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Hurricanes Promote Daniel Bochner Among Multiple Staff Changes

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The Carolina Hurricanes have announced multiple staff and structure changes across their hockey operations and management departments. Most notably, they’ve hired Daniel Bochner as a full-time development coach, after he spent the last two seasons in a part-time coaching role with both the Hurricanes and the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg. Bochner will move to Raleigh, from Russia, for this hire and work with both the NHL and AHL lineups.

Bochner has built up a rich career across the hockey world. He was originally born in Toronto, but began playing for Israel’s U18 club at the age of 15. He joined the club in their debut at the World Junior Championship Division-III tournament in 2001, and debuted with the country’s men’s roster at the World Championship Division-II tournament later that year. Bochner continued to be a fixture of Israel’s national roster through 2011, and racked up three points across 13 total appearances at the World Championship.

Bochner retired from his playing career in 2011, and turned towards head coaching with the Don Mills Flyers’ AAA club in 2013. He led the Flyers’ 2000-birth year through their 14U, 15U, and 16U seasons. Current Utah Mammoth forward Jack McBain served as the team’s captain in all three seasons. Bochner left Don Mills for a youth coach role with the KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan in 2016, briefly returned to coach the Vaughan Kings 14U AAA team in 2017, then moved full-time into a development coach role with SKA St. Petersburg in 2018.

His role with SKA included serving as a development coach for the KHL and MHL (junior) clubs, as well as with Russia’s National Men’s roster. He also served as an assistant coach for the KHL club from 2020 to 2023. Bochner’s role spanned some impressive rosters, and allowed him to work closely with top NHL skaters and prospects – including Yaroslav Askarov, Ivan Demidov, Matvei Michkov, Kirill Marchenko, and Hurricanes prospect Timur Kol. Bochner will now leave seven years with SKA behind to work full-time with Carolina’s top two rosters.

The Hurricanes have also announced that CBA-specialist Earl Schwartz has been promoted to the role of CBA and Salary Cap Analyst. He will the title of Compliance Assistant after three years in the role. Schwartz began his niched career publicly, writing CBA-related analysis for LeafsNation and a personal newsletter. Now, he’ll take another step forward in a Hurricanes organization that’s seen multiple staff take unconventional paths into their roles.

Carolina has further promoted Jorge Alves into the role of head equipment manager. He will take over for Bob Gorman, who has worked with the Hurricanes since 1976 and will continue to support the team in a reduced role. Alves will be joined by Patrick Budds, who has been promoted to assistant equipment manager from his role of equipment assistant. Filling that latter role will be CJ Reif, who worked with the Chicago Wolves last season.

The Hurricanes have also hired Zach Ellenthal and Dennis King as pro scouts. Ellenthal spent the last four seasons with the SHL’s Rogle BK, while King previously served in the Edmonton Oilers’ analytics department. King will join former Oilers peer Tyler Dellow in Carolina.

Carolina rounds out the hires with changes in their athletic training and nutrition rooms. Koryd Lavimoniere will step into an assistant trainer role after serving as the head trainer of the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds last season; and Kristin Pirigyi will move into a newly-created, full-time nutritionist role after previously serving as a nutrition consultant.

Photo courtesy of David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports.

Hurricanes Re-Sign Skyler Brind’Amour, Domenick Fensore

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Jul. 16th: The Hurricanes confirmed Brind’Amour’s new contract via a team announcement. Carolina also announced that they’ve re-signed defenseman Domenick Fensore to a one-year, two-way contract. He’ll earn $775K at the NHL level and $70K at the AHL level, with $100K guaranteed.

Jul. 14th: Carolina has taken care of one of its remaining restricted free agents as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the Hurricanes have re-signed forward Skyler Brind’Amour to a one-year, two-way contract.  The deal will pay him $775K in the NHL, $90K in the AHL, and has a guaranteed payout of $100K.

The 25-year-old was originally a sixth-round pick by Edmonton back in 2017, going 177th overall.  However, after playing his college action at Quinnipiac, he didn’t sign with the Oilers, instead joining AHL Charlotte on a one-year deal for 2022-23.  After putting up eight points in 54 games with them, Brind’Amour inked a one-year, two-way pact with the Hurricanes for last season.

Brind’Amour spent most of 2024-25 with AHL Chicago and was a bit more productive than his professional debut, notching 16 goals and eight assists in 68 games.  With Carolina sitting many players for the final two games to keep them healthy for the playoffs, Brind’Amour was among the players recalled from the Wolves and he picked up his first career NHL goal in the final game of the season.

