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Why The Hurricanes Can’t Get Over The Hump

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The Hurricanes have been near the top of the NHL standings for the bulk of the last decade. They’ve made several deep playoff runs during that time.

Despite being an analytically advanced and disciplined club, the team has just been unable to advance past the Eastern Conference Finals and fell once again this year in the third round of the playoffs. The Hurricanes are close and have been close for a while, but every year, something has been missing. The team hasn’t been able to put it all together.

Just what those missing links are has been hotly debated. One certainty is that a lack of elite finishing talent has been something that has eluded the Hurricanes for quite some time.

Carolina generates a heavy number of shots and scoring opportunities, but doesn’t have an elite 40-plus goal talent that can break games open on their own. The Hurricanes have brought those players into the fold, but they haven’t been able to keep them.

Last year at the trade deadline, the Canes acquired Jake Guentzel from the Penguins only to lose him after 28 games (17 regular season and 11 playoffs). This season, they traded for Mikko Rantanen in late January, only to trade him away after 13 games, after a disappointing stretch of play and lack of extension talks.

It’s not as though Carolina struggles to score as a team. They finished ninth in goals scored this season.

However, when the games tighten up in the playoffs and goals become more challenging to come by, the Hurricanes struggle to capitalize on the chances they generate. That’s never been more evident than in this year’s series against the Panthers, when they posted just 10 goals in five games.

Carolina has nearly $28.5MM in available cap space and just three roster spots to fill for next season, according to PuckPedia. That puts them in a very advantageous position if they want to go big game hunting in free agency and take a run at Mitch Marner or Nikolaj Ehlers.

The issue here is that Marner and Ehlers aren’t exactly snipers, so they might not be the right target for Carolina. However, on the RFA market, JJ Peterka of the Sabres could be available, and at age 23, he is coming off 28 and 27-goal seasons.

Another issue that has plagued Carolina is that their goaltending has been solid but unspectacular. Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov have been a formidable platoon over the last few years, but have been unable to steal a series when they’ve been deep in the playoffs.

It wouldn’t be fair to place blame on the goaltending. However, in the third round, teams need their goaltender to steal them a game or two if they hope to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

It’s unlikely that the Hurricanes make a change next season as they have both Andersen and Kochetkov signed to deals at an affordable combined rate of $4.75MM. The old cliché that ’if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’ applies here, as it’s hard to fault the goaltending. However, Carolina shouldn’t expect their current platoon to steal them many games later in the playoffs, given that they haven’t been able to do so in the past.

In previous years, the Hurricanes have dealt with injuries to key players during the playoffs, such as Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teräväinen. This year, their stars were healthy, but they still dealt with a pair of injuries to right-shot defenseman Sean Walker and Jalen Chatfield. Rookies Scott Morrow and Alexander Nikishin had to make their postseason debuts in their absence, and the former looked especially overmatched.

The Canes have been blessed for years with an incredible amount of depth and have been able to overcome injuries to their key players. However, when a star like Svechnikov goes down, there is no way to overcome it without more high-level finishing talent.

Even championship teams can fall in the playoffs if they lose a top-six winger or top-four defenseman. Pittsburgh dealt with this on several occasions during the primes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin when they lost multiple top-end pieces.

In 2011, the Penguins were a Stanley Cup favorite until both stars went down to injury, and the Penguins fell in the first round to Tampa Bay. In 2015, it was their defense that took a beating as the Penguins lost three of their top four defensemen, and again, Pittsburgh was bounced in the first round.

However, in 2016 and 2017, Pittsburgh overcame injuries to Marc-André Fleury and Kris Letang to win back-to-back Cups, eventually dispelling the injury excuse and achieving success despite not having full use of their roster. If Carolina wants to take the next step, they will need to do the same and overcome the adversity of losing essential pieces if and when it happens.

The Penguins teams of 2016 and 2017 relied heavily on their star power to overcome the injuries and obstacles. At some point, the Hurricanes will need the same if they hope to take the next step.

You can’t fault the stars for Carolina’s losses, as Sebastian Aho has been nearly a point-a-game player in his playoff career, and Svechnikov has been good in the last two playoffs.  It comes back to the issue of not having enough firepower to help the stars that are there. Unless Carolina can add some elite scoring, as well as have their goalies steal some games in the latter stages of the playoffs, they might end up back here again next year.

