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Carolina Hurricanes Sign Malte Stromwall

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The Carolina Hurricanes have added an intriguing KHL player, signing Swedish forward Malte Stromwall to a one-year, two-way contract with a $750K cap hit and a $175K total guarantee. Hurricanes GM Don Waddell had the following to say about his newest free agent addition:

“This is a player we’ve been tracking for a while, Malte is a tremendous skater with high-end skill coming off a very productive season in the KHL.”

Waddell is certainly right about Stromwall, as he enjoyed a breakout 2021-22 campaign in the KHL. Stromwall, coming off of a disappointing 21-game run with SKA St. Petersburg to end 2020-21, came to Dynamo Minsk and made an immediate impact. He finished second on the team in scoring with 19 goals and 32 points in just 38 games, doing so on a flawed Minsk team that finished second-to-last in the KHL’s Tarasov Division. Stromwall saw significant time on Minsk’s power play as their most reliable goal-scoring option.

Stromwall doesn’t have extensive experience in North America, and his last stint on this side of the pond was several years ago, when he played in the New York Rangers organization. Stromwall looked out of place on North American ice and had only six points in 44 AHL games. The Hurricanes are adding Stromwall with the hope that he can be more productive this time around.

He’ll head to their training camp with an outside chance to make their team if he plays extremely well. In all likelihood, though, Stromwall will head to the defending Calder Cup Champion Chicago Wolves and look to prove that he can be an offensive difference maker on smaller North American ice surfaces.

Nashville Predators Sign Joakim Kemell

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And we have another entry-level deal announced tonight, this time for Nashville Predators first-rounder Joakim Kemell.

Kemell, 18, was the 17th overall pick at the 2022 draft and the first pick of the Predators’ six-player 2022 draft class. A product of Finnish club JYP Jyvaskyla, Kemell made headlines this season for his blazingly fast start to the Liiga season. Kemell was scoring at an unheard-of rate but eventually slowed down as the season wore on. Kemell finished with 15 goals and 23 points in 39 points, a very impressive total for a draft-eligible prospect who was just 17 years old for most of the season.

Kemell’s best weapon in his offensive toolbox is his shot. He can pick apart goaltenders who dare to leave areas of the net open for him to target and is aggressive in using his shot as often as possible. There are some worries about his shot selection and tendency to stay on the perimeter of play, but those issues should improve as he matures and gains more experience in professional hockey.

By signing this entry-level deal, the Predators have unlocked a host of options for Kemell’s development path next season. They could let him compete for a spot on the team in training camp, and potentially even let him stay in the Predators’ organization in North America if they deem that the best option for his development. They’d also have the option of loaning him back to Liiga where he would in all likelihood take on a bigger role on one of Liiga’s youngest teams.

Whatever path they choose, bringing Kemell into the fold in Nashville has provided the team with an immediate boost to the quality of their prospect pool, which had declined in recent years. Kemell has the chance to be an impact top-six winger and now that he’s signed with the team it’ll be up to the Predators’ development staff as well as Kemell himself to determine if he lives up to the hype.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Elias Salomonsson

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The Winnipeg Jets have inked a member of their most recent draft class to an entry-level deal. The Jets announced today that second-round pick Elias Salomonsson has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the club.

Salomonsson was the 55th overall pick at last Thursday’s draft and is one of the younger players in the draft class. He’s still just 17 years old and won’t turn 18 until August 31st. The Jets took him out of Skelleftea, a club in Sweden. Salomonsson split time last season between Skelleftea’s SHL and junior-level teams, and his 10-game stint in the SHL was extremely impressive given his age. Salomonsson had 11 goals and 22 points in 35 games at the U-20 level and zero points in his 10 SHL games, although he played in a very sheltered role.

Salomonsson is a smooth-skating blueliner with polished two-way ability. He has a lot of room to grow and with the right development could blossom into a top-four defenseman. His entry-level deal gives him the chance to earn a spot in Winnipeg at training camp, though in all likelihood he will return to Sweden and take on a larger role with his home club.

