The Hurricanes weren’t able to get Mikko Rantanen to agree to a long-term contract but they got one done with the player they acquired for him. The team announced that they’ve signed forward Logan Stankoven to an eight-year, $48MM contract extension.
The 22-year-old was a second-round pick by Dallas back in 2021, going 47th overall. Quite quickly, it’s fair to say he has outperformed his draft stock. Stankoven made a mark late in the 2023-24 campaign, notching six goals and eight assists in 24 games with the Stars, earning himself a regular spot in their playoff lineup where he chipped in with eight points in 19 contests.
That was enough to have Stankoven as a regular for Dallas to start last season but the per-game offensive production tapered off a bit. That said, he still put up a respectable nine goals and 20 assists in 59 games with them before being one of the key parts of the Rantanen trade back at the trade deadline.
Following the swap, Stankoven’s point production continued at a similar clip as he tallied five goals and four assists in 19 games during the regular season with Carolina while continuing to hover just above 15 minutes a night in playing time. He carried that into the playoffs as well as a secondary offensive contributor, tallying five goals and three helpers in 15 postseason contests.
Stankoven has one year left on his entry-level contract, one that carries a cap charge of just over $814K along with $32.5K in games-played bonuses. That means the extension will begin in 2026-27. He had four RFA-eligible years remaining so Carolina will gain four seasons of team control at that time. Those four UFA years are the only ones in which he’ll be eligible for trade protection.
While Stankoven isn’t the same caliber of player that Rantanen is, the Hurricanes will still get a long-term core piece out of that series of trades. In the long run, while they took a short-term loss in talent compared to the original trade that saw them acquire Rantanen from Colorado, getting Stankoven locked up long-term and adding a pair of first-round picks was a solid rebound for GM Eric Tulsky.
John Matisz of The Score was the first to report that a long-term deal was close. Frank Seravalli was first with the terms of the agreement.