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Hurricanes Sign Seven Players To PTOs

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Today, the Hurricanes announced their roster for this year’s regional rookie camp, the 2024 NHL Rookie Showcase hosted by the Predators. Seven of their 22 players weren’t previously in the organization. They will attend via professional tryout agreements, some of which may last to training camp or end after the showcase.

Carter Kowalyk, the lone defenseman of the group, will look to make an impression before returning to the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets for his final season of junior hockey. The 19-year-old has been passed over in back-to-back NHL drafts, marred by injuries and stuck on basement-dwelling teams. Last season, a trade sent him to the playoff-bound Rockets from the lowly Edmonton Oil Kings, boosting his stock. The 6’3″, 196-lb stay-at-home defender ended the season with seven points, 25 PIMs and a +13 rating in 26 games in Kelowna, and he’ll look to factor into heavy minutes there in 2024-25. A strong showing with the Canes now could earn him an invite back to development camp next summer or earn him an entry-level contract.

Zakary Lavoie, 20, is a diminutive right-winger who plays much larger than his 5’10”, 179-lb frame would suggest. The Ottawa native is a skilled shooter, posting 31 goals in 67 Ontario Hockey League games last season, split between the Niagara IceDogs and Brantford Bulldogs. If he returns to Brantford, he’ll take up one of their three overage slots, so he could be on the hunt to land a professional deal in the coming weeks. Whether that’s an entry-level agreement with Carolina or an AHL deal with their affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, remains to be seen if the Canes opt to keep him in the organization.

Connor Lockhart, 21, has his junior days behind him now after completing what would have been his fifth OHL season if not for the COVID-19 pandemic. A sixth-round pick of the Canucks in 2021, he became a free agent over a year ago when his signing rights lapsed on July 1, 2023. Lockhart has produced over a point per game over the last two years, ending his season with 52 points in 45 contests for the Oshawa Generals after an early-season trade from Peterborough. The 5’9″ center was suspended by the league for eight games in February following an investigation into unspecified conduct by the Durham, Ontario Regional Police, which has since been closed.

Skyler Brind’Amour, 25, is already signed to an AHL pact for next season with the Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers’ affiliate. But Florida doesn’t own his NHL rights, making him eligible to attend rookie and training camps leaguewide as offers come in. The Raleigh native and son of Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour won an NCAA championship with Quinnipiac in 2023 but has had trouble adjusting to the pro game, posting just three goals and eight points in 54 contests with the Checkers last season. His chances of landing an NHL deal are slim, but they won’t be better anywhere else than in Carolina, an organization synonymous with the Brind’Amour name.

Braydon McCallum, 18, was draft-eligible for the first time this year but wasn’t selected. Briefly a teammate of Lockhart’s with the Peterborough Petes, the 5’10”, 165-lb forward finished third on the team in scoring last season with 41 points (18 G, 23 A) in 62 games and led them (and the OHL as a whole) with 128 PIMs. He’s a tenacious forechecker with a good shot and has a decent chance of landing an ELC with Carolina before heading back to the Petes for 2024-25.

Luca Testa, 18, fits a similar profile to McCallum. Also draft-eligible for the first time in 2024 and passed over, he’s a physical center but takes fewer penalties with slightly less offensive upside. In 48 games for the Bulldogs last year, he had 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points with a +6 rating.

Rounding out the group is 20-year-old left-winger Antonin Verreault, an explosive but undersized offensive talent who’s now been passed over three drafts in a row. The 5’8″, 163-lb forward led the QMJHL in assists (71) and points (107) last season in 68 games with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. He’s the type of talent the Hurricanes often take swings on and is perhaps the likeliest of the group to end up with a contract as a result of their tryout.

Metropolitan Notes: Fast, Dube, Keller, Martin

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The Hurricanes still don’t know whether winger Jesper Fast will be available come opening night, says Cory Lavalette of The Athletic. Fast surprisingly missed all of Carolina’s playoff games after a mysterious late-season neck injury left him in a brace that he was still sporting during exit meetings.

