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Sebastian Aho

Carolina Hurricanes Sign Sebastian Aho To Eight-Year Extension

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The Carolina Hurricanes have announced an eight-year, $9.75MM AAV contract extension for star center Sebastian Aho.

This is a massively consequential contract extension for the Hurricanes, who secure Aho through the 2031-32 season at a 15% raise from his previous cap hit of $8.46MM. The $78MM total value of the deal makes it the largest contract in Hurricanes franchise history.

According to PuckPedia, the contract carries a full no-move clause and no-trade clause for its first seven years before converting to a 15-team no-trade clause in year eight.

Hurricanes GM Don Waddell issued the following statement regarding the extension:

Sebastian has developed into one of the best two-way centers in hockey. He’s a tremendous leader on and off the ice who sets a great example for our younger players. We’re grateful that he’s decided to stay in Carolina for the foreseeable future.

It didn’t necessarily always look like Aho would be in Carolina for the long term, as his current contract was actually an offer sheet he signed with the Montreal Canadiens that was designed to walk him directly to UFA status.

But the Hurricanes did the widely expected move and matched the hostile offer for Aho, and have now secured him for what is likely to be the prime years of his playing career at a $9.75MM AAV. The deal gives Aho the 17th-highest cap hit in the NHL, tied with Johnny Gaudreau of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

After scoring 36 goals and 67 points last season it might be a stretch to call Aho a top-20 player league-wide.

But before last year, Aho scored at above or near a point-per-game rate every season since 2018-19, while also seeing consistent minutes on a Hurricanes penalty kill that has long ranked among the league’s best. That’s the Aho that could genuinely be called a top-20 player in the NHL.

While Aho might not be the Art Ross Trophy-contending 100+ point dominant offensive center some Hurricanes fans might wish he’d be, he’s still a true first-line center who, excluding last season’s moderately declined production, has played at an elite level for quite some time now.

His impact on both ends of the ice is immense, and the Hurricanes simply do not have anyone on their roster or in their prospect pool who projects as a difference-making number-one center the way Aho does.

This contract certainly isn’t cheap, of course, but it’s also a totally reasonable price to pay for Aho as long as his decline to 67 points last season doesn’t prove a sign of things to come. A similarly-aged center in Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders net $9.15MM on his own massive contract extension, and Barzal has been significantly less productive than Aho over the course of the last few years and doesn’t offer the same defensive value.

Seeing as Carolina purchased eight UFA years of Aho, they were never going to get a true discount on his contract. But with the cap set to rise over the next few seasons, getting Aho at an AAV below $10MM is hard to complain about.

With Aho now locked up and projected second-line center Jesperi Kotkaniemi under contract through 2029-30, the Hurricanes may feel they’ve secured their first and second-line centers for the rest of the decade.

If Kotkaniemi can build on his 43-point performance from last season and the momentum he had in the second half, he could become a strong second-line center behind Aho. Alongside this contract extension, that would give the Hurricanes a potentially elite two-way first-line center and a decent second-line center at a total cost of $14.57MM against the cap.

As the cap rises, we could very well see a star player or two end up commanding a $14MM AAV before the end of the decade, and it’s with that view of the future that this Aho extension feels most valuable. If Aho can manage to perform up to the standard he’s set over the past few seasons, let alone grow past that standard, he’ll provide genuine surplus value on this $9.75MM AAV.

Seeing as this deal doesn’t commit the Hurricanes to Aho deep into his thirties, the contract contains relatively minimal downside risk, meaning it should be considered a home run signing for the franchise.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Hurricanes Making Progress On Sebastian Aho Extension

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The Hurricanes have several key players entering the final year of their respective contracts, making them eligible for a contract extension.  One of those is forward Sebastian Aho as he is now in the final year of the offer sheet agreement that was signed with Montreal and quickly matched.  Speaking with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, GM Don Waddell indicated that they are making good progress on a new deal for the 25-year-old:

We’re working on it, getting close. Not there yet, but we are talking on a regular basis, almost daily, so I’m hoping that we can get this to the finish line here in the next week or so.