Perhaps the tweak doesn’t need to be as dramatic as adding high-end forwards, but rather prioritizing the finding of players who can capitalize on the many high-danger chances they generate. The Hurricanes had just two players (who played more than 20 games) who shot over 15% last year, while a team like the lowly Sabres had five players do so.

Finding players who can capitalize on scoring opportunities won’t come easily, but there are a few players out there that Carolina could target. The aforementioned Rust and Rakell both shot north of 15%, as did Peterka.

Vancouver’s Brock Boeser is another player who has shot the lights out over the last two seasons, firing at a rate of 19.6% during 2023-24 and 17.2% this past season. Matt Duchene would be another potential target after shooting 19.7% this past year. Both are pending unrestricted free agents

The issue with targeting players who have a high shooting percentage is that there can be significant fluctuations in the numbers, and those players tend to have inflated perceived value, which can drive up the cost to acquire them. If the Hurricanes wanted to go cheaper, there are plenty of options available who can shoot with precision.

Washington’s Andrew Mangiapane is a career 14.4% shooter and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer; his value declined this past year after he posted just 28 points (14 goals and 14 assists) in 81 games. Jonathan Toews could be another target if he does indeed return. Toews hasn’t played since the 2022-23 season, but he is a career 13.8% shooter and shot 17.2% in his final season two years ago.

Photo by Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Hurricanes Plan To Be Aggressive This Offseason

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All signs indicate that the Carolina Hurricanes will take a page from the Nashville Predators’ book from last offseason. A new report from The Fourth Period suggests that the Hurricanes will be aggressive this offseason and look to weaponize their nearly $30MM in cap space.

Carolina has already tried to take a swing at this year’s top target, Mitch Marner. Marner did not approve the proposed trade at that time, but the Hurricanes are expected to revisit the idea this offseason and entice Marner with a competitive, yet smaller media market in Raleigh.

[SOURCE LINK]

  • According to Greg Wyshynski of ESPN, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour would like Carolina to use some of their cap space to retain veteran defenseman Brent Burns. Burns has already indicated he’d like to remain with the organization, but it could be a difficult sell for Tulsky’s analytical mind. The 21-year veteran has plenty to offer via experience and leadership, but his on-ice play took a dramatic hit this season, finishing with 14 fewer points than the 2023-24 season, with a 2.6% decrease in his CorsiFor% and a 2.0% decrease in his on-ice save percentage.

Re-Examining The Conference Finalists’ Trade Deadline Acquisitions

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The trade deadline is always an interesting time to reflect on with the benefit of hindsight. Several massive trades were made leading up to it, including two trades involving star forward Mikko Rantanen. With the playoffs down to just two teams, and a bit of a break coming, an opportunity has presented itself to re-examine the deadline and look back at some winners and losers, some two months later.

Looking back at the biggest deal between the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes, it is interesting in retrospect, given that both teams lost in their respective Conference Finals. The deal involved Rantanen going to Dallas in return for Logan Stankoven, a 2026 first-round pick, a 2026 third-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick, and a 2028 first-round pick. Rantanen was later signed to an eight-year $96MM contract extension by the Stars, and now it looks like an absolute win for Dallas. Rantanen had come as advertised, posting nine goals and 13 assists in 18 games during the NHL Playoffs, with no games bigger than Game 7 of the first round when the 28-year-old had a hat trick to knock out his former team, Colorado. The trade for Rantanen solidified the Stars’ forward group. It gave them another high-impact forward to position them as a top Stanley Cup contender for the foreseeable future.

It’s hard to call Carolina a loser in the deal, given the haul that they got for Rantanen. Still, looking at their roster, they certainly lacked a gamebreaker in these playoffs and could have used Rantanen in the Conference Finals. Carolina fans will wonder what could have been had Rantanen stuck around. Still, Carolina probably did the right thing by recouping assets for Rantanen rather than letting him walk for nothing.

