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Hurricanes Sign Jalen Chatfield To Three-Year Extension

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June 14: The team has made this signing official, with interim general manager Eric Tulsky sharing with The Athletic’s Cory Lavalette, “Jalen has been an integral part of our blue line over the last two seasons and firmly established himself as an NHL defenseman. His elite speed and tireless work ethic make him an incredibly dynamic player at both ends of the ice.”

June 13: The Hurricanes are expected to extend defenseman Jalen Chatfield, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports Thursday. He was slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. It’s a three-year, $9MM contract with a $3MM cap hit, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. PuckPedia has the full breakdown of the deal:

2024-25: $1MM base salary, $2.75MM signing bonus, no-move clause
2025-26: $1MM base salary, $2MM signing bonus, no-move clause
2026-27: $775K base salary, $1.475MM signing bonus, 15-team no-trade list

Chatfield joined Carolina on a two-way deal as a Group VI unrestricted free agent in 2021 after getting a brief NHL shot with the Canucks the season prior. In the three years since, he’s developed into one of the better depth options in the league on a bargain-bin contract that actually carried a $762.5K cap hit below the league minimum salary this season.

The 28-year-old split his first season between the Canes and AHL Chicago but became a fixture in the lineup beginning with the 2022-23 season. He’s played 70-plus games the past two years, developing his offensive game while crushing his bottom-pairing minutes with high-end shot attempt and possession quality percentages.

With sizeable turnover expected on the Hurricanes blue line next season, Chatfield could be in line for an increase on the 14-15 minutes per game he’s averaged so far over his tenure in Raleigh. He was one of four notable pending UFAs Carolina had on defense – Tony DeAngelo, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei remain without deals next season.

A speedy two-way defender, Chatfield has 14 goals, 26 assists and 40 points with a +28 rating in 184 career regular-season games while averaging 14:32 per contest. This past year with Carolina, he had a career-high eight goals and 22 points with a +15 rating in 72 games while controlling 61% of shot attempts at even strength.

If the $3MM cap hit report is accurate, the Hurricanes now have $23.87MM in projected space this offseason, per CapFriendly.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Hurricanes’ Eric Tulsky Favorite For Vacant GM Role

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The Carolina Hurricanes have reportedly notified candidates in their general manager search that they are now looking to hire internally, shares Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff (Twitter link). Seravalli adds that current interim GM Eric Tulsky will thus be the favorite for the role. Tulsky took over the interim title after Don Waddell’s move to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ GM role in late May.

Tulsky has worked with the Hurricanes since the 2014-15 season when he was hired on as a data analyst after publicly supporting the advancements of advanced statistics. He’s since grown into a role as the team’s ’Director of Analytics’, ’Vice President of Hockey Management’, and ’Assistant General Manager’. Tulsky popularly left a career in chemistry, where he had once filed 27 different patents relating to electrolyte separators and nanoparticles.

Tulsky will face a very busy summer should he take on the new role. The Hurricanes have 13 pending free agents – including Jake Guentzel, Brady Skjei, and Brett Pesce – with just $26.874MM in cap space. Each player has expressed interest in returning, but likely won’t take the discounts the Hurricanes will need. The team is also entrenched with trade rumors around high-scoring forward Martin Necas – who could fetch a major return on the open market, potentially even landing Carolina former Vezina Trophy-winner Linus Ullmark. The hectic off-season will be a nice trial by fire for Tulsky, as he’s expected to earn the keys to one of the strongest, and most expensive, lineups in the NHL.

The Latest On Jake Guentzel

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Jonas Siegel of The Athletic speculates what a potential Mitch Marner trade might look like for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Siegel points to several recent trades for Pierre-Luc Dubois and Dougie Hamilton as templates the Maple Leafs could use to get a return package for the 27-year-old Marner. Both of those trades brought young NHL-ready talent back to their respective teams, which is something that Toronto would likely covet given their competitive window.