Lavalette points out that the 32-year-old is at least out of the brace, which we know thanks to pictures he was spotted during teammate Sebastian Aho’s wedding over the summer. But both the player and team were vague about the nature of his injury at the end of the postseason, and there haven’t been any reports about what specific type of neck injury Fast sustained since.

The Swede had just six goals and 19 points in 73 games last year, his worst offensive output since his rookie campaign with the Rangers 10 years ago. His 12:36 average time on ice was also the lowest since then. He’s still a valuable penalty killer with great skating speed, though, and has one season left on his contract at a $2.4MM cap hit.

If he’s not cleared to play by October, it’ll be a significant boon to the chances of prospects Jackson Blake, Bradly Nadeau and Felix Unger Sörum cracking the opening night roster in his stead.

Other updates from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Capitals prospects Pierrick Dube and Antoine Keller are both getting the call to the French national team for this month’s 2026 Winter Olympics qualifiers, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News relays. Dube, a 23-year-old forward from Lyon, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Caps last summer and made his NHL debut in his first year under contract, posting a +1 rating in three games in a fourth-line role. He had 28 goals and 48 points in 66 games with their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, who won their second straight Calder Cup in 2024. He last represented France at a major international tournament at the 2020 Division 1B World Juniors. The 19-year-old Keller, meanwhile, will likely serve as France’s third-string goalie. The 2023 seventh-round pick will make his professional debut next season with Switzerland’s Lausanne HC after spending last year in junior hockey with the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan. France must win a round-robin tournament with Latvia, Slovenia and Ukraine to gain a spot in the next Olympics.
  • Longtime Islanders enforcer Matt Martin remains an unrestricted free agent but is fully intent on returning to the club, he tells Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. “I’m focused on playing here, first and foremost,” he said. “We’ll see how things unfold.” A reunion would be a reversal from earlier this month when general manager Lou Lamoriello told Ethan Sears of the New York Post that he was unlikely to re-sign Martin or frequent linemate Cal Clutterbuck. Martin has played 823 of his 955 career NHL games in an Isles uniform, racking up 155 points and 985 PIMs. He was a fifth-round pick of the club back in 2008.

Evening Notes: Jagr, Baertschi, Necas

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Hockey legend Jaromir Jagr has hit a lull in his off-season prep, announcing in an Instagram post that he’s suffered a torn hamstring. He’ll now be out for three-to-six weeks, adding that the injury was likely a result of overtraining, which team physio Pavel Kolar warned him against. In a quote translated from Czech by Derek O’Brien of The Hockey News, Jagr said, “When I talked to the physiotherapist Pavel Kolář about the fact that I would like to properly train, he warned me not to do anything that my body is not used to. Of course, I didn’t listen to him… I went for a run. Not the sprints I used to do uphill, but normally straight. But I put weights on my ankles and tore my hamstring.”

Jagr, a partial owner of Kladno, will now miss the team’s remaining four pre-season games and could be out for the start of the Czech Extraliga season on Sep. 18. Kladno has a game roughly every other day from there on out, eating into Jagr’s goal to play in every Extraliga game this season. The inevitable Hall-of-Fame winger has stayed productive into his 50s, scoring 18 points across his last 31 Extraliga games, dating back to 2022. He’s never shown any reason for doubt, and even through a hamstring injury, he hopes to continue a productive playing career in Kladno as soon as possible.

Other quick notes from around the NHL:

  • Former Vancouver Canucks winger Sven Baertschi has joined the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks as an assistant coach, shares Ryan Pike of Flames Nation. Baertschi spent two years with the Winterhawks in 2010 and 2011, ultimately scoring a dazzling 240 points in 156 games with the club. That was enough to motivate the Calgary Flames to select Baertschi with the 13th overall selection in the 2011 NHL Draft, though he never managed to live up to that precedent. His career year came with Vancouver in 2016-17, when he posted 18 goals and 35 points in 68 games. Baertschi finished his NHL career with 138 points in 292 games, playing in parts of 10 seasons. That’s a hockey career to be proud of – meager scoring or not – and Baertschi will now look to carry his experience back to the juniors team that helmed his early career.
  • Plenty of teams expressed interest in former top trade piece and recent Hurricanes re-signee Martin Necas, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the latest written 32 Thoughts. Among the interested parties were the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets, though Necas was ultimately swayed to stay in Carolina thanks to the support of his teammates off the ice. Necas will now look to make the most of his two-year contract after posting 71 and 53 points in the last two seasons, respectively. That’s strong production, and Necas should earn an impressive contract when he becomes an unrestricted free agent, pending any collapse over the next two years.