The new SHL-NHL agreement stipulates that Salomonsson cannot be sent to the AHL because he is under the minimum age and isn’t a first-round pick. So, if the Jets preferred to send him to their AHL affiliate for next season they won’t have the option to do so as they would have in prior years.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Calle Jarnkrok

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Free agent “frenzy” may be over, but there are still players available looking for contracts. The Toronto Maple Leafs have added one of those players, forward Calle Jarnkrok. The team has announced the deal, and the contract is a four-year contract with a $2.1MM average annual value.

Jarnkrok, 30, split 2021-22 with the Seattle Kraken and Calgary Flames. He arrived in Seattle as their choice from the Nashville Predators at the expansion draft, and was traded to Calgary for three draft picks. Jarnkrok played 66 games last season and scored 12 goals and 30 points in 66 games. Jarnkrok’s offensive production throughout his career has been largely consistent, and he’s finished around the 30-point range with around 15 goals in most of the years he’s spent in the NHL.

Jarnkrok offers positional versatility, as he can play center and the wing, and plays a 200-foot game that coaches can trust. The Maple Leafs lost speedy middle-six winger Ilya Mikheyev to the Vancouver Canucks earlier this week, so Jarnkrok can slide into their lineup and play his role as a two-way middle-sixer and penalty killer. Jarnkrok has featured on penalty kills in the past and got sporadic time on the Flames’ penalty kill and second-unit time on the Kraken’s penalty kill.

At 30 years old, the four-year term for Jarnkrok may be a bit risky. But his $2.1MM cap hit is definitely affordable, and if he can play to his normal 15-goal, 30 to 35-point form in Toronto this deal will be a solid investment for GM Kyle Dubas, and the sort of signing that coach Sheldon Keefe will greatly appreciate.

Buffalo Sabres Sign Three Draft Picks

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The Sabres have gotten down to business today, earlier finalizing a deal with free agent defenseman Lawrence Pilut and now finishing up entry-level deals for their three first-round picks: Matthew Savoie, Jiri Kulich, and Noah Ostlund.

While all three deals were announced simultaneously, the development paths for each of the players is likely to be very different. Savoie, the first pick of the three, was drafted ninth overall after a brilliant season for the Winnipeg Ice of the WHL. Savoie, who plays center in Winnipeg, will in all likelihood return to the Ice for 2022-23 and spend another season starring on a contending WHL club.

Ostlund, the second pick, was picked 16th overall out of Djurgardens in the SHL. He’s perhaps best known for being the playmaking center on Djurgardens’ line of 2022 first-rounders, often sharing the ice with Minnesota Wild prospect Liam Ohgren and Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki. Ostlund signs his entry-level deal and can potentially be sent to the AHL’s Rochester Americans if he doesn’t make the Sabres out of training camp. The new NHL-SHL agreement would stipulate that Ostlund returns to Sweden, but both his status as a first-rounder and Djurgardens’ relegation to HockeyAllsvenskan means Ostlund is a candidate to play in the AHL next season. Ostlund could also take the route of fellow Djurgarden product Alexander Holtz, who spent most of the year after he was drafted in the SHL while also getting 10 AHL games under his belt to familiarize himself with the North American game.

The last of the three first-rounders the Sabres’ signed today, Kulich, was selected 28th overall. Kulich, who spent his draft season with Karlovy Vary HC of the Czech Extraliga, has a few options to choose from for where he wants to play next season. Kulich said in his media availability after the draft that he hoped to play in the NHL next season, but the track record of 18-year-old late first-rounders making an immediate jump to the NHL is thin. Kulich will have the opportunity to play in Rochester if that’s where the Sabres choose to send him, or he could always return to Czechia and get another season of European pro hockey under his belt. One other option for him would be going to the CHL, where his rights are owned by the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL, although that is not the likeliest option, despite the fact that he was selected third overall at the 2022 Import Draft.

All three players are extremely talented forwards, and two of them have experience playing against men already. With their entry-level deals signed, the Sabres will be able to help each player along their development paths so that they can reach Buffalo and become difference-makers as efficiently as possible.

St. Louis Blues Extend Will Bitten, Sign Dylan McLaughlin

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Amidst the craziness of the ongoing free agent frenzy, the St. Louis Blues have re-signed an RFA depth player, Will Bitten. Per the team’s release, Bitten has signed a two-year, two-way deal carrying a $762K cap hit, per CapFriendly.