Siegel points to the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning as teams that the Maple Leafs could potentially do business with. Carolina could dangle Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, and Martin Necas as potential centerpieces of a return for Marner, while Tampa Bay could use Mikhail Sergachev or Brandon Hagel.

Siegel does concede that any potential Marner trade could be nixed by his no-movement clause and might be a difficult trade for Toronto to win. However, with Marner’s pending free agency status, it may be something they need to explore.

In other Eastern Conference notes:

  • Max Bultman of The Athletic wonders if the Detroit Red Wings might be players in the goaltending market this summer, specifically the trade market where several high-end starters are available. Bultman writes that the Red Wings’ general manager isn’t revealing much but adds that Ville Husso’s health could nudge the Red Wings into the trade market and would be the quickest way to improve the team’s overall defense which was something that was an Achilles heel last season. Detroit missed the playoffs by the smallest of margins and adding a top-tier netminder might be the thing that gets them back into the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The team has backup Alex Lyon signed next year to a very reasonable $900K, but likely can’t count on him to duplicate his 44-game workload from this past season.
  • Elliotte Friedman reported today on his 32 Thoughts podcast that the rights to Hurricanes forward Jake Guentzel are available for a mid-round pick. Friedman tells his audience that Carolina has made it known to other teams that the 29-year-old’s signing rights are available and adds that there will be a ton of interest. It was reported earlier this week that Guentzel was likely to test free agency and it makes sense for the Hurricanes to pivot and try to recoup an asset after dealing Michael Bunting, three prospects, and a second-round pick to Pittsburgh at the trade deadline to acquire Guentzel.

Maple Leafs, Predators Linked To Brett Pesce

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Expect the Maple Leafs and Predators to be two of the top suitors for Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce if he hits the open market next month, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports.

The Hurricanes are still attempting to extend Pesce after general manager Don Waddell resigned last month, but they haven’t been close to a deal since discussions started last summer. In fact, most believed he would be traded last summer to avoid losing him for nothing at the end of this season, but they took him off the trade block during training camp and decided to continue negotiations.

Recent reports around Pesce’s pending free agency suggest more of the same. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believed the Canes were holding firm at an offer of around $5MM annually on a five-year deal that Pesce wasn’t willing to accept.

Nashville was one of the teams interested in acquiring him when he was made available for trade last summer, Pagnotta notes, so it’s of no surprise to see them linked to Pesce again. They’re looking for a top-four defender to replace Ryan McDonagh, whom they traded back to the Lightning last month after acquiring him from Tampa in the 2022 offseason.

Pesce would be a similar stylistic fit, but unlike McDonagh, he’s a right-shot. That gives him a greater potential of sliding upward in the lineup to play alongside captain Roman Josi, also a left-shot, on the team’s top pairing.

He’s used to heavy usage, averaging over 20 minutes per game for eight straight seasons. The 29-year-old is coming off a down year offensively with only three goals and 13 points in 70 games, but his career averages suggest the two-way blue-liner is more of a 25-to-30-point producer over a full season.

The New York native has earned sparse Norris consideration in the past, receiving votes in 2018 and 2020. His possession numbers are still strong, controlling 54.4% of shot attempts at even strength throughout his career. He’s also had an expected goals share north of 50% for the past four years, per Hockey Reference.

It’s no surprise to see Toronto engaged in Pesce rumors, either. They’ll be in on nearly all of the top defensemen on this summer’s UFA market, but especially right-shots. Ideally, second-year GM Brad Treliving is looking for a stable partner for top offensive blue liner Morgan Rielly, who’s had a rotating cast of shutdown partners over the past few seasons.

The Leafs lack puck-movers outside of Rielly among their defense corps, and while it’s not a hallmark of Pesce’s game, he would be a small upgrade over Jake McCabe and the outgoing T.J. Brodie in that regard. He’s eclipsed 20 assists four times in his career, including a career-high 25 helpers in 2022-23.