Could Svechnikov Be Ceiling For Jarvis' Contract?

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Hurricanes winger Seth Jarvis remains unsigned, a situation that several key forwards coming off their entry-level deals currently find themselves in.  Despite that, Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer suggests that the likelier outcome remains that a long-term agreement will get done instead of the sides pivoting to a short-term bridge agreement.  A long-term pact for the 22-year-old should fall between the $7MM and $8MM per season range.  DeCock notes that Andrei Svechnikov’s $7.75MM contract could be viewed as the ceiling for a player signing long-term coming off his entry-level agreement which could be part of the reason it’s not done yet if Jarvis’ camp is seeking more than that.  Jarvis had a career-best 33 goals and 34 assists in 81 games last season (ranking second on the team in points) while adding nine points in their 11 playoff contests.

Summer Synopsis: Carolina Hurricanes

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The Carolina Hurricanes have been the envy of many NHL teams for the past half-decade, building out a sustainable lineup that nicely blended veteran pieces with up-and-coming prospects. Despite the seemingly endless supply of talent, Carolina has never been able to put it all together and go a run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Their regular season success over the past 5+ years is nearly unmatched, but the playoff losses have started to lead fans to wonder if this core can be the one that brings the franchise its second Stanley Cup. Carolina saw a lot of turnover this summer and it could lead the team to take a step back next season.

Draft

2-34: D Dominik Badinka, Malmo (SHL)
2-50: F Nikita Artamonov, Torpedo (KHL)
3-69: D Noel Fransen, Färjestad BK (SHL)
4-124: D Alexander Siryatsky, Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk (MHL)
5-133: F Oskar Vuollet, Skellefteå AIK (SHL)
5-156: F Justin Poirier, Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)
6-168: D Timur Kol, Avangard Omsk (KHL)
6-184: D Roman Shokhrin, Loko-76 Yaroslavl (MHL)
6-188: F Fyodor Avramov, Kapitan Stupino (MHL)
7-220: F Andrey Krutov, Chaika Nizhny Novgorod (MHL)

A hectic summer wasn’t enough to knock Carolina off the course of what they do best – win out draft classes. The Hurricanes traded their first-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for a pair of picks in the first round – ultimately resulting in swapping Marek Vanacker for Dominik Badinka and Nikita Artamonov. That value swap would be considered a steal by many public scouting services, who were particularly fond of the feisty and aggressive offensive style that Badinka brings from the blue line. He earned first-round recognition from multiple outlets, including ranking 29th in Bob McKenzie’s acclaimed final rankings. Artamonov earned similar recognition with very mature and flexible hockey in Russia’s KHL, though his stock slipped over the year as he – and many other top Russian prospects – hit a scoring lull through the middle of the season. Nevertheless, the pair define Carolina’s draft-day haul with success in their country’s top flight.

But the supporting cast around Badinka and Artamonov can’t be counted out. Defender Noel Fransen also worked his way into an SHL lineup this season, with his 20 goals and 44 points in 45 U20 games resulting in four games with Farjestad. He was quiet in those outings but made up for it with strong international performances, ultimately flaunting a strong ability to both initiate and defend the rush through the neutral zone. He’ll need to reign in his aggressive pushes up the ice and find an appreciation for defensive positioning to succeed at the next flight, though Fransen’s upside as a puck-mover would fit well in Carolina’s fast-paced system.