Bitten had a breakout season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds after a midseason trade saw his NHL rights dealt to the Blues from the Minnesota Wild. Notching a solid 25 points in 45 regular season games after the trade, he was also stellar in the Calder Cup Playoffs for Springfield, tallying 21 points in just 18 games.

At 24 years old, the long-term NHL ceiling for Bitten isn’t super high, but there’s still time for him. He’s a cerebral player with good hockey sense, and he’ll look to continue to work his way up the Blues’ depth chart over the next two seasons. Bitten was originally a third-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2016. He’s yet to see an NHL game.

The team has also signed forward Dylan McLaughlin to a one-year, two-way contract that will pay $750K in the NHL and $175K in the minors (link).

McLaughlin began his amateur career in the USHL, playing for both the Sioux Falls Stampede and the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders before spending four years at Canisus College, where he had 147 points in 152 games. The forward turned pro, signing with the Rockford IceHogs, the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. The 27-year-old has split his professional career between the IceHogs and the Indy Fuel of the ECHL, most recently compiling a strong 2021-22 with Rockford, tallying 13 goals and 29 assists in 55 games.

Detroit Red Wings Sign David Perron

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The Atlantic Division arms race continues. After signing Andrew Copp earlier today, the Detroit Red Wings have inked David Perron. The team has officially announced the signing, with Perron getting a two-year contract worth $4.75MM per year.

For the first time in his lengthy career, the 34-year-old Perron has signed a contract with someone other than the St. Louis Blues. He’ll join the upstart Detroit squad and offer a plug-and-play offensive dynamo for new head coach Derek Lalonde to deploy. Almost seeming to get better with age, Perron has recorded at least 46 points in each of his last six seasons, including 27 goals and 57 points this year in just 67 games.

Strong on the powerplay and at even-strength, he will add even more firepower to a suddenly dangerous-looking Red Wings group, that could be ready to compete for the postseason again.

Importantly, with the deal stretching just two years, general manager Steve Yzerman maintains his cap flexibility, something that has been so important during this Red Wings rebuild. Copp and Benn Chiarot earned long-term deals from the team today but Perron and Dominik Kubalik are only signed through 2023-24, meaning there will be a good amount of money to re-sign young players like Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, who will be coming off their entry-level deals.

There is some risk that Perron’s game takes a step backward as he heads into his mid-thirties but unless his offense falls off a cliff immediately, it shouldn’t really pose a problem for the Red Wings. Even after their spending spree this offseason they have a good amount of cap space left, meaning there is no danger of getting squeezed by an underperforming 30-something.

Free Agent Focus: Calgary Flames

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Free agency is now less than a week away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in mid-July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  Next up is a look at the Calgary Flames.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Matthew Tkachuk – While the contract negotiations between the Flames and Gaudreau have soaked up most of the headlines, the team’s upcoming negotiations with Matthew Tkachuk are of equal (if not greater) importance. Tkachuk is a 24-year-old player coming off a 104-point season. He’s a big, mean power forward who can score at an elite level. Those players are tough to find and Tkachuk is a unique player when you look at the landscape of superstar wingers across the NHL. If the Flames are serious about wanting to compete for many years moving forward, retaining Tkachuk on a long-term contract is something they simply have to do. But it’s not entirely up to them. Tkachuk is getting precariously close to hitting unrestricted free agency, and he could simply walk himself there by taking his $9MM qualifying offer and then hitting the market next summer. With a $9MM qualifying offer in his hands, that could potentially be seen as the floor for any long-term extension the Flames offer Tkachuk. With a trip to unrestricted free agency only a year away, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tkachuk hit double digits on the average annual value of a long-term deal in Calgary.

