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Hurricanes Sign Eric Robinson

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The Carolina Hurricanes are expected to sign forward Eric Robinson to a one-year deal with a cap hit of $950K, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). Robinson spent last season with the Buffalo Sabres, where he recorded nine points across 40 games.

Buffalo acquired Robinson in December, dealing a conditional 2025 seventh-round pick back to the Columbus Blue Jackets – though Columbus would only receive the pick if Robinson played in 45 games. He fell just shy of that mark and is now moving on from Buffalo, effectively giving the Sabres a trial run of his services.

Columbus originally signed Robinson as an undrafted free agent in 2018, following the end of his tenure at Princeton University. He spent the 2018-19 season with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, where he scored an evenly split 24 points in 45 games. The strong AHL year was enough to earn Robinson 13 appearances in the NHL that year, though he’d go without a point. Still, he caught the ice of someone in Columbus, and would earn a consistent role as the team’s extra forward in 2019-20. Robinson served that role proudly, and even managed a career-high of 10 goals and 27 points in the 2021-22 campaign.

Robinson couldn’t hang onto his modest scoring in Buffalo, as he faced hefty pressure for his role on the team’s fourth line. He should receive some relief with the Hurricanes, who sit three forward spots shy of a full roster with $23.874MM in cap space. Carolina still needs to re-sign or replace restricted free agents Martin Necas, Seth Jarvis, and Jack Drury – with the latter offering the most competition for Robinson’s spot on the bottom line.

Lightning Acquire Rights To Jake Guentzel

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired the rights to pending free agent Jake Guentzel from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Tampa’s 2025 third-round pick (Twitter link).

Never ones to be subtle, it seems Tampa is taking their cap squeeze into their own hands – ending speculation about all-time Bolt Steven Stamkos, who is expected to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his 16-year NHL career on Monday. In response, Tampa has taken a page from the Toronto Maple Leafs’ book – moving assets to give them a head start in negotiating with one of the market’s top free agents.

This is Guentzel’s second move in the last four months, after joining the Carolina Hurricanes for a king’s ransom at the Trade Deadline. To get Guentzel, the Hurricanes had to give up NHL winger Michael Bunting; prospects Vasili Ponomarev, Ville Koivunen, and Cruz Lucius; and the 2024 second-round draft pick used to select Harrison Brunicke. But Carolina certainly got what they paid for – with Guentzel transitioning seamlessly from the role of Sidney Crosby’s sidekick to standalone star beautifully. He recorded eight goals and 25 points in 17 regular season games with the Hurricanes, bringing his season total up to 30 goals and 77 points in 67 games – a 95-point pace across 82 games. What’s more, Guentzel held true to his claim as a fantastic playoff performer, ranking third on the team with nine points in 11 postseason games.

Guentzel scored at the highest pace of his career this season, even despite the midyear change of scenery. And yet, it’s hard to call it a breakout year – with Guentzel having recorded 40 goals in both the 2019 and 2022 seasons, finishing with 76 and 84 points in the respective years. But he did prove he can maintain, and maybe even improve upon, his scoring in colors other than black and gold.

That’s incredibly encouraging for Tampa Bay, who will soon be without the 40 goals and 81 points that a 34-year-old Stamkos managed this year. It was Stamkos’ third-straight season of 80-or-more points – adding 40 goals in two of those years. He’s shown no signs of slowing down, bouncing back well from injury-marred seasons in 2020 and 2021. Stamkos will be entering unprecedented territory when he hits the open market, and while it’s hard to gauge what price, term, or role he could be looking for, there’s no doubting that his new team will be landing one of the league’s perennial goal-scorers.

Meanwhile, the Lightning should have plenty of room to find Guentzel a contract he’s happy with – after moving Mikhail Sergachev to the Utah Hockey Club and Tanner Jeannot to the Los Angeles Kings. That opened up over $11MM in cap space, bringing Tampa’s breathing room up to  $16.5MM. They will have to stay mindful of their spending, though, with star defenseman and probable new captain Victor Hedman becoming eligible for an extension on Monday. He’ll play through the last year of his $7.875MM cap hit this season, and stand for a hefty raise on what will likely be the last contact of his career. Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois has made sure to mention Hedman’s next contract right alongside the Stamkos speculation – showing how much importance the team is placing on not losing multiple pillars.