The style matches continue with high-drive forwards Oskar Vuollet and Justin Poirier, who both emerged as their team’s leading forward over the season, though to largely varied results. Vuollet was, narrowly, the higher pick of the two – likely thanks to his heftier build and 15 SHL games this season. But it’s Poirier who carved out the longer season, championing Baie-Comeau to the QMJHL Championship with 18 goals and 27 points in 17 playoff games. It was an impressive run that showed Poirier’s dazzling ability to create plays out of the corners and find space on the outskirts of the slot. His style is reminiscent of former NHL journeyman Steve Sullivan, who carried plenty of power, drive, and play-creating ability in a small frame – and fought his way to a 1,000-game career despite being a ninth-round draft pick. Those are certainly lofty expectations for Poirier – whose physicality is yet to be tested at the top level. If he adjusts well, he could find a niche similar to Sullivan’s. If he can’t, Carolina will fall back on the responsible forechecking and hard-passing of Vuollet, which also looks like it could translate well to North American pros.

Carolina rounded out their draft class with a heap of Russian talent – headlined by a well-rounded defense, including Alexander Siryatsky’s large frame, Roman Shokhrin’s hard-hitting, and Timur Kol’s confident stickhandling from the blue line. All three players have pitfalls ahead of them, but could each use their defining strength to claw up Carolina’s depth chart. They’re complimented by heavy-shooter Fyodor Avramov and nifty scorer Andrey Krutov – who both found success in the MHL, Russia’s premier junior league, that they’ll now try to translate to the country’s pros. The Hurricanes have now drafted 15 players from Russia in just the last three years – showing plenty of confidence in bringing Russian players overseas.

UFA Signings

F William Carrier (six-years, $12MM)
F Jordan Martinook (three-years, $9.2MM)
F Jack Roslovic (one-year, $2.8MM)
F Eric Robinson (one-year, $950K)
F Joakim Ryan (one-year, $775K)*
F Riley Stillman (one-year, $775K)*
D Jaccob Slavin (extended eight years, $51.7MM)
D Sean Walker (five-years, $18MM)
D Shayne Gostisbehere (three-years, $9.6MM)
D Josiah Slavin (two-years, $775K)*

*denotes two-way deal


Carolina may not have lost as much quantity as some NHL teams, but their departing quality is as rich as it gets. That forced first-time general manager Eric Tulsky into a busy July as he looked to patch the many openings in the lineup. The rookie managed the feat well, bringing in highly capable defenders Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere to replace the departing Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce. The new acquisitions might not match the confident offense of Skjei or the stout defense of Pesce, though both Walker and Gostisbehere worked into top-four minutes last season with reliable two-way play. Gostibehere is the particularly exciting of the two, coming off a career year with the Detroit Red Wings that saw him net 10 goals and 56 points in 81 games – a career-high in scoring. He’s entering his second stint with the Hurricanes, having served 13 points across 38 games, combined between the regular season and playoffs, with the team after a 2023 Trade Deadline swap. That could prove good prep as he approaches a Hurricanes season with major roles on the defense up for grabs.

But neither Gostibehere nor Walker will clinch too rich of a role, thanks to Carolina’s lofty re-signing of alternate captain Jaccob Slavin. The newly minted, max-term deal walks the veteran defender to his age-38 season – solidifying his spot as a career Hurricane amid plenty of turnover on the blue line. Slavin continues to stand as one of the most watertight defensemen in the league, offering consistent and reliable impact on both sides of the puck as well as both sides of the ice. Now cemented in the lineup, Slavin will look to carry the torch for Carolina’s restructured defense and will stand as a favorite for the team’s captaincy when long-running captain Jordan Staal calls his career quits. He’ll also get the honor of playing in the same organization as brother Josiah Slavin, who signed a two-way deal with Carolina but projects as a minor-league option.

Carolina complimented a defensive refresh by adding multiple bricks into the offense. Jack Roslovic stands as the most notable signee, joining Carolina after digging his feet into the third-line center role for both the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers. That led him to 39 points across 77 games this season, including the playoffs – continuing Roslovic’s flirting with the 40-point ceiling into its fourth consecutive season. He’ll likely make the biggest splash in the lineup, though it’s William Carrier’s six-year extension that stands as Carolina’s most eye-raising addition. Carrier scored just eight points in 39 regular season games last year – and just 25 points in 56 games in 2022-23. He’s now up to 107 points in 413 career games – certainly meager numbers, though he’s continued to find ways into the lineup with quick decision-making and a daunting physical presence. Carrier will now bring those traits into Carolina, looking to carve out a fourth-line role that he can carry through the end of the 2020s.