F Andrew Mangiapane – After two consecutive seasons as a full-time NHL-er, it looked as though Mangiapane’s long-term NHL projection was quite clear. He had scored 32 points in both years, and his goal totals were consistent as well, with 17 in 2020-21 and 18 in 2021-22. Mangiapane looked like a solid, high-energy middle-six winger with some scoring touch. This year, though, Mangiapane reached new heights in offensive production, finishing the year with 35 goals and 55 points. Mangiapane also offers a two-way game as well, and he averaged 1:17 time-on-ice per game on the Flames’ penalty kill, a kill that ranked sixth in the NHL. While some might point to Mangiapane’s 18.9% shooting percentage as an indication that his goal-scoring was a fluke, Mangiapane actually had a higher shooting percentage in 2020-21 and has been able to sustain a shooting percentage above 15% in each of his three seasons as a productive NHL regular. The larger concern with Mangiapane’s goal-scoring might be how streaky it was, as Mangiapane burst out the gates at the start of the regular season only to slow down as the year wore on. Still, even with that concern, Mangiapane has lined himself up for a nice contract extension. Whether that extension comes from the Flames remains to be seen, as his 35-goal performance may have priced him out of a Flames team that’s currently attempting to sign two other wingers to mega-extensions in Tkachuk and Gaudreau.

D Oliver Kylington – There was a time when Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington was seen as a bit of a “bust.” The Stockholm native had struggled to make any mark at the NHL level in his limited action in 2018-19 and 2019-20, and frequently played with the kind of reckless abandon that did not endear himself to his coaches. Under Darryl Sutter, though, Kylington’s game has become more polished, and Kylington has learned how to better leverage his tools to have success in an NHL that harshly punishes defensive mistakes. He finished with 31 points in 73 games in 2021-22 and was a top-four defenseman on a strong Flames team, averaging over 18 minutes of ice time per game. Kylington’s transitional game fits what’s expected of modern NHL defensemen, and his level of offensive production despite ranking outside the top ten among Flames skaters in power-play time-on-ice is impressive. A short-term deal could be wise if the Flames wish to keep his price tag low to maximize their current competitive window, although a long-term deal could be better if the Flames believe Kylington will continue his upward trajectory.

Other RFA’s: F Matthew Phillips, F Martin Pospisil, F Adam Ruzicka, F Eetu Tuulola, D Johannes Kinnvall, D Colton Poolman, G Tyler Parsons

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Johnny Gaudreau – The Flames believe they can compete for a Stanley Cup next year and for many years after that. It’s hard to disagree with their assessment when one considers their incredibly successful regular season, but that forecast may need to change depending on where Johnny Gaudreau is playing next season. Gaudreau had the best season of his career in 2021-22, scoring 40 goals and 115 points en route to the second fourth-place Hart Trophy finish of his career. Gaudreau proved that he was among the league’s best play-driving wingers and helped dissuade those who were down on his game after a difficult prior two seasons. Gaudreau also had a productive playoff run, scoring 14 points in 12 games, including a Game Seven overtime winner, helping counter critics who claimed Gaudreau disappeared when it mattered most. GM Brad Treliving has said he would move “heaven and earth” to retain Gaudreau, and it’s easy to see why. With his level of production, Gaudreau has every right to expect a double-digit AAV from any interested suitors, and while a contract at that value may not be the best in its final few years, that’s simply the cost of doing business in free agency and the reality is Gaudreau is worth every penny at this moment.

D Nikita Zadorov – Nikita Zadorov came to Calgary without much fanfare. The Flames were his third team in as many years, and the throwback, extremely physical style of game he plays is one that polarizes many fans. What didn’t polarize fans as much, though, was the success he had on the Flames’ third pairing next to fellow stay-at-home defenseman Erik Gudbranson. The six-foot-six Moscow native gave out some major hits and helped make the team’s third pairing one to be feared. While Zadorov plays a rugged, physical style, his game is not notably effective defensively and he was not a major factor on the Flames’ penalty kill. That’s a curious bit of information, as one would expect a defenseman with Zadorov’s profile to be a defensive specialist and penalty kill anchor. But that simply wasn’t the role Zadorov played, though, and that has to factor into his market value. If he’s a hit-first player but not a shutdown player, that could seriously cut into how he’s valued by teams. Zadorov earned $3.75MM in 2021-22 and could fetch a raise on the open market if a team does believe he can be a shutdown defenseman, not just a human wrecking ball.