Brind’Amour will require waivers now to return to the minors but it seems unlikely that he will be picked up off the waiver wire.  Assuming he passes through unclaimed, he will once again serve as recallable depth for Carolina in 2025-26 and will once again be a restricted free agent next summer.

With the signing, the Hurricanes are now down to two remaining restricted free agents, both of whom primarily played for the Wolves last season – forward Ryan Suzuki, plus defensemen Ronan Seeley.

Hurricanes Expressed Interest In Retaining Burns, But With Reduced Role

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The Carolina Hurricanes came into the offseason with a lot of cap space and were going to make a push to sign big-name free agents. Offensively, they did just that, signing free agent Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year, $51MM deal. The team also seems eager to continue to bolster their offensive group and is reportedly eyeing Pittsburgh Penguins veterans Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust.

However, the team also revamped their defensive unit, highlighted by a sign-and-trade for K’Andre Miller, which sent right-shot defender Scott Morrow the other way, and the signing of depth defenseman Mike Reilly. The Hurricanes also opted to let veteran Brent Burns walk in free agency, though there was interest in keeping the potential Hall of Famer in a lesser role. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts podcast, Carolina informed Burns that, should he stay with the team, his role would be diminished.

“In Carolina, it’s not that they didn’t want to keep him. It’s that they told him that his role was going to decrease. And I’ve seen this before. Even if players are being told the truth by their team, they have such pride and sometimes they like to go somewhere else and take a lesser role than the place where they already are,” Friedman said.

Friedman noted that the Hurricanes are satisfied with their current group of blueliners, believing they fit seamlessly into Coach Rod Brind’Amour’s system. Miller will undoubtedly be a key part of that system for years to come after signing an eight-year deal worth a total value of $60MM for $7.5MM per season. The Hurricanes will also likely rely on the continued development of Alexander Nikishin, who began his NHL career in the playoffs last season.

Burns eventually landed a one-year deal with the Avalanche. Burns, 40, comes to the Avalanche after registering 29 points in 82 games with the Carolina Hurricanes last season. While his offensive numbers dipped considerably in 2024-25, he still logged a hefty 20:57 of ice time per game on the season. He added five points in 15 playoff contests.

 

 

Mastrosimone Signs With Charlotte

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  • Winger Robert Mastrosimone has signed with AHL Charlotte, an affiliate of the Hurricanes, per a team release. The 24-year-old was a second-round pick by Detroit back in 2019 but didn’t sign with them, ultimately becoming a free agent where he spent the last two seasons on a minor league deal with Toronto.  Mastrosimone played in 50 games for the Marlies in 2024-25, collecting 10 goals and four assists.

Hurricanes Sign Gavin Bayreuther To Two-Way Deal

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The Hurricanes have signed free agent defenseman Gavin Bayreuther to a two-way deal, per a team release. They also confirmed a previous report that winger Noel Gunler had accepted his qualifying offer.

A 6’1″ lefty, Bayreuther has worked out a lengthy professional career for himself after going undrafted. He spent seven seasons bouncing between the AHL and NHL in the Stars and Blue Jackets organizations after ending his collegiate career with St. Lawrence University in 2017.

The 31-year-old spent last season in Switzerland’s National League with Lausanne HC, his first and only overseas season. In 52 games, he posted a 5-18–23 scoring line with 47 PIMs and a plus-five rating, finishing second on the team in scoring among defensemen.

Bayreuther will make the league minimum $775K salary if he’s on the NHL roster or $140K in the AHL with a $150K guarantee, the team said. With Carolina having six defensemen on one-way deals plus top prospect Alexander Nikishin expected to be with the club out of the gate, Bayreuther will likely land on waivers in training camp and head to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, Carolina’s affiliate, if he clears.

In 122 career NHL games with Columbus and Dallas in parts of four seasons, Bayreuther has five goals and 28 points while averaging 15:14 per night with a -17 rating.

Riley Nash Announces Retirement

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Longtime depth center Riley Nash has retired from the NHL, he told Tyler Lowey of Castanet Kamloops.

Nash, 36, was an unrestricted free agent after spending 2024-25 under contract with the Rangers. He didn’t play at all last season while rehabbing what he told Lowey were a “variety of knee injuries” he sustained during the previous year while on assignment to AHL Hartford, spending his final professional season on the non-roster list.