Eric Robinson, Joakim Ryan, and Riley Stillman will all compete for similar fourth-line roles, though it’d be forgetful not to mention Jordan Martinook, who’s earned a deal rivaling a $10MM total salary after playing in all 164 games and scoring a commendable 66 points, over the last two seasons. Martinook has found his stride with the Canes after slowly rising to prominence through the team’s bottom six. He’ll likely stay in that role moving forward, though his multi-year extension gives the Hurricanes much-needed consistency in their depths.

RFA Re-Signings

F Martin Necas (two-year, $13MM)
F Jack Drury (two-years, $3.4MM)
D Jalen Chatfield (three-years, $9MM)

While Carolina can rest on an energetic UFA window, their RFA signings are coated in bore after emerging forward Martin Necas, once the top name on many different trade boards, ultimately decided to re-sign in Carolina. The new deal walks Necas to unrestricted free agency, giving him the chance to handpick a new team at his earliest convenience, but it’ll come at the cost of two more seasons in Carolina. That’s certainly not much to complain about – after all, Necas has grown into his own with the Hurricanes, netting a career-high 28 goals and 71 points in 82 games during the 2022-23 season after a pair of 40-point years. He succeeded the career year with 24 goals and 53 points in 77 games this season, though even with the step back in scoring, Necas’ ability to fit in with Carolina’s offensive stars was clear. Necas was a center before being drafted but was quickly swapped to the wing by Carolina. Despite some intrigue in returning to his natural position, it’ll be the flanks that offer the most opportunity in Carolina – with Necas privy to even more ice time now that the team has lost Jake Guentzel and Teuvo Teravainen.

Carolina’s other RFA signings are much more par for the course – featuring reliable and growing depth pieces Jack Drury and Jalen Chatfield, who are both cutting their teeth on Carolina’s bottom lines and special teams. Chatfield’s multi-year deal gives Carolina blue-line exciting upside from top to bottom on the right side. While the 28-year-old is still early into his NHL career, his 22 points in 72 games this season and growing confidence as a physical presence have made him a gut punch down the depth of Carolina’s lineup. While the defense will inevitably shift around as new additions find their role, Chatfield’s grit should make him a steadfast feature on the bottom pair.

Departures

F Jake Guentzel (traded to Tampa Bay)
F Evgeny Kuznetsov (waived)
F Teuvo Teravainen (Chicago, three-years, $16.2MM)
F Stefan Noesen (New Jersey, three years, $8.25MM)
F Eric Staal (retired)
F Max Comtois (unqualified, signed with Dynamo of the KHL)
D Brady Skjei (Nashville, seven-years, $49MM)
D Brett Pesce (New Jersey, six years, $33MM)
D Tony DeAngelo (unrestricted free agent)
D Dylan Coghlan (traded to Winnipeg)
G Antti Raanta (unrestricted free agent)

The strength of this year’s departing Hurricanes would rival some of the NHL’s basement dwellers. Carolina is losing irreplaceable talent as they say goodbye to Skjei, Pesce, Teravainen, Kuznetsov – and, most notably, star winger Jake Guentzel, who’s donned the title of Steven Stamkos’ replacement in Tampa Bay. Guentzel was one of the headliners of this year’s Trade Deadline, making the first move of his career after eight years with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Carolina had to part with a laundry list of talent to reel him in, including winger Michael Bunting and multiple top prospects. Guentzel vindicated the asking price with 34 points across 38 games with the team, including tying for third on the team in postseason scoring. The Hurricanes are uniquely positioned to handle such a big blow, thanks to the emergence of Necas and the looming return of oft-injured Andrei Svechnikov, who’s scored 316 points in 406 games but hasn’t played 80 games in a season since 2019.