Evolving Hockey’s contract projections peg Pesce to land a six-year, $5.5MM AAV deal on the open market, slightly lengthier and richer than his rumored extension offer in Carolina. That would be feasible for both the Leafs and Preds, who enter the offseason with a decent amount of salary cap flexibility.

Bruins, Hurricanes Could Swap Linus Ullmark and Martin Necas

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The Boston Bruins are continuing to garner more and more interest for their former Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Linus Ullmark, giving them a chance to be picky about the return. That could exclude much of the league from acquiring the star netminder, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman sharing on The Jeff Marek Show that he doesn’t believe teams like the Vancouver Canucks or Montreal Canadiens have the assets to acquire Ullmark. Friedman added that the Carolina Hurricanes could be one of the few teams rich enough for the deal, especially if they involve forward Martin Necas.

Necas has been a recent addition to trade rumors, with Friedman recently sharing that the Hurricanes “prefer” to trade the pending restricted-free-agent rather than re-sign him and that they were eyeing top prospects in return. Necas, the 12th-overall pick in 2017, posted a career-high 28 goals and 71 points in 82 games last season. He succeeded it with a much more modest 53 points this year, though he still managed 24 goals. Necas has totaled 243 points across 362 career games, working his way into a regular role in Carolina’s top-six after growing pains early in his career. At just 25, Necas represents one of the best young scorers on the open market and should be poised for a long-term deal with a yearly price tag of around $7.5MM.

Adding young, secondary scoring is a big priority for the Bruins entering this off-season, giving relief to the more surprising pieces of their top-six, like Trent Frederic and Morgan Geekie. On top of his offense, Necas could also support the team’s center depth, after recording a career-high 417 faceoffs last sesaon. He won 45.1 percent of those draws, bringing his career total to 41.5 percent at the faceoff dot. That’s certainly not strong enough to warrant an everyday role at center, but it could be a welcome boost for a Bruins lineup that still hasn’t reloaded their depth chart after Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired. Ullmark could be a small price to check off two big boxes for Boston.

But shaping a trade package around Necas and Ullmark will be tricky. There isn’t much precedent for swapping top-end goalies and forwards, though each of Frederik Andersen, Robin Lehner, Cory Schneider, and Semyon Varlamov were traded for first-round picks at some point in their careers. Two of those trades didn’t involve any other pieces, while the other two added a second-round pick onto the pile. That’s a bleak valuation of top goalies on the trade market, made more challenging by Necas’ RFA status making him a much more controllable asset than the 2025-UFA Ullmark. Those factors could put Carolina in a good position to ask for even more Ullmark in a swap, especially as interest in Necas grows across the league.

The Hurricanes would confidently round out their lineup with Ullmark’s addition, while moving out a winger set to command a good deal of cap space. That’d be a fantastic win-win for interim general manager Eric Tulsky, who’s in his first tenure as an NHL GM after Don Waddell left Carolina for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Carolina is also facing contract negotiations with Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Brett Pesce, and Brady Skjei this summer – surely pushing them to want an answer on Necas sooner rather than later.

Photos courtesy of USA TODAY Sports.

Hurricanes, Jaccob Slavin Begin Extension Talks

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While the Hurricanes still have many pending UFAs to juggle this offseason, they’ve already turned their attention to 2025 and beyond. High on their list of priorities is getting number-one defenseman Jaccob Slavin signed to an extension shortly after becoming eligible on July 1, and The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports those talks have already started.

Slavin, 30, is entering the final season of a seven-year, $37.1MM extension signed by former general manager Ron Francis in July 2017. He costs only $5.3MM against the cap, a bargain price for a player who finished top 10 in Norris Trophy voting twice since 2020.

Unfathomably, Slavin saw the lowest usage of his NHL career in 2023-24. After Carolina stocked up their already elite blue line with the addition of Dmitry Orlov in free agency last summer, head coach Rod Brind’Amour utilized his three pairings roughly equally, leading to an ice time reduction of more than a minute per game. His 20:56 average checked in three seconds fewer than his previous career-low, set during his rookie season in 2015-16.