Aho has been a focal point of Carolina’s attack throughout his seven-year career, scoring at least 24 times in each campaign.  Last season, he picked up 36 tallies, leading the Hurricanes in that department for the sixth straight time.  A couple of years into his career, he made the transition from playing on the wing to playing down the middle, increasing his value to the team even more.

To that end, as a number one center, Aho is well-positioned to land a raise on his current deal that carries a $8.46MM AAV.  With the expectation that there will be a bigger increase to the Upper Limit of the salary than the $1MM it has been recently and Aho’s production, he could add another million or so to that number while securing a max-term eight-year agreement and in doing so, Carolina would lock in a franchise cornerstone for the long haul.

Defensemen Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei along with winger Teuvo Teravainen are also UFA-eligible after the season and are extension-eligible as well.  However, Waddell noted that talks on those aren’t going quite as well:

We’ve had talks, but nothing close. We’ve reached out to all of the different agents just to tell them our interest. You try to go a year early, which is always tough. But I look at it two ways: it’s protection for us but also for them not having to worry about playing out a year. Injuries and all those things come into factor. So, we’re trying to find medium ground that works both for the player and the team.

Pesce, in particular, has also been featured in trade speculation, especially surrounding reports that they continue to show interest in Sharks blueliner Erik Karlsson along with UFA blueliner Anthony DeAngelo.  While, for now, Aho seems to be the focus from an extension standpoint, Pesce could be the next one to get a greater level of focus to see if he’ll be able to stick around or if he could be on the move before next season gets underway.

East Injury Notes: Sabres, Bastian, Aho, Joseph

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The Buffalo Sabres are all but out of the playoff race after a tough stretch of games, and life won’t get any easier for them down the stretch run. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports Tage Thompson is absent from morning skate, as he’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury that caused him to miss much of the team’s win last Friday against the New Jersey Devils. In response, Lukas Rousek has been added to the Sabres roster for the second time in three days on an emergency loan, per CapFriendly.

In more positive news for the Sabres, Lysowski also notes forward Vinnie Hinostroza has returned to the team after a personal absence that kept him out of the team’s last two games. Hinostroza had been a healthy scratch for the two games prior, meaning he’s not played in over a week. Left winger Jordan Greenway, who remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, also rejoined the team at practice. He has just one goal in eight games and a -5 rating since the Sabres acquired him on deadline day.

Other injury notes from around the Eastern Conference this morning:

  • Per New Jersey Devils team reporter Amanda Stein, winger Nathan Bastian is on the ice for morning skate for the first time since March 12. Bastian has missed just over two weeks since suffering an upper-body injury in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes, his second lengthy injury-related absence this season. He missed nearly two months with an upper-body injury between Thanksgiving and mid-January, limiting him to 39 games on the season. When in the lineup, he’s been effective in a fourth-line role, recording 12 points and forming a solid unit with Miles Wood and Michael McLeod.
  • New York Islanders defenseman Sebastian Aho has returned to skating this morning, according to a report from Newsday’s Andrew Gross. Aho has missed three games with an upper-body injury sustained on March 18 against the San Jose Sharks. The 2017 fifth-round pick is enjoying a breakout season, recording 21 points in 66 games in a depth role while helping keep the team competitive in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
  • Winger Mathieu Joseph will be a game-time decision for the Ottawa Senators tonight, says Bruce Garrioch of TSN and the Ottawa Sun. Joseph last played on March 12, leaving a game against the Calgary Flames after just a handful of shifts with a lower-body injury. The 26-year-old has scored three goals and added 14 assists in 47 games for the Sens this year, averaging 14:05 per game.