Other UFA’s:  F Calle Jarnkrok, F Ryan Carpenter, F Trevor Lewis, F Brett Ritchie, D Michael Stone, D Erik Gudbranson, F Byron Froese, F Glenn Gawdin, F Justin Kirkland, F Luke Philp, D Nick DeSimone, D Kevin Gravel, D Andy Welinski

Projected Cap Space

This is where things get a bit dicey for Calgary. The team is projected to have nearly $27MM in cap space, but that gets cut down quickly if Gaudreau and Tkachuk both sign extensions worth $9MM or more. The team also has Kylington and Mangiapane’s extensions to consider, as well as an Elias Lindholm extension that will need to get done after the next two seasons. The point being made here is that the Flames have an abundance of talented players, and will need to effectively manage their cap in order to retain them all and preserve the necessary room to acquire outside improvements to their roster. Sean Monahan’s $6.375MM cap hit looms on long-term injured reserve, and the team could look to send Monahan to another team so they’re able to accumulate cap space over the course of next season. It’ll be a tricky few months for the Flames, but if Treliving can play his cards correctly he’ll have laid the foundation for a contender in Calgary for years to come.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Los Angeles Kings Extend Adrian Kempe

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July 10th: The deal is now official. The Kings have announced Kempe’s four-year, $5.5MM AAV contract extension.

July 8th 4:25 PM: TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the deal has a $5.5MM average annual value. The contract carries the following year-by-year structure:

  • 2022-23 $5.25M
  • 2023-24 $5.75M
  • 2024-25 $5.5M
  • 2025-26 $5.5M

The deal also carries a modified ten-team no-trade clause for the final two years of the contract. PuckPedia was on the details of the contract first.

July 8th 3:44 PM: The NHL Draft wasn’t the only business the Los Angeles Kings’ front office took care of in Montreal. According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Kings have reached a deal with restricted free agent forward Adrian Kempe on a four-year extension. The official announcement of the deal is expected to come on Saturday. Word has not yet come in on the financial parameters of the deal outside of the term that LeBrun reported.

Kempe, 25, was set to become an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent next Wednesday. He’s coming off a breakout season, a year where the flew past his prior career highs in both goal scoring and overall point production. Kempe led the Kings with 35 goals, more than double his previous career-high of 16, a high he set all the way back in the 2017-18 season.

Kempe became one of the most frequently relied-upon wingers on Los Angeles’ roster, averaging nearly three minutes of ice time per game on the powerplay and nearly a minute and a half of ice time short-handed. His short-handed ice time ranked fourth on the Kings, and with Alex Iafallo also on the roster, the Kings have two wingers who bring speed, (varying degrees of) goal-scoring, and reliable two-way play to their lineup.

The Kings have already been active in improving their team this offseason, adding a dynamic, point-per-game winger to their top-six in Kevin Fiala. After an encouraging run to the playoffs in coach Todd McLellan’s third season in Los Angeles, it’s clear that the Kings’ front office wants to move their organization out of their rebuild and into the next phase of their competitive cycle. Getting Kempe back on a deal that buys two of his unrestricted free agent years, as they’ve reportedly done, is one important step in that process.

Free Agent Focus: Carolina Hurricanes

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Free agency is now less than a week away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in mid-July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  Next up is a look at the Carolina Hurricanes. 

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Martin Necas –Just one year ago, Necas looked like he would soon become one of the Hurricanes’ most important forwards. While that still might get there, his 2021-22 season was a step back. After scoring at a 63-point pace last season, many were expecting Necas to fulfill the promise that got him drafted twelfth-overall at the 2017 draft and become a true top-six forward. But for a variety of reasons, that didn’t happen in 2021-22, and Necas had a fine season, with 40 points in 72 games, but certainly not the clear-cut step forward many were expecting. The emergence of Seth Jarvis cut into Necas’ offensive opportunities, and Necas’ inconsistent nightly effort left many fans frustrated. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that the Hurricanes may be tempted to trade Necas if they can get an offer for a young defenseman in return, although he also reported that the team is not actively looking to trade him, As a restricted free agent, Necas is likely in bridge deal territory and could get a deal around $3MM-$4MM, if not a bit more. While the Hurricanes did pull the trigger on a long-term extension for Jesperi Kotkaniemi before he had even finished his first season with the team, it doesn’t seem like they’ll go the same route with Necas.

D Ethan Bear – Bear is in a similar situation to Necas. We previously covered how Bear has been given permission from the Hurricanes to speak to other teams about other opportunities, and he too could be on the move this offseason, even though the Hurricanes want to re-sign him. Bear, 25, has seen his usage decline since he averaged nearly 22 minutes of ice time per night as a rookie with the Edmonton Oilers, and he was a healthy scratch for the entirety of the Hurricanes’ run to the second round of the playoffs this year. Bear wants to play, as any player does, and now has the opportunity to look for a team more willing to give him a consistent nightly role. A short-term bridge around his current $2MM cap hit, with maybe a small raise, makes the most sense here.

