A number of teams were interested in Hurricanes veteran Ray Whitney, but none was willing to give him the new contract he wanted, reports the Raleigh News & Observer.
The Hurricanes completed five trades yesterday, prior to the deadline, none of which included Whitney, who is in the final year of his current contract.
"He's one of the most popular players on the Hurricanes," Carolina GM Jim Rutherford told the News & Observer. "He's one of our best players. We did not see a deal that makes sense for us. So Ray remains a Hurricane, which will make a lot of people happy, including myself."
Prior to the Olympic trade freeze, the Hurricanes had worked out a trade that would have sent Whitney to the Los Angeles Kings for a second-round pick and a top prospect, believed to be Thomas Hickey.
According to the News & Observer, Rutherford confirmed a trade with the Kings was in place, but would not confirm the prospect.
Whitney originally asked for a three-year contract extension from the Kings in order to waive his no-trade clause, but the Kings declined and countered with a one-year offer. Talks eventually broke off and Whitney vetoed the move.
"There were offers for him," Rutherford said. "The only offer I took to Ray was back a month ago when we had a deal with a Western Conference team. That didn't go anywhere. But I didn't take any deals to him [Wednesday]. This was the organization's decision."
It's believed the Hurricanes will try to work out an extension with Whitney before he becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Files from:
Raleigh News & Observer
