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Jackson Blake signs 8 year extension with Hurricanes

2025-07-24T23:15:40-04:00

Photo by Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images

The Canes continue to sign their players to long term deals

You may have thought that we were in the quietest part of the NHL offseason, with all of the major signings done, all the schedule news out of the way, and still over a month away from training camp.

It turns out that quiet is a perfect time to take care of some business.

One of the big pieces of news to come out on Free Agent Day was that the Hurricanes locked in Logan Stankoven to an eight year extension that kicks in after next season. It showed the team was already looking to next year’s crop of Restricted Free Agents and with this being the last year that teams can offer eight year contracts, both sides were motivated to get a deal done. Another future RFA was taken care of with the sign and trade of K’Andre Miller, as Scott Morrow went back to the Rangers in the deal.

That left just two potential Restricted Free Agents heading into the 2025-26 season: Jackson Blake and Alexander Nikishin.

Now there’s just one.

On Thursday Night, the Hurricanes announced an eight year extension for Jackson Blake. Blake had a fantastic rookie season for the Hurricanes, seeing a lot of first line time and led the NHL rookies in game winning goals. His 34 points were evenly split between goals (17) and assists (17). The University of North Dakota product was drafted by the Canes in 2021, and he stayed with North Dakota all the way through their 2024 NCAA Tournament run. He signed a contact once the run was over and was able to make his NHL debut in the season finale against the Blue Jackets.

Blake went into last season’s training camp with next to no shot at actually making the big squad. Yet his play during camp and the preseason forced the hand of Rod Brind’Amour to give him a shot, and he never relinquished it.

Blake’s deal will kick in after the 2025-26 season, and per the Canes it’s for $45 million over the eight years. That comes to an AAV of $5.625 million each season until he can become an Unrestricted Free Agent in 2034.

***Note after posting Elliotte Friedman reported that the Canes and Blake took advantage of another practice ending after this season—deferred money. According to his post on Twitter/X, Blake’s contract will actually come in at around $5.1 million per year thanks to deferments. So it means Blake is deferring just north of $4 million over the course of the deal. ***

The deal could be a boon for the Canes should Blake continue at this rate. His UFA year was scheduled to be 2031 and so the Canes were able to get three years of that for the $5.625 million rate, which in the world of the rising cap could be a bargain. For Blake, it locks in an overpayment for the first few years but offers him an assurance of where he’ll be for the next nine years, and also no stress of a RFA negotiation.

The deal just leaves Nikishin as the lone 2026 RFA on the roster—and as mentioned with this being the last year that teams can sign players to eight year extensions plus the trouble the Canes went to in order to have Nikishin come to North America, it wouldn’t be surprising if that gets worked out in the near furture, either.

A new look coming for Canes Country in August

2025-07-24T12:00:00-04:00

Our coverage remains the same but with a new look

In just a couple of weeks, Canes Country is switching to a new platform as part of SB Nation’s network-wide move to a new publishing platform. This will change the look of the site and also make it faster and more reliable on any device you use. This is an upgrade.

When you land on the site, it will look cleaner – less clunky, with more white space, a better ad experience with faster load times – but will still have all the usual articles, analysis, and news by all the folks you know.

Community discussion and content created by you will be more prominent in the new design. The best comment threads will be easy to find, and staff and commenters alike will be able to start conversations whenever they like with a brand new tool.

We’re planning on an early August reveal, so we wanted to give you a heads up. You’ll hear more from us when it’s almost here. The site will look a little different, feel a little faster, and, most importantly, have a bigger role for you, the community.

So, stick around and check it out!

NHL Releases 2025-26 Schedule-a few highlights for the Carolina Hurricanes

2025-07-16T17:49:49-04:00

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Canes have a few quirks in theirs including a rough end to the season

The last real “tentpole” event for the NHL before we dive deep into the summer abyss is the release of next year’s regular season schedule. In previous seasons the league had decided to release the new schedule closer to the start of Free Agency, but this year the decision was apparently made to wait and let most of the major headlines of Free Agency shake out before they released everything.

As they tend to do, leaks started happening complete with ESPN announcing when their opening night would be—complete with such contending the teams as Chicago and Pittsburgh. Now the rest of the league joins in on the fun.

At first it looked like the Canes were going to just drop the calendars and let that be that.

