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Hurricanes Sign Sean Walker To Five-Year Contract

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Earlier today, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicated that the Carolina Hurricanes were closing in on a contract with free-agent defenseman Sean Walker. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun confirms the news by reporting Walker has signed a five-year, $18MM contract with the Hurricanes.

A lot has changed for Walker over the past 12 months.  After being part of a salary dump to the Flyers, the 29-year-old turned things around with his new team.  He picked up 22 points in 63 games with Philadelphia while logging nearly 20 minutes a night.  As a result, he was one of the best rental defensemen available, resulting in the Flyers picking up a first-round pick from Colorado (along with Ryan Johansen) in exchange for Walker’s services at the trade deadline.

With the Avs, Walker wasn’t counted on to play as high up the lineup although he still averaged nearly 18 minutes a game while picking up four goals and three assists in 18 games down the stretch.  However, he was held off the scoresheet in 11 playoff appearances, ending his campaign on somewhat of a lower note.

Even so, Walker was one of the better right-shot defenders on the open market this summer, helping secure him a raise of nearly $1MM per season along with the longest contract of his career.  That’s a pretty good outcome for someone who was effectively moved for salary purposes just a year ago.

With Brett Pesce moving on to New Jersey in free agency earlier today, Walker will have a chance to step in and play a big role next season, perhaps a bigger one than he had last season even.  And with Brent Burns only having one year left on his contract, Walker could be their top right-shot option this time next summer.  If he can play at a similar level with the extra responsibilities, this could wind up being one of the better-value contracts handed out today.

Hurricanes Sign Tyson Jost

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The Carolina Hurricanes have signed forward Tyson Jost to a one-way, league-minimum contract worth $775K, per TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link).

It was a rough year for the 26-year-old, to put it lightly.  After agreeing to a one-year, $2MM contract to remain with Buffalo despite being non-tendered, Jost wound up having a very limited role and even struggled with it.  He played in 43 games, scoring three goals and three assists in a little over 10 minutes per game before eventually clearing waivers in late December.  Jost was more productive during his time in the minors, notching four goals and 10 assists in 25 games with AHL Rochester but it was clear the two sides would be parting ways this summer.

Despite his struggles, Jost comes to Carolina with a fairly extensive NHL track record, spanning 456 games where he has 57 goals and 83 assists.  With that in mind, this is a reasonable low-cost flyer for the Hurricanes to take.  If he’s able to lock down a full-time spot on the roster at the minimum salary, that will help free up some money to spend on their restricted free agents, headlined by Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas.  If he doesn’t make the team, he can be stashed in the minors (pending waiver clearance) where he’d likely be one of the first recall options in the event of an injury.

Hurricanes Re-Sign Jordan Martinook

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The Carolina Hurricanes have re-signed forward Jordan Martinook to a three-year, $9.15MM contract, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). The deal carries an annual cap hit of $3.05MM.

The contract represents a staunch commitment from the Hurricanes organization to a player that the team placed on waivers to open the 2023-24 NHL season. Martinook has spent the last six years of his career in Carolina and has put up back-to-back 30-point campaigns. Spending much of his first few years in a bottom-six role, Martinook has been elevated up the lineup to more of a middle-six option in Carolina. Over the past two years, Martinook has appeared in all 164 games while scoring 27 goals and 66 points in total.

Martinook’s true value comes from his play on the defensive side of the puck, as he’s secured Selke Trophy votes in the last two seasons. The veteran forward consistently has a dramatic gap between takeaways and giveaways leading to a career-best 58.6% CorsiFor% this past season.

He is also a clutch playoff performer in contrast to his role on the team as Martinook has scored five goals and 16 points over 26 postseason games in the organization’s last two runs in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Even though Martinook brings all that to the table for Carolina, this contract still appears a tad bloated at face value.

Free Agent Rumors: Stamkos, Bennett, Verhaeghe, Stolarz, Ekman-Larsson, Grzelcyk, Martinez

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The Devils are in the market for a top-six forward today, and they may end up as one of the finalists for Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, per ESPN’s Kevin Weekes.

They’ll be one of many teams making Stamkos’ agent’s phone ring off the hook today. TSN’s Bob McKenzie also expects the Ducks, Hurricanes, Predators and Red Wings to make aggressive pushes for the future Hall-of-Fame forward.

A return to Tampa Bay is extremely unlikely for Stamkos, whose 555 career goals and 1,082 games played have all come in a Lightning uniform. They weren’t close to an extension as of last weekend, and their signing of top UFA left winger Jake Guentzel to a seven-year, $63MM deal this morning has all but completely boxed him out.