Other RFA’s: F Steven Lorentz, F David Cotton, F Stelio Mattheos, D Joey Keane, D Maxime Lajoie, D Tarmo Reunanen, D Jesper Sellgren, G Jack LaFontaine, G Beck Warm

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Vincent Trocheck – In April, we focused on Trocheck’s upcoming free agency situation in more depth. Not much has changed since then, though his productive playoff run (10 points in 14 games) should help his previously thin playoff resume. Trocheck is an established two-way pivot who is generally regarded as a solid second-line center. He can typically be relied on to produce around 50 points of offense, with the potential to hit even higher numbers in the right circumstances, as he did in 2020-21 with 43 points in 47 games and in 2017-18 when he had a career-high 75 points. Trocheck ranked third among Hurricanes forwards in shorthanded average time-on-ice per game with 1:46 and helped the Hurricanes to a top-ranked penalty kill finish in 2021-22 with an 88% success rate and a third-place finish in 2020-21 with an 85.2% success rate. Trocheck is also elite at the dot, and he won 54.6% of his faceoffs this past season. Trocheck’s defensive game earned him a third-place Selke Trophy vote, and he’s the sort of productive center who plays a 200-foot game that NHL GM’s are tripping over each other to acquire. Trocheck could earn a major contract this summer, with the potential to earn a similar deal to the seven-year, $7.14MM AAV deal Kevin Hayes got from the Philadelphia Flyers if there is a particularly interested suitor.

F Nino Niederreiter – In June, we took a look at Nino Niederreiter’s upcoming free agency in more depth. Niederreiter, 29, is a productive winger who can score around 20 goals and 50 points in most years, although he has had some less productive seasons. Niederreiter is a winger who belongs on an offensive line and can help support other skilled players in making and finishing plays. He’s not going to drive his own line or overwhelm anyone with his speed, skills, or physicality, but he’s the sort of productive offensive winger that can reliably staff any second line in the NHL. it’s unlikely that Niederreiter gets a raise from the $5.25MM he earned this season, and it’s actually far more likely that his next contract comes in below that number when you consider the flat-cap world NHL clubs are operating in.

F Max Domi – Domi has been a bit of an enigma so far in his NHL career, as he’s had years where he’s a highly productive fan-favorite top-six staple, and he’s also had seasons where he’s underperformed, butted heads with coaches, and struggled to make a positive impact on the ice. The true reality of Domi’s game and the value he brings to an NHL team likely lies somewhere in the middle, and his time in Carolina provides a blueprint of what teams can reasonably expect from Domi moving forward. The 27-year-old scored seven points in 19 regular-season games and six points in 14 playoff games, and became the Hurricanes’ Game Seven hero with two important goals in the team’s victory over the Boston Bruins. Domi brings real energy and offensive skill to a lineup, but he struggles to read the ice and effectively utilize his teammates. So while his offensive talent is undeniable (his 72 points on an otherwise offensively mediocre Montreal Canadiens team is proof of that) his vision is the largest factor that keeps him from being a consistent top-six force. If a team is reasonable with its expectations, they could get a solid middle-six scoring winger at a price that’s not likely going to be exorbitant.

Other UFA’s: F Derek Stepan, D Ian Cole, D Brendan Smith, F Josh Leivo, F Sam Miletic, F Stefan Noesen, F Andrew Poturalski, F Spencer Smallman, F C.J. Smith, D Josh Jacobs, G Alex Lyon

Projected Cap Space

As one would expect for a team with multiple established NHL-ers whose contracts have expired, the Hurricanes are not without room to maneuver under the salary cap this summer. CapFriendly projects them to have over $19MM in space to work with, although that projection is with defenseman Jake Gardiner still placed on long-term injured reserve. Gardiner is now healthy, ineligible for LTIR, and ready to play. If Carolina was the absolute most possible cap space to work with for Wednesday, they’ll have to move Gardiner and his $4.05MM cap hit.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

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