The Hurricanes are also saying goodbye to Eric Staal, who signed a one-day contract with the team to retire a member of the team that started the fruitful careers of both he and brother Jordan Staal. Eric made his debut with the Hurricanes in 2003 and quickly jumped off the page. He managed 100 points in his sophomore season as Carolina steamrolled their way to the 2006 Stanley Cup. He went on to total 775 points in 909 games with Carolina before continuing his stellar NHL career through stints with five teams, including the Minnesota Wild.

Salary Cap Outlook

Carolina enters the last stretch of the summer with just under $6.44MM in projected cap space, which could be enough room to sign their remaining RFA, Seth Jarvis, if they elect to offer him a bridge deal. But, if both sides elect to go to a maximum-length deal, Carolina’s cap situation could get spicy. The Hurricanes lost a lot of personnel this summer and will enter next season with several new faces; it’s likely the team has concerns about starting the season without Jarvis as a lot of the new pieces will be looking to acclimate, and it could lead to a slow start in Carolina. The Hurricanes don’t have a ton of bad contracts on the books and could make a move before the start of the regular season in case they need to clear space for Jarvis’ long-term pact.

Key Questions

Is Their Forward Depth Strong Enough? The Hurricanes’ forward depth took a beating this offseason, and they lost the likes of Jake Guentzel, Stefan Noesen, and Teuvo Teravainen.  The team scrambled for replacements on the free agent market, bringing Jack Roslovic as potential center depth, as well as Tyson Jost and William Carrier. The departures leave Carolina in a precarious position as their forward group was once the envy of most teams and now looks to be closer to average than it has been in a while.

Can The Goaltending Hold Up? There is no question that Frederik Andersen was spectacular last season for Carolina, but he was limited to just 16 regular season games and was very pedestrian in the playoffs. Andersen has played just 50 regular season games total the past two seasons, and his backup, Pyotr Kochetkov, has played just 69 career games split over three seasons. While both men are capable of holding the fort for Carolina, the question is, can they do it for an entire season? And, more importantly, can they do it in the playoffs? Andersen has been a great regular-season goalie for most of his career, but the story remains his inability to elevate his game in the playoffs, and it is something the Hurricanes will need if they want to take the next step.

Can The Defense Sustain Offseason Losses? Losing your second defensive pairing is never ideal, especially when that pairing is one of the best, which is what Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei were for the Hurricanes. Carolina had the luxury of playing Dmitry Orlov on their third pairing last year but will likely need to elevate him into the top four to navigate their other departures. The team is fortunate that they held onto defensive prospect Scott Morrow and should be able to insert him into the NHL lineup at some point this season, and they were also able to add veterans Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker, who should be able to bring a veteran presence to the Canes back end. Carolina’s defense will look very different next season, and time will tell if that is for better or for worse.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

International Notes: Charlin, Vondras, Rueschoff

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While it’s a bit early to look ahead to next year’s wave of international free agents, one player who is already believed to be getting some interest in North America is goaltender Stephane Charlin, suggests Philipp Rindlisbacher of the Berner Zeitung.  The 23-year-old is coming off his best showing in Switzerland’s top division, posting a 2.81 GAA with a .919 SV% in 30 games for the SCL Tigers.  Standing 6’3, he has the size that a lot of teams covet in their goaltenders so teams will be watching to see if he can improve on those numbers this season, the final year of his contract.  If Charlin were to come to North America, he’d be capped at signing a one-year, entry-level agreement.

More international notes:

  • Hurricanes prospect goaltender Jakub Vondras will have two places to play this coming season. HC Dynamo Pardubice announced that they’ve reached an agreement with Plzen of the Extraliga that will see the netminder split duties between Plzen and Dynamo’s B squad.  The 20-year-old spent last season with OHL Sudbury, putting up a 3.79 GAA with a .861 SV% in 37 games but isn’t returning for his overage year.  With this agreement, Vondras should have a chance to see at least some action at the top Czech level while ensuring that he won’t sit for extended stretches.  Carolina has until June 1, 2026 to sign the netminder.
  • Despite a decent showing last season with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, free agent Austin Rueschhoff has gone overseas; Karpat in Finland announced that they’ve signed the center to a one-year contract. The 26-year-old had been on NHL contracts from 2020-21 through 2022-23 before having to settle for a minor league deal last summer.  Last season, Rueschoff had 15 goals and 13 assists in 67 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, setting career-bests in goals and points.