“With three wonderful young kids and the way my body has behaved over the past few years, it was time to take a step back as an older guy and let others chase their dream the same way I did,” he told Lowey. “I consider myself very fortunate to have played in front of my kids over the last few years. They helped me regain the passion and love for the sport I had as a kid. Now was the right time to step away.”

The 6’2″, 187-lb pivot was the No. 21 overall selection in the 2007 draft by the Oilers, although he elected not to sign with one of the two clubs from his native Alberta. After winning an ECAC championship with Cornell in his junior campaign in 2009-10, he saw his signing rights flipped to the Hurricanes for a second-round pick.

Nash signed with Carolina a few weeks later. While he ended up having a true journeyman’s career, he did have some stability early on in the Hurricanes organization. He spent six seasons there, seeing NHL ice in the latter five, recording 31 goals, 50 assists, and 81 points in 242 games before reaching free agency in 2016.

Nash went on to see NHL ice for the Bruins, Blue Jackets, Maple Leafs, Jets, Lightning, Coyotes, and Rangers. He spent nearly a decade as a full-time AHL piece, going from 2013-14 to 2020-21 without seeing a minor-league assignment, frequently anchoring third and fourth lines. His best season came on a high-powered Bruins squad in 2017-18, setting career-highs across the board with 15 goals, 26 assists, 41 points, and a +16 rating while averaging 15:25 per game.

He spent the last few seasons of his career as a complementary AHL piece, serving as an alternate captain for the Charlotte Checkers in 2022-23 before spending his final healthy campaign with the Rangers’ affiliate in Hartford in 2023-24.

Nash concludes his pro career with 628 NHL appearances, scoring 63 goals, 113 assists and 176 points with a -11 rating in 13:09 of ice time per contest. He also scored 193 points in 312 AHL games in parts of seven seasons.

All of us at PHR wish Nash the best in retirement.

Hurricanes Had Interest In Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell

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According to Josh Yohe of The Athletic, before inking Nikolaj Ehlers to a new six-year contract, the Carolina Hurricanes were interested in a pair of veteran wingers from the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Hurricanes reportedly called on the availability of Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, and league sources believe one of the two will be dealt this summer.

Given his use of the past tense in his article, it doesn’t appear that Carolina has continued their interest in Rust or Rakell. Still, with more than $10MM in cap space after adding Ehlers, the Hurricanes could conceivably add another top-six winger to their forward group to put themselves over the top in the Eastern Conference.

[SOURCE LINK]

Zac Dalpe Announces Retirement

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Longtime minor-league forward Zac Dalpe, who appeared in parts of 12 NHL seasons with numerous clubs over the past two decades, has announced his retirement via an open letter published on the Charlotte Checkers’ website.

Dalpe, 35, scored 16 goals, 16 assists, and 32 points with a -37 rating in 168 career regular-season games with the Blue Jackets, Panthers, Wild, Canucks, Sabres, and Hurricanes, who drafted him No. 45 overall back in 2008. He made 16 playoff appearances, 13 of which came in Florida’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023.

The versatile center/winger spent more time in the AHL with Charlotte than anywhere else, including as their captain for the last four seasons while under contract with the Panthers. They were also the Hurricanes’ minor-league affiliate when he was in Carolina’s system. He scored 131 goals and 238 points in 362 games there across seven campaigns, sitting third in franchise history in goals.

“Pulling that Checkers sweater over my head and walking through the redline club on the way out to the bright lights will always be stapled in my head,” Dalpe said in his letter, which is truly worth a full read. “It started here and now it shall end here. I’m proud of what I got to do, but more importantly, I’m so proud of who I got to do it with. I appreciate every single person that was along for the greatest ride of my life. A Canadian kid got to be a hockey player for 15 years.”

While Dalpe never won a Stanley or Calder Cup, he was a two-time AHL All-Star and was part of the league’s All-Rookie Team back in 2010-11. He finishes his career with 220 goals, 172 assists, and 392 points in 574 AHL games. Only seven players have spent more seasons in the league than Dalpe’s 16.

Before turning pro, Dalpe was a star at Ohio State, where he scored 70 points in 76 games in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. He was a CCHA First Team All-Star in his second and final collegiate season.

All of us at PHR wish Dalpe the best in the next phase of his life and career and congratulate him on such a lengthy run of high-end play in the pros.

Image courtesy of James Guillory-Imagn Images.