That didn’t stop him from remaining one of the best possession-control defenders in the league. His 37 points in 81 games this year were the second-most of his career, and he logged an expected rating north of +10 for the fifth time in the last six seasons. With Slavin on the ice at even strength this season, the Hurricanes controlled 56.2% of expected goals and 60.2% of shot attempts, the latter of which was a career-high.

The 6’3″, 207-lb defender would be one of the top defenders available in free agency in the summer of 2025, but the chances of him reaching the open market are infinitesimal. With the Hurricanes seemingly more aggressive about extending him than pending UFAs Jake Guentzel, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei, it even seems unlikely he’ll remain without a new deal past next month.

There’s good news for Hurricanes interim GM Eric Tulsky as he navigates negotiations – comparables for Slavin don’t favor a premium price tag on a long-term deal. In fact, Evolving Hockey projects a $6.5MM cap hit on a seven-year extension for Slavin if signed next month, and while his market value will likely push the final number a bit higher, it’s a reasonable price to pay, especially considering the deal could very well present a negative value proposition as he enters his mid-to-late 30s.

All three of the Hurricanes’ defenders currently signed to one-way deals next season – Slavin, Orlov and Brent Burns – are all set for UFA status in the summer of 2025.

Hurricanes, Martin Necas Still Prefer A Trade

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  • Both the Carolina Hurricanes and Martin Necas are still “preferring” to part ways, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the Donie and Dhali Show (Twitter link). Friedman adds that the Hurricanes would likely be targeting top prospects for Necas – adding that he doesn’t envision a swap of Necas and Filip Hronek when speaking to Donnie and Dhali’s Canucks theme. Necas has scored 124 points across 159 games in the last two seasons, emerging as a legitimate scoring threat in a Hurricanes lineup full of offensive talent. Carolina will now look to open up cap  space, and reinforce their depth charts, after trading three top prospects and two draft picks for Jake Guentzel at the Trade Deadline.

Latest On Martin Necas’ Trade Market

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Martin Nečas’ availability in a potential trade has been one of the dominant early storylines of the 2024 offseason. The Hurricanes have been considering moving his signing rights as contract negotiations with the pending restricted free agent remain in a stalemate, and while there was a sense they may make one last pass at re-signing him with interim GM Eric Tulsky now at the helm temporarily, that seems unlikelier with each passing day.

To that end, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli said on the site’s podcast today that a Nečas trade may come over the wire as soon as this week. Previously, we’ve covered reports that the Canucks, Flames and Canadiens have displayed some level of interest in his services. Recently, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period confirmed that at least 12 teams have Nečas “on their radar” and added the Flyers, Kraken and Predators to the existing list of teams that have dictated their interest to Carolina.

Notably, no single team has been named a frontrunner throughout the reporting process over the last few weeks. It’s also been quiet about what the Hurricanes might be able to get in return for their 2017 12th-overall pick, who has 52 goals and 124 points in 159 games since the 2022-23 season.

Nečas, 25, still has another offseason of RFA status ahead of him, but it’s clear he wants to ink a long-term deal this summer. Contract projection models indicate his value is likely in the $7.5MM area on a max-term deal, a figure the Hurricanes don’t seem willing to oblige with the younger Seth Jarvis surpassing him on the depth chart and also needing a new deal this summer. They have a multitude of UFAs to try to retain this summer as well, including one of the best forwards available in Jake Guentzel, who Pagnotta also reported Monday will likely test the market next month before deciding whether to return to Carolina.

Jake Guentzel Likely To Test Free Agency

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Hurricanes winger Jake Guentzel, nearly universally viewed as the second-best pending unrestricted free agent available, will likely still be on the market when July 1 hits, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

The possibility of returning to Carolina after the market opens hasn’t been ruled out, but he’s expected to look at other offers and potential fits around the league. His camp has had extensive extension talks with the Hurricanes since their season ended in the second round last month, but their richest offer evidently isn’t enough to keep him from at least window-shopping elsewhere.