Carolina Hurricanes Make Front Office Changes

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General manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Tulsky, continues to organize his front office after former general manager Don Waddell resigned from the team in late May. The organization announced today they have hired Tyler Dellow as assistant general manager and promoted Darren Yorke to associate general manager and GM of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

Dellow has been in the NHL for the better part of the last decade as he served as an analytic consultant for the Edmonton Oilers from 2014-16 and as the vice president of hockey analytics for the New Jersey Devils from 2019-24. In his shift over to the Hurricanes organization, Dellow’s analytical background is eerily similar to Tulsky’s with the latter serving as an analyst and director of analytics in Carolina from 2014-20.

Adding to his strong portfolio, Dellow earned a law degree from the University of Toronto and served as a civil litigation lawyer in Toronto before moving to hockey. The Hurricanes are making Dellow responsible for overseeing data analysis and compliance with the salary cap and the current collective bargaining agreement given his strong background.

Yorke has been a longtime fixture in Carolina’s front office with his first role coming in 2010-11 as a video scout. After seven years as a scout, Yorke briefly became the director of scouting in Carolina for one year before becoming the team’s director of player personnel in 2018-19. Tulsky and Yorke were named assistant general managers in 2020-21 and Yorke’s scouting and developmental background should make him an ideal candidate to oversee the AHL operations.

Hurricanes Expect To Have Alexander Nikishin Play For Them Late In 2024-25

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Hurricanes prospect Alexander Nikishin has widely been viewed as one of the top blueliners outside the NHL for a couple of years now.  While he still has one year left on his KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg, Carolina expects to have the youngster available to them at some point late in the season.

Speaking earlier this week with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, GM Eric Tulsky indicated that they plan to sign him as soon as his deal in Russia expires and put him into their lineup right away.  KHL playoffs run through April and SKA is generally one of the better teams in that league so it’s quite possible that Nikishin won’t be able to make his Carolina debut until the end of April (if he’s let out of his contract early once the KHL playoffs end) or early May, meaning they’d have to have some playoff success of their own for this to happen.

The 22-year-old was the 69th selection back in 2020 and has squarely outperformed where he was picked.  He became a full-time player at the KHL level the following season with Spartak before being acquired by SKA in 2022 where things took off.

In his first season with them, Nikishin picked up 55 points in 65 regular season games which made him the highest-scoring KHL blueliner while also logging nearly 23 minutes a game.  Last season, he produced at basically the same clip, notching 17 goals and 39 assists in 67 contests, once again leading all rearguards in points while logging over 24 minutes a night.  While Carolina is surely intrigued by Nikishin’s offensive upside, Gulitti notes that they view him as a potential all-around fit.

With Nikishin turning 23 in October, his entry-level deal will have to be a two-year agreement, the first of which will be burned this coming season if he’s able to sign with and suit up for Carolina.  That would put him on pace for what many expect will be a pricey second contract in the 2026 offseason.

Carolina has had some turnover on the back end this summer with Brady Skjei (Nashville), Brett Pesce (New Jersey), and Tony DeAngelo (unsigned) all leaving via free agency.  Their replacements haven’t been as notable on paper with Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere signing on with the other spot going unfilled.  It appears they could be eyeing Nikishin for that position which could give their back end a boost in the playoffs, as long as they’re still playing when their top prospect becomes available to be signed.

Evgeny Kuznetsov Didn't Want Family To Watch Him Play Last Season

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Former Boston Bruins goaltender and current NESN analyst Andrew Raycroft joined The Skate Pod to discuss the contract situation of Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman. Raycroft told the panel that Bruins fans shouldn’t be concerned at this juncture, and he wouldn’t be concerned about the contract negotiations until September.