More from around the Eastern Conference amid an already busy morning:

  • The Panthers are working hard on extensions for forwards Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe as they become eligible to sign at 11 a.m. CT today, sources tell David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. They’ve already gotten one big piece of business done today by keeping Sam Reinhart away from the open market on an eight-year, $69MM deal, but Bennett and Verhaeghe are two crucial pieces of their top-six forward group that remain unsigned past next season. It’s unclear what these deals may look like, but Reinhart taking a considerable discount on market value to remain in South Florida is surely a good indicator that Panthers GM Bill Zito can get them locked into deals that won’t break the bank.
  • TSN’s Darren Dreger adds the Panthers are also trying to re-sign UFA netminder Anthony Stolarz, but they have some competition. The Blackhawks and Maple Leafs are also in the mix for the veteran’s services. While a career backup, he’s one of the best options on the market in a UFA class devoid of starters. He was electric when used in Florida last year, posting a .925 SV% and 2.03 GAA in 27 appearances.
  • After making Chris Tanev’s six-year deal official, expect the Leafs to add another veteran blue liner in Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dreger says. OEL is coming off a Stanley Cup win in Florida after putting up 32 points in 80 regular-season games, averaging 18:24 per night. He’d likely anchor a third pairing in Toronto on the left side behind Morgan Rielly and Jake McCabe.
  • The Penguins are among the teams linked to defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, The Athletic’s Josh Yohe reports. Grzelcyk is likely on his way out of Boston after spending the entirety of his eight-year, 445-game career there. He had 11 points and a +13 rating in 63 games last season while logging 17:36 per night.
  • Alec Martinez could continue his NHL career with the Blackhawks on a one-year deal, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. The three-time Cup winner fell down the Golden Knights’ depth chart last year, limited to 55 games due to injuries and healthy scratches. He still managed 17 points, though, his most offense in three years, but had a -2 rating while averaging 19:03 per game.

Hurricanes, Jaccob Slavin In Agreement On Eight-Year Extension

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July 1: Slavin’s extension today will be an eight-year deal with a cap hit of $6.43MM, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports.

June 14: A large slate of pending free agents still plagues Hurricanes interim general manager Eric Tulsky’s to-do list over the next few weeks, but as previously reported, it’s not the organization’s only top priority. The team has all but agreed to terms on an extension for defenseman Jaccob Slavin, which should be announced promptly when he becomes eligible to sign on July 1, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Friday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast.

Slavin, 30, is entering the final season of a bargain-bin seven-year, $5.3MM AAV extension inked back in 2017.

It’s no surprise to see Carolina aggressively try to retain arguably their most consistent blue liner of the past decade amid an offseason of change that could see them lose both members of their second pairing, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei, to unrestricted free agency. They’ve been discussing the framework of a deal for at least the past few weeks, per The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta. The 6’3″ Colorado native would have been one of the top targets available on the UFA market in 2025 if he remained unsigned.

Slavin, who has finished top 20 in Norris Trophy voting for seven years in a row, has spent his entire career in Raleigh since being drafted by the Canes in the fourth round in 2012. Not only does getting an extension out of the way early quell any rumors of the franchise cornerstone leaving next summer, but it also provides them with an increased deal of cost certainty as the salary cap increases in 2025 and beyond.

It’s a stark contrast to their situation this summer, where nine everyday players are still pending free agents. They still have nearly $24MM in cap space to burn after inking defenseman Jalen Chatfield to an extension, which will likely all be used up as they navigate losing and replacing some top-of-the-lineup skaters.

The extension comes after a bit of an odd platform year for Slavin. After years of being the club’s de facto top-pairing anchor by ice time, head coach Rod Brind’Amour rolled three pairings almost equally at even strength after offseason signing Dmitry Orlov gave them five arguably top-pairing talents on the roster. With Orlov also taking away some special teams usage from Slavin, his ice time dipped to 20:56 per game, the lowest of his career.

That didn’t stop his offensive production from rebounding from last season’s disappointing figures, though. Slavin recorded 31 assists and 37 points, the second-most in a single season in his career. The Canes also controlled more than 60% of shot attempts with Slavin on the ice at even strength for the second year in a row.

Slavin served as part of Carolina’s leadership group last season along with Jordan Martinook and captain Jordan Staal. He and Chatfield will be the only defenders under contract for the 2025-26 season as the Canes look to build out their defense of the future.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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.

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