The Hurricanes appear to be closing in on a contract with one of their 2023 draft picks. Championat’s Anton Nekrasov reports that Carolina is close to signing winger Stanislav Yarovoi to an entry-level deal.
The 21-year-old was a late fourth-round selection, going 126th overall. However, he’ll turn 22 before September 15th meaning that his contract should be a two-year agreement if and when he signs.
Yarovoi’s offensive numbers don’t exactly jump off the charts. In his draft year, he had nine goals and seven assists with Vityaz Moscow of the KHL and he hasn’t reached that plateau since then at the top level in Russia. He also had a dozen points in five junior-level games that year.
This season, he played in 49 games with Vityaz, tallying nine goals along with just three helpers. His playing time was down a bit from 2023-24 as he logged 13:16 per night of playing time.
Heading into the 2023 draft, Yarovoi was noted for bringing some above-average defensive elements to his game, traits that should endear him to Carolina’s coaches as the checking gets a little tighter in North America. Assuming a contract gets done, Yarovoi seems unlikely to crack the roster of the Hurricanes right away which would make him a candidate to start with AHL Chicago. However, we often see Russian prospects get European Assignment Clauses to allow them to play at home a little longer so that could potentially be on the table as well.