Hurricanes Sign Noel Fransen To Entry-Level Contract
According to a team announcement, the Carolina Hurricanes have signed defenseman Noel Fransen to a three-year entry-level contract.
The 20-year-old will make $850,000 in 2026-27, $900,000 in 2027-28, and $950,000 in 2028-29 at the NHL level. If in the AHL, he will receive $85,000 for all three seasons. The deal will include signing bonuses worth $270,000. He signed this deal after finishing his 2025-26 season between two teams in Sweden. In the SHL, he scored two points in 13 games with Farjestad BK and also posted six goals for 14 points in 38 games on loan with BIK Karlskoga in HockeyAllsvenskan.
General Manager Erik Tulsky said in the team’s release, “Noel has all of the attributes we look for in a Carolina Hurricanes defenseman. He has the mobility to close quickly on a play, as well as the speed to be active on offensive transitions. We’re looking forward to seeing him in North America next season.”
Leading into the 2024 NHL Draft, Fransen profiled as a prospect who prioritizes offense through his skating in both transition and in the offensive zone on the blue line. That mobility is emphasized in his transition ability to connect a play from defense through the neutral zone. Fransen was selected as a third-round pick at 69th overall by the Hurricanes in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
He dominated in the junior levels of his native country. In the J18 South and West regions he participated in, Fransen led his counterparts in scoring and overall points by a defenseman. Those same honors followed as he progressed into J20 Nationell play, where he led all defenders in the league in scoring in 2023-24. An honor previously held by other Swedish NHL defenders, including Erik Karlsson (2007-08) and Alexander Edler (2004-05), dating back to 2000.
Fransen graduates from a list of unsigned Hurricanes defensive prospects like Kurban Limatov, Timur Kol, and joins the likes of fellow 20-year-old defender Dominik Badinka in the system, and will compete as a potential NHL roster player on the Hurricanes’ back-end, like another former third-round pick in Alexander Nikishin, who Carolina will consider as a top-priority RFA signing this offseason.
Before this signing, the Hurricanes had around $11.9MM in cap space for the offseason that they’ll have to address towards their unrestricted free agents, which include Nicolas Deslauriers in the forward group, as well as defenseman Mike Reilly and goaltender Frederik Andersen.
Eastern Conference Final Preview
The Eastern Conference Final is set, with the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 on Thursday night at the Lenovo Center. Both teams are four wins away from a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, and both arrive playing some of their best hockey of the season. Carolina returns to the Conference Final for the third time since 2022-23 under Rod Brind’Amour, while Montreal is back at this stage for the first time since their unexpected run in 2021, and the first with their head coach, Martin St. Louis.
Paths to the ECF
Carolina has been the story of the postseason. The Hurricanes swept the Ottawa Senators in Round 1 and followed it up with a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers in Round 2, becoming the first team to sweep the first two rounds since the NHL went to a best-of-seven format in all four rounds in 1987. Through eight playoff games, they’re 8-0 with a plus-14 goal differential, allowing just 10 goals total and never more than two in a single game.
That dominance comes with a question, though: will 12 days off be a gift or a curse? Carolina last played on May 9, and the layoff is the longest of any team in the conference finals. The history of teams with extended layoffs in the playoffs is mixed. Extra rest can mean fresh legs and full health, but it can also mean a loss of rhythm against a team that’s been in playoff intensity for weeks. Brind’Amour’s group used the time to get fully healthy, run extra video sessions, and skate without the wear of a daily playoff schedule. The Hurricanes have been playing the most cohesive, structured hockey of any team in the postseason, and there’s a real question about whether that timing holds up against an opponent that has been playing high-intensity playoff games for over a month.
Montreal’s path has been the opposite. The Canadiens needed seven games to put away the Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 1, including four overtime games, before grinding out another seven-game series against the Buffalo Sabres in Round 2. That series included an 8-3 Game 6 loss before the Habs bounced back in Game 7 on Monday night, where Alex Newhook was yet again the game seven hero, scoring the game-winner 11:22 into overtime. Montreal has played 14 games to Carolina’s eight; they arrive battle-tested but on shorter rest, with less than 72 hours between their Game 7 in Buffalo and Game 1 in Raleigh.
Head-to-Head
The 2025-26 regular season series belonged entirely to Montreal. The Canadiens swept Carolina 3-0-0, winning all three games in regulation and outscoring the Hurricanes 15-8. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Ivan Demidov each posted five points in the three games, with Slafkovsky scoring the game-winning goal in two of them. Lane Hutson added four points from the back end. Sebastian Aho led Carolina with six points (two goals, four assists), five of which came in one game, and Andrei Svechnikov added five (two goals, three assists).
