Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2023-24 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Carolina Hurricanes

Current Cap Hit: $81,694,391 (under the $83.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Jack Drury (one year, $925K)
F Seth Jarvis (one year, $894K)

Potential Bonuses
Jarvis: $500K

Jarvis had an impressive rookie season before stagnating a bit last year.  However, he is off to a big start this season, flirting with the point-per-game mark early on.  That has him well on his way toward hitting his bonuses at a minimum while he’s the type of player that it wouldn’t be surprising to see Carolina try to work out a long-term deal with.  A bridge contract likely checks in around the $4MM mark while a longer-term pact could push closer to $6.5 to $7MM.  Drury has carved out a regular role this season, albeit on the fourth line.  If he holds onto that for the full season, he could push for a small raise on a short-term bridge contract.

Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level

D Jalen Chatfield ($762.5K, UFA)
D Tony DeAngelo ($1.65MM, UFA)
F Brendan Lemieux ($800K, UFA)
F Jordan Martinook ($1.8MM, UFA)
F Martin Necas ($3MM, RFA)
F Stefan Noesen ($762.5K, UFA)
D Brett Pesce ($4.025MM, UFA)
G Antti Raanta ($1.5MM, UFA)
D Brady Skjei ($5.25MM, UFA)
F Teuvo Teravainen ($5.4MM, UFA)

Teravainen has reached 63 points or more in three of the last five seasons but is also coming off a down year that saw him score just 12 times in 68 games, making this a key platform year.  He’s off to a nice start and is near that goal total from 2022-23 already.  If he can get back to even the 50-point mark, he could have a shot at landing a small raise on another long-term agreement.  Martinook had a career year offensively last season with 34 points but is still looking for his first goal this year despite logging nearly 15 minutes a night.  His typical offensive profile is one that should see him signing for a bit less than this, especially if he’s able to secure another multi-year agreement.

Necas is going to be a particularly interesting case to follow.  He had a breakout 71-point performance last season, providing impressive value on the first year of his bridge deal.  He also spent some time at center, his natural position but one he hasn’t played a ton in the NHL.  At this point, Necas has established himself as a full-time top-six forward and will have arbitration eligibility for the first time this summer.  His qualifying offer is $3.5MM but that’s well below what he’ll get on his next deal.  His camp would probably like to see Necas deployed more down the middle to bolster his value but that might be injury-dependent.  If Carolina wants to lock him up long-term, they’ll need to at least double his current AAV.

Lemieux had to take a $550K pay cut in free agency this past summer and has found himself out of the lineup more often than not this year which doesn’t bode well for his next contract.  He’s going to wind up close to the minimum salary once again and even a one-way deal might not be guaranteed.  Noesen has been one of the top under-the-radar bargains after putting up 36 points on a minimum-salary contract; he’s on pace for more than that this year with the AAV now below the minimum.  His journeyman track record will work against him here (is it a late breakout for the 30-year-old or is he just the right system fit?) but even so, he should push for closer to $2MM on the open market.  If enough teams think it’s a late breakout, that number will go higher.

Skjei had never reached the 10-goal mark until last season when he broke out with an 18-goal campaign.  He has consistently been a strong third option on the back end and should be in a position to land at least a small raise and, at 30, close to a max-term agreement if he wants to pursue that long of a contract.  Pesce has been in trade speculation dating back to the summer as many suspect the Hurricanes won’t be able to keep him in the fold.  Like Skjei, he’s a reliable second pairing player but has a better defensive game but a weaker offensive one.  The fact he’s also a right-hand shot will also help his market.  Both players should land somewhere in the $6MM range.

DeAngelo was a late entrant into free agency after being bought out by the Flyers after a planned trade to the Hurricanes didn’t go through quite as planned.  Unfortunately, the reunion hasn’t been great so far as playing time has been hard to come by and he has struggled.  Nonetheless, a contract similar to this one could still be doable from a team looking to add some offensive upside on the back end at a lower cost.  Chatfield has worked his way up to being a reliable sixth defender with very strong possession numbers.  He’s the type of player that a team or two might believe is capable of a bigger role which could drive his price tag past the $2MM mark.

Raanta acknowledged that he left money on the table to remain with Carolina over the summer.  That might wind up biting him a bit in the end as he has struggled considerably this season which won’t help his marketability this summer.  That said, if he can turn things around, something in this range should still be doable, perhaps with the Hurricanes if they want to keep the extra depth.

Signed Through 2024-25

G Frederik Andersen ($3.4MM, UFA)
D Brent Burns ($5.28MM, UFA)*
F Jesper Fast ($2.4MM, UFA)
D Dmitry Orlov ($7.75MM, UFA)
D Jaccob Slavin ($5.3MM, UFA)

*-San Jose is retaining an additional $2.72MM on Burns’ contract.

Fast has been a capable depth scorer for most of his career while also being an effective penalty killer.  Assuming that holds up over these last two years – he’s off to a bit of a slow start this season – there’s little reason to think he could land another two or three seasons around this price point.  It’s worth noting he’ll be 34 at that time, however, which may restrict his market a bit.

Orlov surprised many by signing the priciest deal in free agency in terms of AAV, electing to take a short-term inflated contract with the hopes of landing another one in a more favorable marketplace two years from now.  It was also surprising that Carolina was the one to give it to him with the depth they had on the back end plus them needing to re-sign or replace Skjei and Pesce a year from now.  The move hasn’t worked out the greatest so far although there’s lots of time to turn it around.  He’ll also be 34 when it’s time to sign his next contract so it’d be difficult to expect he’d land this much, even with the projected raise in the cap.  But if it came in starting with a six on a three-year deal (or even four) if he’s able to turn his play around, going this route could ultimately work out well for him.

Slavin hasn’t been asked to play true number one minutes recently but that doesn’t mean he can’t handle them; he’ll almost be certainly valued as someone who can in free agency.  He’s not a top point producer but he has shown progress on that front as well while being a stalwart in his own end.  Accordingly, he could be pushing for $8MM or more on a max-term agreement, even though he’ll be 31 at that time.  Burns has fit in quite well with Carolina while still playing a big role.  However, he’ll be entering free agency at age 40.  Will he even want to sign another deal?  If he does, it’ll almost certainly be a one-year agreement, setting up the ability for a team to make some of it bonus-based for additional cap flexibility.

Andersen also took a pay cut to remain with Carolina over the summer and he was also off to a rough start to his season.  However, he’s now out indefinitely with blood clots and it wouldn’t be fair to speculate on his next deal until he’s able to return.

Signed Through 2025-26

F Michael Bunting ($4.5MM, UFA)

Bunting went from being a fringe piece with Arizona to an integral part of Toronto’s top six over the last two seasons, making him one of the more intriguing players to hit the market over the summer.  He didn’t quite wind up with a long-term deal but this one should hold up pretty well if he can provide around 45 points a year on the second line.  If he does, he’ll have a much more favorable market next time around having proven he can produce outside of Toronto.

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