Boston has been busy this summer dealing goaltender Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators and signing unrestricted free agents Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm to long-term deals. Despite the lucrative deals they’ve dished out, the Bruins remain in a good position to re-sign Swayman as they sit $8.6MM under the salary cap limit (as per PuckPedia) and could easily fit an $8MM cap hit in for their newly appointed starting goaltender.

In other evening notes:

  • Former Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes center Evgeny Kuznetsov told MatchTV that he struggled so badly during this past season that he didn’t want his family to watch him play. The 32-year-old was once a perennial point-per-game player but fell to just eight goals and 16 assists in 63 games this past season and wasn’t nearly as effective as he once was. Kuznetsov and the Hurricanes terminated the final year of his NHL contract in mid-July so that he could return to Russia where he signed a four-year deal with SKA of the KHL.
  • Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff covered the Pittsburgh Penguins in his NHL Prospect Pool Breakdown and believes that Brayden Yager is far and away the Penguins’ best prospect and likely the only prospect they have who could play in their top six eventually. The Penguins have had a difficult time developing scoring forwards over the past decade and it has been a drain on the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin who have had to carry the offensive load for much of the past ten years. Ellis notes that Yager is still a few years away from developing into a top-six forward which makes it entirely possible that the 19-year-old center will never play with the veteran stars.

Hurricanes Have A Decision To Make With Their Second Buyout Window

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On Monday, the Hurricanes avoided salary arbitration with restricted free agent Martin Necas, inking him to a two-year, $13MM contract.  He was their only player to file so with that case now settled, a short-term second buyout window has opened up.

As a refresher, teams get their second buyout window once a team’s arbitration cases have been resolved.  It opens up 72 hours after signing and lasts for 48 hours (meaning time is nearly up for Carolina to consider this).  The only contracts that can be bought out in this window are for players with cap hits higher than $4MM and the player had to have been on the team’s roster at the last trade deadline.

At first glance, the idea of using the window might not make much sense.  After all, they have $6.44MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, an amount that is higher than most teams.

However, it’s a misleading figure as they still have restricted free agent Seth Jarvis to re-sign; the winger wasn’t eligible for arbitration.  The 22-year-old is coming off a breakout year, one that saw him record 33 goals and 34 assists in 81 regular season games before adding nine more points in 11 playoff contests.  A first-round pick in 2020, it’s fair to say that the Hurricanes envision Jarvis as being a core piece of their long-term future.

Generally, Jarvis is the type of player that they’d like to sign to a max-term eight-year agreement, buying an additional four years of team control.  However, coming off the year he had, it’s quite likely that such an agreement would cost more than what they have in cap room.  For the price tag to come in around $6MM, it would likely need to be a three-year bridge agreement.  So if GM Eric Tulsky wants to sign Jarvis for that long, he’ll need to create some cap space.

One way to do that is in this second window where one potential candidate stands out, Jesperi Kotkaniemi.  He has not lived up to his third-overall draft billing and is coming off his most disappointing season, one that saw him notch 12 goals and 15 assists in 79 games while logging only 12:59 per game.  That’s not a great return on a $4.82MM AAV, especially when that contract runs through the 2029-30 season.

Typically, a buyout on that expensive and long of a contract would make no sense.  But because Kotkaniemi is only 24, the buyout cost is one one-third, not the standard two-thirds.  Accordingly, the buyout would break down as follows:

2024-25 to 2026-27: $835K per season
2027-28 to 2029-30: $455K per season
2030-31 to 2035-36: $835K per season

That means that a Kotkaniemi buyout would save the Hurricanes $3.985MM, bringing their cap space total to $10.425MM which is ample space to give Jarvis a max-term extension while giving them enough flexibility to afford a replacement roster player for Kotkaniemi.

Are there other ways to open up that cap space?  Of course; they could look to the trade market and try to find a way to shed salary that way.  And let’s face it, the prospect of paying Kotkaniemi until 2036 not to play for them is far from appealing.  Frankly, it would be a surprise if they went this route.  But if they want to work out a long-term deal with Jarvis and need to free up the money, this is one route they can go but only for a few more hours.

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