The two franchises have met twice previously in the playoffs since Carolina’s relocation from Hartford, with the Hurricanes winning both. The most recent meeting was the 2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, a series in which Carolina trailed 2-0 before rookie goaltender Cam Ward took over the crease and helped the Hurricanes win the series in six games en route to a Stanley Cup. This is the first time these two have met in a Conference Final.
Key Players
For Montreal, scoring has come from across the lineup. Suzuki has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 14 playoff games, while Newhook (seven goals), Slafkovsky, and Caufield (four goals each) have all chipped in up front. On the back end, Hutson leads the entire team in points with 14, has been logging 26-plus minutes per game, and is the engine of the Canadiens’ transition offense. Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson round out a mobile defensive group.
Carolina’s depth has been the calling card. Taylor Hall has found another gear in his game, playing some of his best hockey since his MVP season back in 2018, and leads the team in scoring with 12 points. Additionally, Jackson Blake, Seth Jarvis, Nikolaj Ehlers, Logan Stankoven, and Andrei Svechnikov all give the Hurricanes scoring threats across the top three lines. Defensively, Jaccob Slavin remains one of the NHL’s premier shutdown defensemen, and rookie Alexander Nikishin has emerged as a real puck-mover in his first full NHL postseason.
Goaltending
Frederik Andersen has been one of this postseason’s biggest stories. He’s 8-0 with a 1.12 GAA and .950 save percentage, leading all playoff goaltenders in both categories. He’s allowed only 10 goals in eight starts and has two shutouts. The catch: Andersen’s regular season was uneven. He went 1-9-2 over a 12-game stretch earlier in the season before bouncing back with a 9-4-0 record after the Olympic break. His two starts against Montreal came during that rough patch where he went 0-2-0 with a 3.73 GAA and .806 save percentage.
For Montreal, Jakub Dobes has stabilized the crease. He started all three regular-season games against Carolina and went 3-0-0 with a 2.67 GAA and .922 save percentage. His postseason numbers are more pedestrian (.910 SV%, 2.52 GAA), but he’s won when it has mattered and, aside from the full team collapse in game 6, was at his best in the Buffalo series. Dobes leads all goaltenders in saves through two rounds with 363.
Transition vs Forecheck
The cleanest stylistic clash of the postseason runs through the neutral zone. Carolina has been the NHL’s premier shot-suppression team for nearly a decade under Brind’Amour, leading the league in 5-on-5 Corsi at 59.77% during the regular season (via moneypuck.com) and allowing just 23.9 shots against per game, also a league best. The mechanism is their aggressive forecheck, which applies pressure on both the strong and weak sides of the ice, an approach that’s rare in the modern NHL. Their wingers crash hard, their weak-side defenseman pinches down the wall, and their defensive zone coverage relies on man-to-man assignments. The result is a team that spends almost no time in its own end and forces opponents into low-danger looks when they do break out.
Montreal is built to attack that structure in the one place it can be exploited. When Carolina’s forecheck is beaten with a clean first pass, their forwards play so deep in the offensive zone that recovery becomes difficult, and odd-man rushes in the other direction are the most common result. The Canadiens have the personnel to take advantage. They have one of the fastest lineups in the NHL: Suzuki, Newhook, Anderson, and Hutson all rank in the 90th percentile or better at their position in 20-plus mph speed bursts, per NHL Edge. The engine, though, is Hutson. The 22-year-old defenseman ranks among the NHL’s most prolific puck-transporters from the back end, but he’s 5-foot-9 and can be worn down on extended defensive shifts where physicality takes its toll. Carolina’s forecheck with guys like Stankoven, Jarvis, and Martinook is specifically designed to dump the puck to a defenseman’s side and hound him through long retrievals. If Hutson handles that pressure cleanly, Montreal’s offense unlocks. If Carolina grinds him down and forces turnovers in his own zone, the Habs’ best weapon becomes a liability.
The Canadiens’ three regular-season wins over Carolina were very likely powered by exactly this dynamic: clean breakouts, fast transitions, and high-quality looks generated against a team that thrives on grinding opponents down in the offensive zone. The shift-by-shift battle to watch: how Carolina’s forecheckers recover after offensive zone turnovers, and whether Montreal’s forwards consistently arrive in the neutral zone in time to punish those breakdowns.