Wake up, the #Canes schedule just dropped
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) July 16, 2025

It appeared to mirror previous seasons where the Hurricanes decided to opt out of the fun of a funny video to go with the schedule drop. League-wide they typically don’t have the same shot as ones from the NFL because you aren’t going to try to cram all 82—about to be 84—games in a short video. Still, they are ways to make some noise and sure enough, it was a bit of a fake out as a few minutes later the Canes dropped this:

You know them, you love them

Jarvy's road trip crew is back! pic.twitter.com/WsPskmEYqb
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) July 16, 2025

No, your device isn’t messed up. For some reason Twitter deleted the video so the Canes had a redo.

Twitter deleted our first video. Not sure why.

So here's Jarvy's road trip boys, 2.0 pic.twitter.com/Wn6oFrMHHS
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) July 16, 2025

So the Canes decided to use Jarvy’s pals one more time while the iron was hot. There’s very little doubt that they’ll make another appearance when the Amazon Prime NHL series debuts later this summer featuring Jarvis, but it’s great to see them one more time.

As far as the actual schedule goes, there are parts that are expected—there’s a long road trip at the start of the season while the State Fair occupies the area next door to the Lenovo Center, that trip is to the west coast, and it’s made up with some longer home stands later in the season. There’s also a two week Olympic Break as those that are participating head to Italy to represent their country for the first time in over a decade.

The unexpected is how the season ends. Of their final 23 games, 15 of them are on the road. Unlike last year, their trips out west aren’t wrapped up early, instead they go out to Utah on April 11th, and their last home game is actually on April 7th against Boston.

As far as the rotation of the season goes, Carolina gets to host Florida twice this time around, and the NHL seemingly wanted to build tension for another meeting down the road in the playoffs by knocking out all three within a month-December 19th, December 22nd, and January 16th. There is good news for Canes fans though—they not only are home both sides of the major holidays—Thanksgiving and Christmas—they even play at home on January 1st at 7 PM against Montreal. With the Winter Classic happening on January 2nd instead of the 1st, the NHL is letting more teams have a game on day where a lot of fans can attend.

Theres another interesting date in January—January 6th. That is when the Dallas Stars come into town and a certain player will make his return to Raleigh. The start time right now is 7 PM, but don’t be surprised if that one is picked up nationally.

Other interesting (new) returns: The Avalanche come back with Martin Necas and Jack Drury on Saturday January 3rd, and Dmitri Orlov will return to Raleigh on December 7th.

If you need the whole schedule in one fell swoop, here’s is one version -

https://media.d3.nhle.com/image/private/t_document/prd/qnc5zrqlku4liohjafft.pdf

With the full schedule out, the national TV partners will dissect it and determine which games will appear on ESPN/ESPN app (remember their whole app process is going to be redone starting in September so there may not be ESPN + so much as just “available on the app/Hulu only”) and which games will appear on TNT. As a Cup contending team they won’t be shut out, it’ll just be interesting to see which games get picked up.

Carolina’s Proposed Scoring for Coming Season

2025-07-16T10:37:26-04:00

Seth Jarvis led the Hurricanes in scoring during the 2024-25 regular season with 32 goals. | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Goals should not be an issue for 2025-26

The Carolina Hurricanes finished 10th in the NHL regarding goal scoring last season.

They finished with a “Goals For” total of 266. (see chart below).

Goals For

1 Lightning 294

2 Capitals 288

3 Jets 277

4 Stars 277

5 Avs 277

6 Golden Knights 275

7 Blue Jackets 273

8 Sabres 269

9 Leafs 268

10 Hurricanes 266

One interesting thing is that the two Stanley Cup Finalists were not in the top 10. So how important is this stat?

It would seem that scoring goals would be important, so we will continue.

The Canes had a differential of plus 33, the difference between goals scored and goals allowed. That placed them 9th in the league.

The Florida Panthers had a “Goals For” total of 252 and a difference of 29.

The Edmonton Oilers had a GF of 259 and a difference of 23.

Just for reference, in the previous season the Canes scored 279 goals and had a difference of 63.

With the Canes losing Roslovic 22, Orlov 6, and Burns 6, one might wonder, are there enough goals coming in this season to compensate for those losses?

The answer appears to be yes, and then some.