Despite missing around a month due to injury, the 29-year-old is arguably coming off the best season of his career. After yet again putting up over a point per game on Sidney Crosby’s wing with the Penguins, Guentzel exploded after the move to Carolina, recording eight goals and 25 points in his final 17 regular-season games. He remained excellent in postseason play, tying for third on the team in scoring with nine points (four goals, five assists) in 11 games while logging the third-most ice time among forwards behind Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis.

Guentzel also positively influenced the Hurricanes’ already strong possession game. With him on the ice at even strength, the Hurricanes controlled 60.2% of shot attempts, 1.5% higher than their shot attempt share without him. The 2013 third-round pick also had a positive relative possession impact in all eight of his seasons in Pittsburgh.

He also hit the 30-goal mark for the third straight season and the fourth time in his career overall. While his market value won’t eclipse Panthers pending UFA winger Sam Reinhart, who’s coming off a career-best 57 goals, he’s undoubtedly a safer signing with a long track record of point-per-game play under his belt. His short stint thus far in Carolina certainly boosts his value, proving he can still produce elite numbers away from one of the game’s all-time greats.

Former Hurricanes GM Don Waddell managed to acquire Guentzel from the Penguins without parting with a first-round pick, but he did surrender solid complementary winger Michael Bunting and a trio of prospects with NHL ceilings. His value on the open market could very well eclipse the $9.5MM mark on a max-term deal, though.

That’s money the Hurricanes’ interim management group of AGMs Eric Tulsky, Darren Yorke, and owner Tom Dundon may not be willing to commit with Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei and Teuvo Teräväinen also headed for free agency this summer, among many others. However, as Pagnotta reports, there were no mid-season extension discussions with Teräväinen, and his camp is expected to make a call next week on pursuing a last-minute agreement in Carolina or joining Guentzel in heading to market.

Guentzel is completing a five-year, $30MM extension he signed with Pittsburgh in 2018. The Nebraska native and Nebraska-Omaha collegiate product led all players in playoff scoring with 13 goals in 25 games as a rookie in 2017, helping the Pens win their second of back-to-back championships.

Jarmo Kekalainen Linked To Hurricanes’ GM Vacancy

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The Hurricanes are considering hiring former Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen to fill their vacancy, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Speaking on the “32 Thoughts” podcast on Monday, Friedman said Kekäläinen is a “contender” for the position. Their GM vacancy was created last month after Don Waddell resigned from his post, joining Columbus to replace Kekäläinen within days.

Kekäläinen, 57, is the first external candidate firmly connected to the Carolina opening. He was fired from his post in Columbus in February after 11 years with the organization.

It’s unclear if the Hurricanes have obtained permission to interview him from the Blue Jackets yet, but it would make sense as a virtual GM-for-GM trade. Carolina’s assistant GMs under Waddell, Eric Tulsky and Darren Yorke, are also strong contenders to replace Waddell, with the former serving as interim GM in his absence.

Notably, Friedman said the candidate pool for Waddell’s replacement isn’t terribly large due to how the organization wants to structure its front office. The team has made it clear to potential candidates that, unlike with other teams, their GM won’t be their sole primary decision-maker. Instead, they’ll work in a more collaborative environment with AGMs and owner Tom Dundon, with their main duties being facilitating communication with other teams. Evidently, that hasn’t scared off Kekäläinen, but Friedman reports it has swayed a few candidates away from having an interest in the role.

It’s also the first opening Kekäläinen has been connected to in earnest since his firing. While it’s been a tough go in Columbus lately, he did oversee the longest sustained period of success in franchise history, helping construct a Jackets roster that made the playoffs four years in a row from 2017 to 2020.

With Waddell heading over to Columbus, the Canes are the only team with an active GM vacancy. The Oilers are likely to end up with one after the Stanley Cup Final ends with Ken Holland in the final year of his contract and not expected to return.

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