Injury Updates: Golden Knights Goalies, Makar, Aho

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While the Vegas Golden Knights have maintained their place in contention for the Pacific Division title this season, it hasn’t been an easy road for them, especially in the crease. Injuries to the team’s stable of goaltenders (starting way back over the summer when Robin Lehner underwent hip surgery) forced them to acquire the legendary Jonathan Quick from the Columbus Blue Jackets and has also forced Jiri Patera, who spent time in the ECHL last season, to make two starts. Thankfully for Vegas, though, it seems there could be a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the health of their goaltenders.

As relayed by Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy has revealed that all three of Quick,  Logan Thompson, and Laurent Brossoit are traveling with the team on their three-game road trip. As a result of that trio nearing a return to the ice, the team sent Patera back to their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. The return of Thompson in particular would come as a major boost to Vegas, as he had been the team’s number-one goalie before going down with an injury. He has posted a .914 save percentage in 36 games, and should he hit the ground running upon his return to the ice is in pole position to be the team’s playoff starter.

  • While he remains a player widely considered the best defenseman in the NHL, injuries have proved to be a roadblock for the Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar, and have caused him to fall behind in the Norris Trophy race when compared to players such as the San Jose Sharks’ Erik Karlsson. While he has thankfully seemed to put the concussion issues that sidelined him earlier this year behind him, there’s a new injury for him to deal with. Per the Denver Post’s Bennett Durando, Makar is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that the injury is “nothing too serious,” and that he is being held out for tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks as a precautionary measure. Makar has scored 61 points in 55 games this season and leads all NHLers in time-on-ice per game, averaging 26:36 TOI per game.
  • New York Islanders defenseman Sebastian Aho left last night’s New York Islanders game with an injury, prompting the team to recall defenseman Samuel Bolduc to fill Aho’s spot in the lineup. Newsday’s Andrew Gross has more details on Aho’s injury, reporting that the Swede is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. This season has been a breakout one of sorts for Aho, who has flown past his career-high in games played with 66 so far and seen his average time-on-ice tick upwards. He has scored 21 points this season and will hope to return to the lineup quickly to help New York clinch a return to the playoffs.

New York Islanders Recall Samuel Bolduc

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The New York Islanders have announced a couple of roster moves ahead of tomorrow night’s matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Islanders announced that defenseman Samuel Bolduc has been recalled from Bridgeport and in a subsequent move Otto Koivula has been sent back to Bridgeport on loan.

Bolduc was the Islanders 2019 second round pick and was an AHL all-star this season with 35 points in 56 games. He’s dressed in six games with the Islanders notching a single goal while averaging over 15 minutes of ice time per game. Bolduc will likely replace Sebastian Aho after Aho was injured in Saturday’s 4-1 win over San Jose with an apparent upper body injury.

Bolduc has had quite the bounce back after struggling through most of last season. In 57 games last year he managed only 7 points and looked lost at times. Now a year later the Laval native has found his game and will get another opportunity at the NHL level.

For Otto Koivula he once again finds himself shuttled back to Bridgeport in what is now his fifth season in the AHL. Koivula managed two assists in eight games while with the big club which brings his NHL point total to four assists in 26 career NHL games. Koivula has been a dependable scorer in the AHL in previous seasons but has struggled this year with just 25 points in 45 AHL games. Koivula still hasn’t been able to use his 6’5” frame to turn into the power forward the Islanders hoped he would become when they drafted him in the fourth round of the 2016 NHL entry draft. At 24 years of age time could be running out for the young Finn to establish himself as an everyday NHL forward.

The Islanders currently sit in the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference two points up on the Pittsburgh Penguins and three points up on the Florida Panthers, although both teams have games in hand on the Islanders. They are still without the services of Mathew Barzal who has been out of their lineup for over a month with a lower body injury. This has further depleted the offense for a team that already struggled to score goals this season. With very little margin for error, Bolduc will likely be expected to come into the Islanders lineup to provide them with sound defensive hockey.