Hurricanes May Keep Martin Necas

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Dallas Stars goaltender Scott Wedgewood is expected to test free agency on July 1st (as per Sean Shapiro of EP Rinkside). The 31-year-old is coming off a two-year, $2MM that was the first one-way NHL deal of Wedgewood’s career. The Etobicoke, Ontario native has made it clear that he would like a raise on his $1MM and given that he didn’t start making NHL money until he was 29, it makes sense that would attempt to maximize his earning potential while he has a window to do so.

Wedgewood wasn’t great last season, posting a 16-7-5 record with the Stars, a 2.85 goals-against average, and a .899 save percentage. However, the free-agent goalie market is very thin this summer and he should have an opportunity to get a multi-year deal at bigger money than his last contract.

In other free agency notes:

  • The Buffalo Sabres are still waiting to hear if forward Zemgus Girgensons plans to test free agency (as per Lance Lysowski). It was reported a month ago that the Sabres wouldn’t re-sign the 30-year-old, but they have reportedly offered him a contract to stay in Buffalo. The Riga, Latvia native has spent his entire 10-year NHL career with the Sabres, dressing in 688 games. Girgensons has only topped 20 points twice in his career and not since the 2014-15 season.  He signed a one-year $2.5MM last June to forgo free agency but had the worst offensive season of his career with just eight goals and six assists in 63 games. While he didn’t produce much offense, his possession numbers at even-strength weren’t awful with a CF% of 49.2%.
  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that the Carolina Hurricanes could change their mind on trading forward Martin Necas. The Hurricanes have been trying to sign pending unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel and if he leaves Friedman believes the team could keep Necas and go to arbitration or sign a one-year deal. Carolina let the Columbus Blue Jackets negotiate a contract extension with Necas in an attempt to trade for the fourth overall pick, but the two sides weren’t able to reach an agreement.

Chicago Acquires 27th Overall Pick From Carolina

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Per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Chicago Blackhawks have acquired the 27th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for the 34th and 50th overall selections. The Blackhawks will now make their third selection of the first round.

Taking a mild swing with the pick, it is clear that the Blackhawks were looking for a role player next to Connor Bedard. Chicago used the selection on forward Marek Vanacker from the Brantford Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League. Vanacker thrives in transition and is a nuisance to play against in the middle of the ice.

In addition to being a puck thief against opposing teams, Vanacker was an effective playmaker for the Bulldogs this season. In 68 games, Vanacker put up 36 goals and 82 points while putting up another three goals and seven points in six postseason contests. In international play, Vanacker was rostered on Team Canada U18 but only mustered one goal in six tournament games.

Similar to the Avalanche, the Hurricanes have become the second team to trade out of the first round entirely on the first day of the draft. However, Carolina stacked onto their draft capital with this move, as they now have 10 selections to use over the next six rounds.

Hurricanes Increasing Extension Offer For Jake Guentzel

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  • While things have seemingly been trending in the wrong direction between the Hurricanes and trade deadline pickup Jake Guentzel for weeks, LeBrun writes the Hurricanes have upped their offer in a last-minute bid to retain his services. Their last pitch comes in at around $64MM total on an eight-year deal, working out to an $8MM cap hit. That’s close to what Guentzel’s camp was asking for at the beginning of negotiations with Carolina, LeBrun writes, but with his name still available this close to going to market, there are likely other teams willing to offer more annually. It is worth pointing out that the Hurricanes still hold an advantage by having the ability to offer him an eighth year of term, allowing them to sign him for the same amount of total cash for a slightly lower cap hit. A seven-year, $9MM AAV deal that he’s rumored to be able to land on the open market would leave him $1MM short of the total compensation he’d get from Carolina.

Teuvo Teravainen Expected To Hit Open Market

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  • With the team’s sole focus on retaining Jake Guentzel before July 1st, it appears the Carolina Hurricanes will not make an offer to Teuvo Teravainen and he will hit the open market as suggested by David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Teravainen has quietly been one of the most effective players on the Hurricanes for eight years and should receive plenty of interest once free agency opens up. If his time in Carolina has ended, Teravainen will have amassed a total of 555 games in Carolina while scoring 137 goals and 415 points overall.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Hurricanes Still Working To Re-Sign Guentzel

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Winger Jake Guentzel is set to be one of the top players in this year’s UFA class.  The Hurricanes haven’t given up on trying to re-sign the veteran, per The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta (Twitter link) who adds that the Kings and Red Wings are among the teams that are expected to show interest should the 29-year-old make it to the open market.  Guentzel split the season between Pittsburgh and Carolina, who made him their big addition at the trade deadline.  He’s coming off his third-straight 30-goal campaign and has averaged over a point per game in four of the last five years.  Guentzel also had a good playoff showing, notching nine points in 11 contests, and is just below a point per game for his postseason career.  That certainly has him well-positioned to earn a significant raise on the $6MM he has been making since 2019-20.