Dallas addressed other key areas at the Trade Deadline by acquiring forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks for a first-round pick and a conditional third-round pick in 2025. Granlund provided some offense, but his skating was an issue at times against some of the quicker Edmonton Oilers players, and defensive issues have also been a problem. Granlund did have five goals and five assists in 18 games during the playoffs, but that is off the offensive pace he set in the regular season, and he has benefited from good deployment and a solid PDO.

Ceci, on the other hand, hasn’t been great, as his underlying numbers are arguably the worst of any of the Stars’ regulars. Ceci’s acquisition was a bit of a headscratcher at the time, but Dallas has used him heavily (probably too much) in the playoffs, playing him over 21 minutes a night. Ceci had three assists in 18 games, but to his credit, he had some of the most challenging assignments nightly, contributing to his poor analytics.

Ceci’s former team, the Edmonton Oilers, didn’t have the capabilities of making a big splash at the deadline. Still, they did make a handful of acquisitions that have solidified key positions in their march to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Oilers’ big moves were for forward Trent Frederic and defenseman Jake Walman.

Frederic was acquired to provide some sandpaper in the bottom six and chip in the occasional goal. It took a while for him to get going, thanks to a high ankle sprain, but he seemed to hit his stride in the second round against Vegas. Frederic hasn’t provided much offense, with just a goal and three assists in 16 playoff games, but he has been a physical threat anytime he’s on the ice, with 59 hits thus far. Frederic’s underlying numbers aren’t good, but he has been handed complex deployments and tough matchups as a member of the Oilers’ bottom six.

The Walman acquisition by Edmonton was a tidy piece of business, as the 29-year-old has helped stabilize the Oilers’ bottom pairing and has chipped in some offence as well. Walman has been given a very favourable deployment, which has allowed him to use his puck-moving ability and skating to contribute to Edmonton’s playoff success. Edmonton paid San Jose a steep price to acquire Walman, and while his results have been okay, it does feel like an overpay for what he brings.

The Florida Panthers were another team that was busy around the Trade Deadline, making a massive trade for defenseman Seth Jones on March 1st. The Panthers sent goaltender Spencer Knight and a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft for Jones, who also came to Florida along with a fourth-round pick in 2026. Jones was dramatically overpaid in Chicago at $9.5MM annually, but with retained salary, is at a $7MM cap hit with Florida, which is much more in line with his play. Jones has been great since coming over to Florida, eating up a ton of minutes and providing above-average play in almost every aspect of the game. Jones struggled at times with the speed of the game, but has been an overwhelmingly positive presence for the Panthers; his acquisition has given Florida a very formidable defensive core that has brought them to a second straight Stanley Cup Final.

Jones wasn’t the only splash that Panthers general manager Bill Zito made at the Trade Deadline, as he also acquired forward Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins. Marchand has been everything the Panthers were hoping he could be and more, playing a pivotal role in the series against the Toronto Maple Leafs with three goals and five assists in seven games. Marchand’s acquisition cost Florida a conditional second-round pick in 2027 that has now become a first-rounder. Still, given his impact, Florida would likely pay it again if given the choice.

Lastly, we look at the moves the now-eliminated Carolina Hurricanes made at the Trade Deadline. As part of the Rantanen trade, Carolina was able to acquire forward Taylor Hall, who is no longer a Hart Trophy contender but remains a good player. The 33-year-old was the first overall pick in 2010 and had a decent offensive season this year with 18 goals and 24 assists in a bounce-back year after he was injured for most of the previous season. While Hall was a good acquisition for Carolina, it wasn’t enough to move the needle, and ultimately, their lack of meaningful additions cost them, as they didn’t have the horses necessary to get by the Panthers.

Outside of the trades involving Hall and Rantanen, the Hurricanes’ acquisition of Stankoven was a tidy little move that should pay dividends long term, as the 22-year-old was a steady point producer down the stretch with five goals and four assists in 19 games with Carolina. Despite being undersized, the Kamloops, British Columbia native also had a good playoff showing, with five goals and three assists in 15 games and should be a key contributor for the Hurricanes for a long time. His presence won’t lessen the sting of not being able to keep Rantanen in Carolina, but the Hurricanes didn’t walk away empty-handed and will have some other pieces of that trade in the fold very soon.