Player Goals For Projected

2024-25 2025-26

Jarvis 32 32

Aho 29 30

Roslovic 22 0

Svechnikov 20 25

Hall 18 18

Blake 17 20

Martinook 15 14

Robinson 14 14

Stankoven 14 18

Staal 13 12

Jankowski 12 10

Kotkaniemi 12 13

Gostisbehere 7 8

Chatfield 7 7

Burns 6 0

Orlov 6 0

Slavin 6 7

Walker 5 6

Carrier 4 6

Jost 4 2

Birnd’Amour 1 0

Robidas 1 0

Miller 0 7

Nikishin 0 7

Ehlers 25

265 281

As you can see, I projected that Jarvis will match his total from last year and that Aho will score one more, to reach that magic threshold of 30.

Svechnikov only scored 20 last season and I am projecting 25 which I do not think is unrealistic.

Ehlers will replace Roslovic’s scoring pretty easily.

Blake and Stankoven should both continue to improve.

Most everyone else is projected to be about the same. Martinook and Staal might regress a bit.

Nikishin scored 17 goals in each of the last two seasons in the KHL, I project less than half that many, but who knows?

Miller averages about 7 goals a season.

This is a rather simplistic way to look at things, but gives us an idea to start the discussion.

What do you think?

(Apologies for the poor formatting, I will look to improve on that. By the way, the SB Nation platform will be changing in early August, so training for that major change is ongoing.)

Hurricanes Sign Noel Gunler and Gavin Bayreuther for Team Depth

2025-07-14T11:22:58-04:00

SUNRISE, FL - SEPTEMBER 29: Noel Gunler #38 of the Carolina Hurricanes awaits a face-off during the game between the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, FL on September 29, 2022. | Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Both players get one year, two-way deals

My apologies for being out of pocket last week, but I have returned and things will be a bit more active.

While I was away, the Hurricanes made two depth signings.

Noel Gunler and Gavin Bayreuther were both signed to one year, two-way contracts.

Gunler had 26 points in Chicago last season.

Bayreuther played in Switzerland last year.

The team’s press release follows.

(I am working on an analysis of team scoring next)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 11, 2025

‘CANES SIGN GUNLER, BAYREUTHER TO ONE-YEAR DEALS

Players each receive two-way contracts

RALEIGH, NC – Eric Tulsky, General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has signed forward Noel Gunler and defenseman Gavin Bayreuther to one-year, two-way contracts. Gunler’s deal will pay him $813,750 on the NHL level or $80,000 in the American Hockey League (AHL). Bayreuther will make $775,000 in the NHL or $140,000 in the AHL, with a guarantee of at least $150,000.

Gunler, 23, recorded 26 points (13g, 13a) in 58 games with the Chicago Wolves (AHL) in 2024-25, ranking second on the club in power-play goals (six) and tied for fourth in goals. He has registered 49 points (24g, 25a) in 100 career AHL games in three seasons with the Wolves. The Lulea, Sweden native posted 56 points (28g, 28a) in 151 career Swedish Hockey League (SHL) games with Lulea HF and Brynas HF from 2018-22 prior to making his North American debut in 2022. Gunler has represented Sweden at numerous international tournaments, including the 2017 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and the 2021 IIHF U20 World Championship. The 6’2”, 185-pound forward was selected by the Hurricanes in the second round, 41st overall, of the 2020 NHL Draft.

Bayreuther, 31, spent the 2024-25 season with Lausanne HC in the National League (Switzerland), scoring five goals and adding 18 assists (23 points) in 52 regular-season games. He added two goals and six assists (8 points) in 18 playoff games as Lausanne HC advanced to the championship series before falling to the ZSC Lions in five games. A native of Concord, N.H., Bayreuther has appeared in 122 career NHL games with Dallas and Columbus, totaling 28 points (5g, 23a). The 6’1”, 196-pound defenseman has played in 238 career AHL games with Texas and Cleveland, scoring 25 goals and adding 92 assists (117 points). Prior to turning professional, Bayreuther spent four seasons at St. Lawrence University, totaling 111 points (35g, 76a) in 142 career games and earning NCAA Second All-American team honors in 2016 and 2017.

How the Hurricanes Can Maximize Sean Walker

2025-07-07T10:57:14-04:00

NHLI via Getty Images

The veteran defenseman could play a much bigger role in his second year in Raleigh.

When the Carolina Hurricanes saw a mass exodus from their roster following the 2023-2024 season, longtime defensive mainstays Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce were among the salary cap casualties.