X-Factors
The X-factors for these two teams are essentially mirror images of each other, both rooted in a longstanding tension between chance generation and chance conversion.
Finishing (Carolina): The Hurricanes are perpetually in this conversation, and 2025-26 was no exception. They led the NHL in shot attempts, scoring chances, and high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5, yet finished with the 19th-best shooting percentage. The pattern showed up in the regular-season series with Montreal in vivid fashion; Carolina outshot the Canadiens 103-60 across three games and lost all three. Through eight playoff games, the Hurricanes’ shooting percentage has trended back toward the league average, which is a big reason they’re 8-0. Sustaining that against a goalie who has owned them is the question. If Carolina reverts to its season-long shooting struggles, the volume of chances they generate may not be enough to outscore Montreal’s opportunism.
Limiting Chances Against (Montreal): The flip side of Carolina’s chance-generation problem is Montreal’s chance-suppression problem. The Canadiens have been consistently outshot and outchanced through the first two rounds, surviving on goaltending and finishing rather than defensive structure. In the regular season, they ranked fifth-worst in the NHL in high-danger shots against (via moneypuck.com). That’s a manageable issue against the Lightning and Sabres, both of whom run conventional offensive systems. It’s a far bigger problem against a Carolina team specifically built to bury opponents under shot volume. Montreal doesn’t need to flip the underlying numbers; they need to keep Carolina to the perimeter, force them into the low-danger looks that have defined their finishing struggles all season, and trust Dobes to handle the rest.
Wrap Up
On paper, Carolina has every analytical advantage: better possession metrics, better penalty kill, dramatically more rest, and the hottest goaltender in the playoffs. But Montreal arrives with history on its side and a blueprint that’s already worked. They are the youngest team to reach a Conference Final in 33 years, since the 1993 Canadiens, and that team won the Stanley Cup. Add in the regular-season sweep, a stylistic matchup that gives Montreal a real path, and a young core playing with no fear, and the makings of a series far more competitive than the oddsmakers expect are all there. Game 1 drops Thursday in Raleigh.
Hurricanes To Wait Until After Playoffs To Talk New Deal For Frederik Andersen
The Hurricanes find themselves on a long break between rounds. As a result of starting the second round early, sweeping Philadelphia, and seeing Montreal and Buffalo go to seven games, they now find themselves with the longest break between series in modern NHL history, according to The Athletic’s James Mirtle (Twitter link).
But while that leaves ample time for the team to work on some looming contracts for pending unrestricted free agent goaltender Frederik Andersen, that isn’t going to be the case. Speaking with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, GM Eric Tulsky indicated that their plan is to wait until after the playoffs before beginning those discussions. By contrast, Carolina re-upped Mark Jankowski, who was a pending UFA himself, to a new two-year deal earlier this week.
It has been an up-and-down year for the 36-year-old. Thanks to a long-term injury to Pyotr Kochetkov, Andersen made 35 starts during the regular season, his highest total since 2021-22, the year he finished fourth in Vezina Trophy voting. But his overall numbers weren’t particularly impressive as he posted a 3.05 GAA with a .874 SV% on a team that finished first in the Eastern Conference. Kochetkov (in limited action) and Brandon Bussi both put up considerably better numbers than he did.
But with Bussi faltering a bit down the stretch and Kochetkov only getting into some brief AHL action on a conditioning stint before the regular season ended, Andersen got the nod to start the playoffs. It’s fair to say that decision has worked out tremendously for both Andersen and the Hurricanes. He has won all eight of Carolina’s postseason games thus far, allowing just 10 goals on 201 shots in the process.
If he can even come close to continuing that type of play in the next round (or two, should they advance to the Stanley Cup Final), that would certainly be a huge boost to his stock heading to free agency. But on the flip side, if the long layoff results in him reverting to his regular-season form, it could be one of the other two netminders getting a shot at some point in their next series.
Accordingly, it makes sense for Tulsky and the Hurricanes to wait to see how the rest of the postseason goes before starting talks on a new contract. After all, Bussi begins a new three-year contract next season while Kochetkov is signed through 2026-27 as well. Technically, they have their goalie tandem in place already, at a combined cost of just $3.9MM.
But Carolina has been one of the few teams that has been unafraid to carry three netminders on a regular basis which could create an opening for Andersen to return, albeit at a price tag likely below his current $2.75MM plus bonuses ($250K of which has been met with another $250K likely). Tulsky indicated that they “would love to have him back.” We’ll have to wait a little while yet to see if that will ultimately happen.