All that being said, the lack of a game-breaker badly hurt the Hurricanes, and they may look back on the move to trade Rantanen with a bit of regret, given that they lacked that player who could take over a game in the Florida series. Carolina continues to struggle to overcome the hump that is the Eastern Conference and probably should have been more aggressive at the Deadline given the state of their roster and their position in their competitive window.

Carolina made one other move for depth center Mark Jankowski. The 30-year-old finished the regular season strong with eight goals in his final 19 games but was used sparingly in the playoffs as he dressed in just seven games and had a single point. His move offered some depth, but it just wasn’t what Carolina needed to take down the formidable Panthers.

Image courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.

Justin Poirier Commits To University Of Maine

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A high-scoring winger is headed to the NCAA’s Hockey East Conference. Earlier today, Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal reported that Carolina Hurricanes prospect Justin Poirier has committed to the University of Maine.

Being selected with the 156th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Poirier doesn’t carry the same pedigree as other Canadian junior talent moving to the NCAA. Still, if his tenure in the QMJHL is a sign of things to come, the Black Bears shouldn’t have any issue putting the puck in the net this season.

Poirier has been one of the premier goal-scorers since joining the Major Junior ranks in 2022-23 with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. He’s scored 122 goals and 210 points in 181 games over the last three years, with another 22 goals and 36 points in 26 postseason contests.

Finishing first in goal-scoring in 2023-24 and fourth in 2024-25 shows that Poirier’s goal-scoring prowess isn’t just a flash in the pan. He’ll make a positive offensive weapon for a stagnant men’s ice hockey program.

Maine is no longer the program that made it to back-to-back Frozen Four appearances in the late 2000s. They haven’t been able to keep pace in a difficult Hockey East Division and have only qualified for the National Tournament twice in the last 15 years.

Hurricanes’ Jesper Fast Announces Retirement

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Former Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast has decided to call it a career. He’s announced his retirement at the age of 33, after 11 seasons and 703 games in the NHL. Fast spent seven seasons with the New York Rangers, and his last four seasons with the Hurricanes.

Fast faced an uphill battle to the pros from the start. He was originally drafted in the sixth-round of the 2010 NHL Draft, after making his professional debut in Sweden’s SHL. He continued on for three seasons in Sweden’s top league, before making the jump to North America at the end of the 2012-13 campaign. He spent the bulk of the 2013-14 season in the minors, but also earned the first 11 games of his NHL career on the back of 34 points in 48 games as an AHL rookie. Fast didn’t score in any of those NHL appearances, but did enough to flip the balance in his sophomore season – with 11 appearances in the AHL to 58 games in the NHL. He scored six goals and 14 points in those appearances, then added six points in 19 games of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Fast locked in his spot in New York’s bottom-six after providing strong, two-way support during their theatric 2015 run. He scored just 30 points in 79 games during his first full NHL season in 2015-16, but provided heaps of impact on both ends of the ice. That pattern came to define Fast over the next few years – consistently rivaling 30 points and making tough plays across the ice. He was a player that fans wanted to root for more than they wanted to root against, even if his scoring or lineup role never jumped off the page.

But Fast’s career was marred by injuries in nearly every year. He played in fewer than 70 games in six of his 11 NHL seasons, largely thanks to his gritty and aggressive role. The poor injury luck came to a peak in the 2023-24 season, when Fast suffered a broken neck in the final game of Carolina’s season. That injury held him out of the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign, and will now lead him into retirement. It’s an unfortunate cap to a tenacious career that continued on into Fast’s 30s. He was a playoff hero in Carolina’s 2023 postseason, netting nine points and two overtime game-winners in 15 games.

Even with an early end to his career, it’s hard to imagine Fast staying away from the hockey world for too long – whether he returns in a Swedish coaching role or supporting NHL development.

Hurricanes Notes: Orlov, Burns, Jarvis, Chatfield

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There were plenty of updates from the Carolina Hurricanes today, including from a few of their pending unrestricted free agents. In particular, according to Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal, the team hasn’t started contract negotiations with Dmitry Orlov, but the defenseman still considers the Hurricanes an option.

