy may be looking to acquire a center, rather than a wing. Top-two centers Nicklas Backstrom and captain Joe Pavelski are both unrestricted free agents. Pavelski is likely to re-sign as an unrestricted free agent and could shift to the wing. The future is less certain for Backstrom, who had hip resurfacing surgery shortly after the playoffs.