Juuso Valimaki In Talks With SHL Brynas
For several years, defenseman Juuso Valimaki was a regular at the NHL level. However, he didn’t see any time at the top level this season, playing exclusively in the minors. A pending unrestricted free agent, it appears he’s not waiting to see what options await him on the open market. Instead, Expressen’s Mattias Persson and Johan Svensson report that the blueliner is in extended discussions to join SHL Brynas next season.
The 27-year-old was a first-round pick by Calgary back in 2017, going 16th overall. He saw action in parts of three seasons with the Flames and after a 49-game showing in 2020-21, they saw fit to sign him to a $1.55MM per season bridge deal. That contract wound up helping him clear waivers the following season but in 2022, he wasn’t able to sneak through, instead being claimed by Arizona.
With the Coyotes, he became a full-timer on their back end, playing in 78 games after being picked up, earning himself a one-year extension in the process. Then, after logging over 19 minutes a night in 2023-24, Valimaki received a two-year, $4MM pact and it looked as if he was finally going to get some stability.
Instead, Utah (after the Coyotes moved) bolstered its back end, pushing Valimaki down to the seventh spot last season and off the roster altogether in 2025-26. History repeated itself with the blueliner being waived in training camp and clearing, sending him off to AHL Tucson where injuries limited him to three games in as many months. Then, the Hurricanes acquired him in January to give themselves some extra defensive depth although he has yet to see action with Carolina. Instead, his regular season ended with 23 points in 27 games while he has four points in six playoff contests with AHL Chicago so far.
It appears that Valimaki will be taking quite a pay cut on this eventual deal. Persson and Svensson note that he was seeking a EUR300K deal initially (worth around $349K in USD) but that the contract is expected to come in for considerably less. Given his NHL experience and AHL success, it stands to reason that he easily could have been that on even a two-way deal in North America this summer. Accordingly, it appears that Valimaki will be leaving some money on the table to play closer to home.
Hurricanes Sign Charlie Cerrato To Entry-Level Deal
According to a team announcement, the Carolina Hurricanes have signed forward prospect Charlie Cerrato to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal includes $2.525MM in total salary at the NHL level, $85K per season in the AHL, and $220K in signing bonuses.
Cerrato, 21, was drafted with the 49th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft by the Hurricanes. He was finishing up his freshman year with the upstart Penn State Nittany Lions, scoring 15 goals and 42 points in 38 games with a +16 rating.
Remaining with Penn State for his sophomore campaign, Cerrato’s scoring dissipated somewhat, but he missed a decent chunk of the season due to injury. He finished the NCAA season with seven goals and 27 points in 23 games with a +3 rating.
Although he didn’t play in the regular season, Cerrato signed an amateur tryout agreement with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves after his season with Penn State finished. He appeared in one contest in Chicago’s recent series against the Texas Stars, going scoreless.
Throughout his time in the Big Ten Conference, Cerrato typically played well in a support role and on the defensive side of the puck. He’s relatively physical and somewhat of a pest with his stick. On offense, most of his production comes from reading the defense quickly and charging the net or dropping back to be the third man in.
Given the depth that the Hurricanes have on offense, it’s unlikely that Cerrato will begin the 2026-27 campaign on the opening night roster for Carolina. Despite his competitive nature, it’ll likely serve him better to get a full season with the Wolves to continue his development, as Carolina typically does with their prospects.
Hurricanes Sign Mark Jankowski To Two-Year Extension
According to a team announcement, the Carolina Hurricanes have signed forward Mark Jankowski to a two-year extension through the 2027-28 season. The two-year extension is worth $3.7MM ($1.85MM AAV). Jankowski is in the final season of a two-year, $1.6MM ($800K AAV) contract that he originally signed with the Nashville Predators.
In the announcement, General Manager Eric Tulsky said, “Mark has been an excellent fit for our organization throughout his time here. He’s proven he can contribute in different ways, and we are glad he’s chosen to remain with the organization.”
Jankowski has spent his career bouncing between the NHL and AHL, including stints with the Calgary Flames, where he tallied a career-high 32 points in the 2018-19 season. He then played a year in Pittsburgh and Buffalo before signing with the Predators, playing between their farm system in Milwaukee and Nashville. This extension eclipses his previous highest contract value of $3.35MM ($1.68MM AAV) with the Flames in 2018-19.