Carolina likely hasn’t had talks with Orlov because he won’t be their highest priority entering the offseason. The Hurricanes have a remarkably impressive left side of their defensive core, featuring Jaccob Slavin, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Alexander Nikishin.

Still, Orlov is coming off an impressive season in his own right. The 13-year veteran scored six goals and 22 points in 76 games for Carolina this season and was one of their top options on the penalty kill. He sustained his physicality and again reached the 20-minute on-ice average after dipping below the threshold last season. He’ll find plenty of interest in his services on the free-agent market, particularly from the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders, and San Jose Sharks, who each played below average with a man disadvantage.

Other notes from the Hurricanes:

  • On the other hand, there is one defenseman eager to stay in Raleigh. Earlier today, team reporter Walt Ruff shared a quote from veteran defenseman Brent Burns saying, “We’ll see what happens, but we love it here and would love for it to work out.” Whether or not it works out with the Hurricanes, it seems that Burns will return for a 22nd season. Still, he did show signs of slowing down this season, scoring six goals and 29 points in 82 games after tallying 43 points a year prior.
  • Moving over the injury-related news, Ruff reported that forward Seth Jarvis was dealing with the same shoulder injury from last year throughout the regular season and playoffs. According to the report, Ruff indicated that Jarvis has already ruled out surgery as an option to avoid missing the start of the 2025-26 campaign and to keep his name in contention for Team Canada’s 2026 Olympic roster.
  • Lastly, Lavalette reported that defenseman Jalen Chatfield was dealing with a hip injury and was close to returning before the Hurricanes were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Final. Chatfield, like many of his peers on Carolina’s roster, had a largely successful trip through Round One and Two of the 2024-25 Stanley Cup playoffs. He scored one goal in nine games with a +6 rating before suffering the injury in Game 4 against the Washington Capitals, and had a 92.2% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

Free Agent Focus: Carolina Hurricanes

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Free agency is just over a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Hurricanes.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Ryan Suzuki – The Hurricanes are a rare bird this summer. After needing to deal with high-profile RFAs in the 2024 offseason in Seth Jarvis and Martin Nečas, Carolina didn’t even have a single pending RFA on the active roster to end the season. We’ll look at the most intriguing non-roster RFA at each position instead, starting with Suzuki. The 2019 first-round pick needed to have a big 2024-25 campaign to maintain a role in the organization after some underwhelming AHL performance over the last few years, and he delivered. The 24-year-old recorded a career-high 59 points (12 G, 47 A) in 69 games for the Chicago Wolves, leading the club in assists and points. Suzuki landed his NHL debut amid that surge, recording a plus-one rating but no points in a pair of outings in January and February. He’ll likely just end up accepting his $813,750 qualifying offer, but it was uncertain whether he’d secure one at all when looking at his track record a season ago.

D Ty Smith – The 2021 All-Rookie defenseman did log some NHL time for Carolina this year, posting a goal and an assist in eight games as a frequent call-up option from the Wolves. It was his first NHL action since January 2023, as the 2018 first-round pick has failed to hold onto an everyday role after aggressively sliding down the Devils’ depth chart following his promising first-year showing four years ago. He did manage 28 points and a plus-four rating on a defensively challenged AHL Chicago team in 36 games, though. While that may not be enough to secure him a qualifying offer from a Hurricanes organization with brighter defense prospects to insert into next season’s lineup, it could be enough to convince an NHL team in need of an offensive rearguard to give him a more extended look next fall.

G Yaniv Perets – A 2023 NCAA national championship with Quinnipiac, Perets hits RFA status following his second professional season. The 25-year-old played mostly in the ECHL with the Bloomington Bison but was exceptional there, recording a .921 SV%, 2.59 GAA, and three shutouts with a 12-12-1 record. That was a huge step up over last year’s .889 SV% in the ECHL and could be enough to earn him a qualifying offer, although Carolina already has two young minor-league goalies under contract for 2025-26 and might prefer a more veteran option to complement the depth chart as a No. 3 option rather than using a contract slot on Perets.