New York Islanders Activate Sebastian Aho, Assign Robin Salo To AHL

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The New York Islanders announced this afternoon that they have activated defenseman Sebastian Aho off of IR. In a corresponding move, defenseman Robin Salo has been assigned to the Bridgeport Islanders of the AHL. Newsday’s Andrew Gross was the first to report the transaction.

Given that the Islanders had 23 men on their roster prior to activating Aho, someone would have to go, and with Salo being waiver-exempt, he was clearly a logical choice. Interestingly though, the team has been carrying fifteen forwards and six defensemen, leaving little margin for error should a last-minute injury present itself, especially with the team on the road.

Of note, coming out of training camp, it appeared that Salo had won the competition for the third-pair, left-defense spot over Aho and other competitors like Paul Ladue and Grant Hutton. In fact, on opening night, Salo played while Aho was a healthy scratch. But, when the team activated Cal Clutterbuck off of IR on October 15th, they placed Aho on IR in response. Despite being placed on IR, Aho continued to skate with the team that day. When Aho does lace them up for New York, it’ll mark his fourth NHL season since his debut in 2017-18. The puck-moving Aho has had trouble establishing himself as a full-time NHLer thus far in his career, but did manage to get into a career-high 36 games last season in the NHL, recording 12 points.

Some may be surprised to see Salo sent down after seeming to win a regular job with the Islanders out of camp, then having a strong start to the regular season, including a two-goal game against the Anaheim Ducks last weekend. But, to that end, Gross speculates that this is merely a paper transaction, considering Salo traveled with the team to Tampa.

New York Islanders Activate Cal Clutterbuck, Place Sebastian Aho On IR

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Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports the New York Islanders have activated veteran winger Cal Clutterbuck from injured reserve and replaced him there with defenseman Sebastian Aho in a corresponding move.

The Islanders originally said in mid-September that Clutterbuck would be healthy for training camp after missing the last quarter of the 2021-22 season with an injury. However, just a few days ago, the team announced Clutterbuck had been placed on injured reserve retroactive to September 26 after general soreness had kept him out of practice for a couple of weeks. General manager Lou Lamoriello said at the time that he didn’t expect Clutterbuck to miss a significant amount of time, which was swiftly proven correct.

Clutterbuck could play in the Islanders’ home game tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. The 34-year-old is coming off a six-goal, 15-point season in 2021-22.

Aho is dealing with an undisclosed injury and will be out for at least seven days. Gross noted that Aho participated in the morning skate today and stayed out with the team’s extra players. Aho did not play in the season opener, as he was scratched for Robin Salo.

Morning Notes: Skills Results, Bruins, KHL

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The NHL held their Skills Competition as part of their All-Star festivities last night.  The winners for each event are as follows:

Fastest Skater: Jordan Kyrou (Blues)
Save Streak: Jack Campbell (Maple Leafs) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Lightning)
Fountain Faceoff: Zach Werenski (Blue Jackets)
Hardest Shot: Victor Hedman (Lightning)
Breakaway Challenge: Alex Pietrangelo (Golden Knights)
21 in ’22: Joe Pavelski (Stars)
Accuracy Shooting: Sebastian Aho (Hurricanes)

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • There are teams with some interest in Bruins youngsters Jack Studnicka and Urho Vaakanainen but there are questions as to what the upside for both players are, suggests Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (subscription link). Studnicka started the season in Boston’s top six but has spent most of the season in the minors while Vaakanainen’s limited experience makes it hard to project whether or not he could become a second-pairing rearguard.  Both players are potential trade options if the Bruins try to make a splash at the trade deadline but those questions of upside will make their value considerably varied around the league which could complicate things in a trade.
  • The KHL announced that they have canceled the remainder of their regular season. The season was paused in mid-January due to several COVID outbreaks and while teams have less than 10 games remaining, the Olympic break would make it too difficult to play the rest of the season without compressing the playoff schedule too much.  Instead, they’ll elect to start their postseason on March 1st with more of a normal schedule while the seedings will be based on win percentage.  The IIHF World Hockey Championships are slated to begin in mid-May so this isn’t a situation where the KHL could have played later in the spring; they want to be finished by then so their players can participate in this tournament.

