After adding free agents in July, there's speculation in August about whether the Carolina Hurricanes should trade a D-man for some scoring power.

July was a busy month for Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell. He re-signed first-line center Sebastian Aho to a long-term contract extension and bolstered his roster with free-agent additions Dmitry Orlov, Michael Bunting, Tony DeAngelo and Brendan Lemieux.

The Hurricanes were also linked to defenseman Erik Karlsson before he was traded last week to the Pittsburgh Penguins as well as winger Vladimir Tarasenko prior to his signing with the Ottawa Senators last month.

August has been quieter for Waddell apart from signing depth defenseman Caleb Jones and acquiring minor-league forward David Kase from the Philadelphia Flyers. That's prompted speculation over whether the Hurricanes GM has other off-season moves in mind.

Carolina Hockey Now's Bryant Baucom wrote Waddell has some questions to answer, including whether to trade Brady Skjei and/or Brett Pesce. Both defensemen are slated to become UFAs next summer.

Baucom pointed out the Hurricanes' ongoing need for more scoring. He believes Skjei or Pesce could be used as trade bait to address that issue.

Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press shares that view. He noted that Waddell has mentioned his limited cap space made it difficult to boost his roster. The Hurricanes have $920,583 in cap space remaining.

Given the Hurricanes' blueline depth, they can afford to part with Skjei or Pesce in a deal to add a scoring forward. Skjei carries an average annual value of $5.25 million, while Pesce carries a cap hit of $4.025 million.

Waddell could target clubs with forward depth looking to bolster their defense corps. Given the high number of clubs in the same boat cap-wise as the Hurricanes, it could be a dollar-in, dollar-out trade scenario.