Other RFAs: F Skyler Brind’Amour, F Noel Gunler, D Domenick Fensore, D Anttoni Honka, D Ronan Seeley

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Brent Burns – Burns, 40, finally got caught by Father Time in 2024-25. While he remained in a top-pairing role alongside Jaccob Slavin, his offensive production took a sizable hit compared to the up-and-down point totals he’d posted over the last few years. His 29 points in 82 games were the fourth-worst points per game pace of his 21-year career and his lowest since his first three years in the NHL. His 20:57 average time on ice was also its lowest since then, not including the two years he primarily played right wing with the Sharks. Once a physical force, he wasn’t nearly as involved along the wall or stepping up against forwards as he once was. Burns had just 11 hits all year. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Carolina let Burns walk and deploy younger righty Scott Morrow in his role next season. If he extends his career in Carolina or elsewhere, he’s looking at a one-year deal at likely no more than half of his previous $8MM cap hit.

D Dmitry Orlov – Orlov hasn’t been the best fit with the Canes after signing a two-year, $15.5MM deal in free agency in 2023. He was the top prize of that year’s weak UFA class, but the lefty got thrust into sheltered minutes last year on the left side behind Slavin and Brady Skjei, averaging just 17:19 per game after seeing over 22 minutes per night the year prior. Orlov got increased deployment this year after Skjei left in free agency, logging 20 minutes per game and posting 28 points with a +16 rating in 76 appearances. He remains an extremely serviceable top-four piece with historically strong possession impacts, but the 33-year-old will almost surely hit the open market with the higher-upside Alexander Nikishin set to replace his role in 2025-26. While Orlov’s poor postseason showing may sour some teams on the open market, he again benefits from a weaker market and should again land north of $5MM per season on a short-term deal.

F Jack Roslovic – Roslovic was a pleasant surprise for the Canes, who picked him up for cheap last summer to help soften the blow of losing multiple scoring forwards in free agency. The 28-year-old rewarded their $2.8MM investment by tying his career-high 22 goals, totaling 39 points in 81 games to sit sixth on the Canes in scoring. He can play both center and wing, a valuable factor for a Hurricanes team that’s thin down the middle. It would be surprising not to see them try to retain his services before he hits the open market on July 1, but it’ll likely take something in the $4MM range on a multi-year commitment to help dissuade other offers.

F Eric Robinson – Robinson, 30 next month, also punched far above his weight class offensively for what the Canes paid for him last summer ($950K) to help add some bottom-six depth. The longtime Blue Jackets winger answered the bell with a 14-18–32 scoring line in 82 games, averaging 12:16 per game while placing fourth on the club with 123 hits. He’s also presumably someone the club wants to keep around. Will they be willing to triple his salary to do so?

F Tyson Jost – 2024-25 was an important campaign for Jost, who re-established himself as a fine fourth-line/press box option after spending a significant chunk of last season in the AHL. He still saw some brief minor-league assignments this year but injuries paved the way for him to make 39 appearances, scoring nine points and a plus-two rating while averaging 10:22 per game. He had a stellar 60.3% share of shot attempts at even strength, and it stands to reason both parties could be interested in extending his stay in Raleigh as a 12th/13th forward.

Other UFAs: F Jesper Fast, F Juha Jaaska, D Joakim Ryan, D Riley Stillman, G Spencer Martin, G Dustin Tokarski

Projected Cap Space

After dealing with a cap crunch last summer, general manager Eric Tulsky will have much more flexibility in his second offseason at the helm. Burns’ and Orlov’s deals expiring, plus young players on entry-level deals ready to step into their roles, means they can be among the top players in free agency with $28.4MM in space. They’ll have the flexibility to retain whoever they want from the list above, plus pursue some of the top-notch prizes available on the open market.

Image courtesy of James Guillory-Imagn Images (Suzuki) and Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images (Burns). Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins Coaching, Roest, Kuokkanen

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The Pittsburgh Penguins’ coaching search continues to headline news out of the Metropolitan Division, as the squad seeks out their first change at head coach in the last decade. Their final rounds of interviews have led to two candidates emerging above the rest – Washington Capitals assistant coach Mitch Love, and former Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

Love has been behind the Capitals’ bench for the last two seasons, after spending the two years prior serving as the head coach of Calgary’s AHL squad. Love worked in the WHL and Canada’s U17 and U18 squads for the better half of the 2010’s. He supported Team Canada’s Gold Medal wins at the 2016 U17 World Hockey Championship, 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and 2020 World Junior Championship. He also won the AHL’s ’Coach of the Year’ award in both of his two years in the league – 2021-22 and 2022-23. The past two years in Washington have marked Love’s first in the NHL in any capacity, and a move to head coach would mark a quick reward after he supported Pittsburgh’s rival to a second-round exit this season.

