RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The Carolina Hurricanes head into the offseason optimistic that they’ll be able to add several difference makers to next year’s roster, unlike a year ago when the Canes lost some key veteran pieces when the free agent market opened.
‘To be quite honest I was disappointed how it went, because I think we lost a couple of guys that I would have liked to see us keep,” said Hurricanes Alternate Captain Sebastian Aho. “But yeah, it’s exciting and I do think we have really good pieces here but also I think it’s going to be a big offseason for us.”
No team is positioned better than Carolina. The Canes will have $28 million dollars in cap space to work with, and if there is a player they might want to pursue via a trade, the Canes have four first round picks to deal.
“Competing isn’t enough — we want to win, and so you’ve got to find a way to do that so the picks and prospects can help us by producing players in the future, they can help us by being used in trades by bringing in players to help us now,” said Carolina General Manager Eric Tulsky. “We’re open to everything, it’s just what the best path forward is and what opportunities we see in front of us.”
No matter what happens this offseason, the Canes can take heart in knowing their best players will be here for years to come. Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin, are all signed, sealed and delivered through at least the 2028-29 campaign.
“We still have all those guys, and in my opinion they’ve been warriors and know what it takes. And now we’ve got young kids that played in this past series and that’s just going to help up moving forward, and they’re big parts of this now,” said Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “There is a lot of optimism regardless of what Eric [Tulsky] does this summer, that’s how I look at it.”
For Carolina Hurricanes fans, this three-year window the organization has carved out could be one for the ages.