Hurricanes Sign Ty Smith To Two-Way Extension

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The Carolina Hurricanes have signed defenseman Ty Smith to a one-year, two-way contract extension (Twitter link). The Hurricanes acquired Smith as a minor addition to the Jake Guentzel trade this Deadline.

Smith was originally drafted 17th-overall in what’s become a relatively lackluster 2018 NHL Draft class. He made his NHL debut three seasons later, recording 24 points in 48 games as a rookie and seemingly earning a daily role in the lineup. He wasn’t able to hang onto the role in his sophomore year, though, with just 20 points in 66 games and a floundering -26. That performance would spark a trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins, with New Jersey receiving top-four standout John Marino in return. But Smith couldn’t rekindle his touch with the Penguins, ultimately spending much of the last two years with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Smith has totaled 67 points in 102 games with the Baby Penguins, including 43 points in 63 games this season.

That could be enough of a returned offensive touch to earn Smith NHL attention next year, though he’ll enter a crowded Hurricanes defensive corps. Not including their four pending free agents, Carolina has six defensemen already signed to NHL contracts this season, including rookie Scott Morrow and the recently extended Jalen Chatfield. That pair will represents Smith’s toughest competition for minutes, and likely doom him to fighting his way up from the minor leagues.

Offer Sheet Possible For Hurricanes Martin Necas

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Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic speculated about how much goaltender Igor Shesterkin will be paid on his next contract with the New York Rangers. The 28-year-old is eligible to sign an extension on July 1st and given his play the last few seasons and his importance to the Rangers, it will likely be a record-breaking deal for a goaltender.

Shesterkin is reportedly looking for an AAV of $12MM, while most of the models Luszczyszyn uses to show his value are in the range of $9MM – $12MM annually. Given the volatility of the goaltending position, it’s fair to believe that Shesterkin could live up to a $12MM salary in some seasons of the deal, however, as he enters his 30s, it’s possible his play could fall off as it often does with goaltenders on the back half of their career.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweeted that a few teams around the NHL are wondering if an offer sheet is a possibility for Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas. Carolina’s ask for the 25-year-old remains quite high, and the team has reportedly talked to almost every team around the league. Necas is a two-time 20-goal scorer who posted 24 goals and 29 assists in 77 games last season. The former first-round pick is a restricted free agent after making $3.5MM last season and will likely sign a lucrative long-term deal whether it’s an offer sheet or otherwise.
  • Dawson Mercer was reportedly never part of the New Jersey Devils trade for goaltender Jacob Markstrom (as per Elliotte Friedman on The Jeff Marek Show). There was speculation that the 22-year-old was offered at one point, but Friedman poured cold water on that rumor saying that he had multiple sources tell him that the former first-round pick was never in the trade. Mercer took a step back last season but is just a year removed from posting 27 goals and 29 assists in 82 games.

Hurricanes Name Cam Abbott AHL Head Coach

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The Hurricanes announced Thursday that they’ve hired former Swedish Hockey League coach of the year Cam Abbott as the new head coach for their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. Carolina, which spent last season without a dedicated minor-league affiliate, signed a three-year agreement to re-partner with the Wolves last month.

Abbott, 40, never played in the NHL but did have a lengthy professional career overseas after playing collegiate hockey at Cornell University. He appeared in six SHL/Elitserien seasons with Luleå HF and Rögle BK between 2008 and 2015, racking up 166 points in 276 games and winning the Champions Hockey League with Luleå in his final season as a player. Sweden remained his home as a coach, first as the bench boss for the Växjö Lakers’ junior club before being appointed Rögle’s head coach midway through the 2017-18 season.]

He remained behind the Rögle bench until he was relieved of his duties in December. In 2022, he coached a Rögle club that included Red Wings first-rounder Marco Kasper to a 27-11-5-9 record and a CHL title, earning him his aforementioned Coach of the Year honor.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Cam to our organization. He brings a long history of excellence in developing NHL stars,” said Hurricanes assistant GM Darren Yorke. “Cam’s meticulous attention to detail, clear communication and ability to inspire and motivate his teams to achieve success make him the perfect fit for our organization.”

Abbott succeeds Bob Nardella, who coached the Wolves to a 23-35-14 record last season in his lone campaign behind the bench. He’ll be the Wolves’ fourth head coach in the past four seasons, a list that includes new Sharks bench boss Ryan Warsofsky.

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