Smith sits as an interesting option opposite of Love. He has spent the last season-and-a-half in an assistant or associate coach role with the Los Angeles Kings, who hired him on the same day that he was fired from the Senators’ head coaching role in 2023. Smith posted a combined 131-154-32 record in just over four years with the Senators. He also has six years of experience as an NHL assistant coach, spread between tenures with the Toronto Maple Leafs and L.A. Kings. He’d be a hotly debated addition, though offers a much hardier pro coaching resume than Love.

Other notes from the Metro Division:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have parted ways with assistant general manager and AHL general manager Stacy Roest, per Ashley Wenskoski of CNY Central. Roest was a colleague of freshly-hired New York Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche during their shared time in Tampa Bay, and could be a candidate to join their front office. Roest has been with the Tampa Bay organization since the 2013-14 season, when he joined on as a Director of Player Development and AHL assistant coach. He was promoted to AHL GM in the 2019-20 season. Roest also played in 244 career games in the NHL, split between tenures with the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild. He ended his career with nine years in Switzerland’s National League, which allowed him to support Team Canada at six separate Spengler Cups.
  • Former Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils centerman Janne Kuokkanen has extended his tenure overseas. He has signed a four-year contract with the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks. Kuokkanen played one season with Malmo in 2023-24 – scoring 44 points in 43 games – but opted to move to the National League for this season. He’ll reverse that decision one season later, after netting just 25 points in 35 games with Lausanne HC. Kuokkanen was a second-round selection in the 2016 NHL Draft and played in 119 NHL games split between the Hurricanes and Devils. He scored 14 goals and 42 points in those appearances.

Panthers’ Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola, A.J. Greer In For Game 5

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May 28: All three players are returning to the lineup tonight after the Panthers dropped Game 4 by a score of 3-0 without them, Maurice told reporters, including Michael Russo of The Athletic, this morning.

May 26: Panthers star winger Sam Reinhart, who already missed Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final because of a lower-body injury, will remain out for Game 4 tonight, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters (including Eric Engels of Sportsnet). Defenseman Niko Mikkola and winger A.J. Greer, who sustained upper-body and undisclosed injuries in Game 3, respectively, will also miss the potential conference championship-clinching game and are day-to-day, Maurice said.

Reinhart exited Game 2 in the first period due to a hit from Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho and didn’t return. Maurice said yesterday that Reinhart had neither been ruled out nor cleared for Game 4, while Greer and Mikkola weren’t expected to miss time. The latter statements jumped the gun.

Luckily for them, the Panthers have built up a 3-0 cushion in the series to limit the potential effects of their absences (and, if all goes well tonight, allow everyone time to get healthy for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final). They already won once without Reinhart, cruising to a 6-2 win in Game 3 with a third-period scoring explosion. The 29-year-old has been good but not overly dominant in this year’s playoff run, posting four goals and 11 points in 14 games after scoring 10 goals in 24 playoff games in last year’s Stanley Cup win.

But Mikkola played a massive role in that win, scoring a pair of goals, including the game-winner. After the best regular season of his career, the 6’6″ Finn has further solidified his status as a high-end second-pairing option in the playoffs, posting five points and a plus-six rating while averaging north of 19 minutes per game. With the Panthers having fewer quality depth options on the blue line outside of their usual lineup compared to their forward group, his absence will be a little more difficult for Maurice to deal with as he tries to sweep Carolina in the ECF for the second time in three years.

Jesper Boqvist, who’s been the 13th forward this postseason but still has five points in his last three appearances, will remain in the lineup in Reinhart’s stead. Maurice said that rearguard Uvis Balinskis will replace Mikkola in the lineup while depth center Nico Sturm enters the lineup for the fourth-liner Greer.

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