Hurricanes Sign Nikolaj Ehlers To Six-Year Deal

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The Hurricanes are signing top free agent Nikolaj Ehlers, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman report. The team has announced the contract, which comes in at six years and $51MM for an $8.5MM cap hit.

Ehlers, No. 2 on our board of top UFAs this summer, had been linked to Carolina since the outset of free agency. Although it became clear he wouldn’t sign on July 1, instead waiting things out after most of the top names decided not to test the market, the Hurricanes were an implied frontrunner while the Capitals and Lightning had also spoken to his camp. Tampa was no longer in the conversation as of Thursday morning, but it appears the Caps, as well as the Mammoth, were in talks with Ehlers’ camp until his decision to choose Carolina in the last hour, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

The 29-year-old Dane will capitalize on one of the better seasons of his NHL career in 2024-25 and make the jump to Carolina from Winnipeg. The Jets made him the No. 9 overall pick in the 2014 draft, and for the most part, he’s lived up to that billing. He scored 225 goals and 520 points in 674 games in 10 years in a Jets uniform, leaving the club as its fifth-leading goal-scorer in franchise history.

While Ehlers isn’t the answer to the No. 2 center question that’s plagued Carolina for the past few seasons, he’s that elusive additional top-six winger the club has chased with expensive in-season rentals over the past couple of years, bringing names like Jake Guentzel and Mikko Rantanen in for brief stops in Raleigh. Ehlers scored 24 goals and 63 points in 69 games last season – a 29-goal, 75-point pace had he played in all 82 games. That would have made him one of two 70-point scorers on the Canes last season, along with Sebastian Aho.

It remains to be seen whether Carolina will pair the play-driving winger with Aho on a first line or have Ehlers anchor his own line. He’s hoping it’s the former after years of having his even-strength ice time oddly limited in Winnipeg. Despite averaging north of 60 points per 82 games over his career, Ehlers has only averaged more than 17 minutes per game twice and averaged just 15:48 last year, making him one of the most efficient scorers in the league on a per-minute basis.

The signing caps off what’s been a week of big spending in Raleigh. They rewarded rising sophomore Logan Stankoven with an eight-year, $48MM extension on Tuesday before acquiring defenseman K’Andre Miller from the Rangers in a sign-and-trade, taking him on with an eight-year, $60MM commitment – the largest contract signed since the market opened (Mitch Marner’s eight-year, $96MM contract was registered on June 30).

While not the bona fide No. 1 winger Carolina’s been searching for, he is a legitimate top-line threat that adds another layer of depth to one of the league’s more balanced offensive attacks. He fits the Hurricanes’ model of being one of the league’s strongest possession teams. Not once has Ehlers ever posted a shot share or expected goals share below 50% at even strength in his career, and he had a remarkably strong 4.9% relative Corsi share over his time in Winnipeg.

Even after registering Ehlers’ contract, the Hurricanes have plenty of flexibility to work with if they want to pursue additional signings or trade acquisitions. They’re still left with $10.64MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, and are equipped with four first-round picks in the next three years to leverage in trade talks as they see if they can acquire another top-six piece.

Image courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.

Spencer Martin Signs With CSKA Moscow

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Now-former NHL goaltender Spencer Martin has signed a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow, according to a release from the Kontinental Hockey League.

Martin, 30, heads overseas for the first time in his career after spending the last 10 seasons bouncing between the NHL, AHL, and ECHL. Instead of settling for the unenviable life of a third-string netminder in North America, he’ll be the undisputed starter for one of Russia’s premier clubs with Islanders 2024 fourth-rounder Dmitri Gamzin as his backup.

Martin split last season between the Hurricanes and AHL Chicago, his third NHL organization in the last three years. In 31 AHL games in 2024-25, Martin posted a 2.34 GAA, .909 SV%, three shutouts, and a 20-8-2 record. He struggled when called upon for NHL minutes, though, languishing with a .846 SV% and 3.89 GAA in seven starts and two relief appearances.

A third-round pick by the Avalanche in 2013, Martin has also made stops in the Lightning, Canucks, and Blue Jackets organizations in addition to his time in Colorado and Carolina. He has a 24-30-8 record in 66 career NHL appearances, logging a 3.56 GAA and .883 SV%.

Carolina anticipated Martin’s departure and replaced his spot on the depth chart by acquiring and signing netminder Cayden Primeau from the Canadiens. He’ll serve as the No. 3 behind Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov in 2025-26.

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