2022 NHL All-Star Game Rosters Revealed

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Jan 26: After Batherson was injured last night, the league has announced that Brady Tkachuk will replace him and be the Senators’ representative.

Jan 13: During a live reveal on ESPN’s SportsCenter program in the United States, the National Hockey League unveiled their four divisional rosters for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Eight skaters and two goalies were announced for each team, leaving one skater spot open for each division. That last spot will once again be decided by a fan vote, who they can select by voting at NHL.com/LastMenIn.

The head coaches of each team were announced earlier, decided by the teams in first place (by points percentage) in their division on New Years Day. Florida’s Andrew Brunette heads the Atlantic Division, Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour will coach the Metropolitan Division, Colorado’s Jared Bednar is the bench boss for the Central Division, and Vegas’ Peter DeBoer will serve as the Pacific Division’s coach.

Below are the full rosters for each division.

Atlantic Division

F Auston Matthews “C” (Toronto Maple Leafs)
F Drake Batherson (Ottawa Senators)
F Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
F Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers)
F Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings)
F Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens)
D Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres)
D Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
G Jack Campbell (Toronto Maple Leafs)
G Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Metropolitan Division

F Alex Ovechkin “C” (Washington Capitals)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers)
F Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils)
F Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)
D Adam Fox (New York Rangers)
D Adam Pelech (New York Islanders)
D Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Frederik Andersen (Carolina Hurricanes)
G Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Central Division

F Nathan MacKinnon “C” (Colorado Avalanche)
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets)
F Alex DeBrincat (Chicago Blackhawks)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild)
F Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes)
F Jordan Kyrou (St. Louis Blues)
F Joe Pavelski (Dallas Stars)
D Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche)
G Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators)
G Cam Talbot (Minnesota Wild)

Pacific Division

F Connor McDavid “C” (Edmonton Oilers)
F Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
F Jordan Eberle (Seattle Kraken)
F Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames)
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings)
F Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks)
F Mark Stone (Vegas Golden Knights)
D Alex Pietrangelo (Vegas Golden Knights)
G Thatcher Demko (Vancouver Canucks)
G John Gibson (Anaheim Ducks)

Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis Enter COVID Protocol

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The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis have both entered the COVID protocol. Though the team did not confirm whether or not they have tested positive, both players–plus a member of the training staff–will be remaining in Vancouver as the team travels to Minnesota, suggesting they have.

Notably, the Hurricanes played the Calgary Flames on Thursday, a team that has now been shut down due to a massive outbreak. Carolina played two more games between then and now, visiting the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. Aho actually didn’t play in the game against Vancouver, missing it with an “illness”, but Jarvis did, playing a career-high of 17 minutes against the Canucks.

This isn’t the first time that the Hurricanes have dealt with brutal COVID-related absences either. The team lost Ethan Bear, Brett Pesce, and Tony DeAngelo all at the same time earlier this season, with the latter two only expected to make their return tomorrow night. It’s a good thing they are, too, because the Hurricanes don’t have the cap space to make any additional recalls. Like other teams, they would have been forced to play shorthanded if any other injuries cropped up. Instead, the team has sent Maxime Lajoie back to the AHL as the two defensemen rejoin the club in Minnesota.

Still, losing Aho and Jarvis will take a big bite out of the Hurricanes’ top-six. Aho is fresh off a second star of the week award after extending his multi-point game streak to five, and easily leads the team with 32 points in 26 games. Jarvis meanwhile has been a little less reliable as an offensive piece with 11 points in 20 games, but is still just 19 years old and getting his feet wet at the NHL level. The youngster hasn’t scored a goal in his last 11 games and will now face a quarantine period before he can get back on the ice if he has indeed tested positive.

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