The 31-year-old forward finished the 2025-26 regular season with 11 goals and 21 points in 68 games. He’s added an assist in eight playoff games so far this postseason. The Hamilton, Ontario native has been a mainstay for Carolina in their bottom-six since last year. The Hurricanes acquired Jankowski in a deal at the 2025 trade deadline that sent him from the Predators to the Hurricanes in exchange for their fifth-round pick in 2026.
The Hurricanes still have around $12.4MM in cap space entering this summer. Their unrestricted free agents include Nicolas Deslauriers in the forward group, as well as defenseman Mike Reilly and goaltender Frederik Andersen, with only Alexander Nikishin as a restricted free agent to round out their expiring deals. Carolina will also have Jusso Valimaki’s buried contract coming off the books, which will free up a small $850K.
Domenick Fensore Considering KHL Options
For the last three seasons, Domenick Fensore has been a productive defenseman in the minors but his NHL opportunities have been limited. As a result, it appears as if he’s exploring other options for next season. Among those being pondered is the KHL as Sport-Express’ Artur Khairullin reports that Fensore is considering potential opportunities in that league.
The 24-year-old was a third-round pick by Carolina back in 2019, going 90th overall. Fensore played out his full college eligibility at Boston University, taking big strides offensively in the final two seasons where he collected 31 points in each. That earned him a contract from the Hurricanes for the 2023-24 season.
Beyond a brief stint in the ECHL early in his rookie year, Fensore has been a regular at the AHL level with the Chicago Wolves for his three-season professional career. He has been able to carry over his college production, notching 32 points last season and 35 this year despite only playing in 60 games.
But that output hasn’t landed him much of an opportunity with Carolina. Aside from a trio of late-season appearances when the Hurricanes were openly resting players for the playoffs, Fensore hasn’t had a taste of a meaningful game at the top level. And with the Hurricanes having some strong defensive depth, that might not change next season either.
With that in mind, it’s not entirely surprising that Fensore is considering other options. A pending restricted free agent, he has performed well enough for Carolina to tender him a qualifying offer to retain his rights but that would limit his options in North America. Accordingly, a stint overseas to try to show that he’s worthy of a legitimate NHL opportunity might be the next best step for him.
Nikishin Returns From Concussion
- The Hurricanes welcomed back a key part of their back end tonight against Philadelphia with the team announcing (Twitter link) that Alexander Nikishin was returning to the lineup. The rookie sustained a concussion in the final game of their opening-round series versus Ottawa and missed the first two games of this round. Nikishin had 11 goals and 22 assists in 81 games during the regular season while averaging over 18 minutes per night.
Injury Notes: Cates, Dvorak, Tippett, Nikishin
The Philadelphia Flyers’ postseason hurdles just reached a new height. Down 2-0 as the series shifts back to Wells Fargo Center, head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed the worst-case scenario for his forward group: Noah Cates is out for the remainder of the series.
Cates, who hit career highs this season with 47 points and has been the team’s most reliable two-way presence, suffered a lower-body injury after taking a shot off the foot in Game 2. While he finished that game, he was seen in a walking boot on Wednesday, and the team has officially ruled him out for the duration of the second round.
Additional injury notes:
- The Anaheim Ducks receive a boost as Troy Terry is expected to return to the lineup for their series against Vegas. However, the blue line takes a hit as veteran Radko Gudas remains out with a lower-body injury. After battling recurring injuries throughout the season, Terry made his return in Game 1 against Vegas.
- Carolina Hurricanes high-profile rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin has been cleared to play. After missing the start of the series due to a concussion sustained in the first round, he is an option for Game 3 and will likely slot in alongside Shayne Gostisbehere.
- The Flyers also noted forward Christian Dvorak is currently day-to-day and took a maintenance day on Wednesday, though he is expected to play in Game 3. Also, Owen Tippett, who has missed the first two games of the series, remains a game-time decision for Thursday. While he has returned to practice, his availability hinges on a final evaluation before puck drop.
Alexander Nikishin Cleared To Return
Philadelphia Flyers center Noah Cates‘ availability for game three against the Carolina Hurricanes appears to be in question after he appeared to suffer a foot injury in game two. Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Cates was seen after game two “trundled on a cart down a hallway” and “holding a walking boot that would have fit his right foot.” The Flyers did not have an official update on Cates’ status.
- Carolina Hurricanes rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin has officially been cleared to return after missing two games with a concussion. Nikishin was previously paired with veteran Shayne Gostisbehere, a role that has since gone to veteran Mike Reilly. Nikishin scored 11 goals and 33 points in a strong first regular season in the NHL, averaging 18:11 time on ice per game along the way.