Many pundits, and even head coach Rod Brind’Amour, wondered if the losses could be withstood to an extent that would allow the Hurricanes to maintain their status as a playoff team.

General manager Eric Tulsky and his team in the front office plugged the holes on defense with veterans Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere, and though neither were the shutdown forces that Skjei and Pesce were, they more than got the job done in their respective roles.

The duo comprised the team’s bottom pairing for much of the season, but Walker got looks on other pairs, and his absence was noticeable as the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers wore on.

Signed to a five-year, $18 million contract last July that looks like a steal given the current market, Walker’s deal provides some certainty at a position that is seeing its market value explode.

This summer, Tulsky has already moved to add K’Andre Miller to the blue line, but the loss of Brent Burns makes it an open question as to who will partner with number one defenseman Jaccob Slavin on the top pairing.

Lefties Miller and Alexander Nikishin have been mentioned, but if the team wants to preserve proper handedness on its most-used pairing, and I’d argue regardless of that factor, it should be Walker.

Why Sean Walker Should be on the Hurricanes’ Top Pairing

In the Brind’Amour era, the Hurricanes have prioritized having an offensive-minded partner for Slavin, to mixed results.

The most productive season one of Slavin’s partners has had was Dougie Hamilton’s 2019-2020 before his injury, as he put up 1.54 5-on-5 points per 60 minutes.

That coincided with the most productive season of Slavin’s career on a per-60 basis, and the duo was a dominant force before Hamilton went down.

Aside from that, Hamilton put up 1.15 points per 60 in each of his other two seasons with the team, and Burns’ first year in Raleigh was strong as well at 1.29.

Tony DeAngelo’s 2021-2022 season as Hamilton’s replacement checked in at 1.01, and Burns was at 0.8 in 23-24 and 1.02 in this most recent season.

All of those efforts were better in terms of even strength offense than the 0.78 Walker had in his first season in Raleigh, but his numbers have looked much better when given more opportunity.

In 2023-2024 with the Flyers, Walker produced 1.07 points per 60 before being dealt to Colorado at the trade deadline. There, he was good for 1.47 points per 60.

You could see that and assume it was due to an unsustainably strong offensive environment in Denver, but that was better than Bowen Byram, Sam Girard and every other non-Makar and Toews Colorado regular on the backend. The team also shot just 9.70% while he was on the ice in the regular season, so the production was very much legitimate.

Walker served as the defensive conscience to Gostisbehere’s aggressive playdriver this year, but could he be better suited as the offensive end of a Slavin pairing?

There’s strong evidence that that’s the case.

Slavin and Walker played 23:35 together on this most recent playoff run, and though it’s of course a very small sample size, the results were excellent.

The duo controlled 70.91% of the shot attempts, 66.67% of the shots on goal and 67.66% of the expected goals.

Let’s assume that Miller starts the season with Jalen Chatfield and Nikishin continues to ease into the league on the bottom pairing alongside Gostisbehere.

In early offseason comments to Joe Ovies and Joe Giglio, Brind’Amour lamented the fact that the absence of Skjei and Pesce forced Slavin and Burns to take all of the toughest minutes in every game.

In the video of discussion of the Miller trade the team released on social media, Brind’Amour directly compared Miller to Skjei.

“He reminds me of Brady Skjei,” Brind’Amour says. “That’s with the skating, and getting up in the rush.”

Could a Miller-Chatfield pairing earn enough of Brind’Amour’s trust to take some of that burden off of Slavin next year?

Given the recovery speed they both possess, Miller’s size and Chatfield’s all-around defensive game, I don’t think it’s out of the question at all.

With extra firepower in the form of Nikolaj Ehlers up front, it’s easy to see a world where a more freed-up version of the Slavin pairing also produces more, and someone with Walker’s subtle offensive strengths could both contribute to and benefit from that.

Slavin’s best even-strength offensive season since the 19-20 campaign with Hamilton came in 2023-2024, when he and Burns were deferring the toughest matchups to Skjei-Pesce and a bit more focused on offense.

Is Walker going to go out there and put up a 50-point season? Almost certainly not, since he’s far down the power play depth chart.

But a deeper blue line could allow Brind’Amour to deploy Slavin in a more proactive than reactionary way.

Walker has the skating ability and instincts to be a part of that working well, and unlike DeAngelo, and Burns and Hamilton at their respective worsts, Slavin wouldn’t have to also cover for a defensive liability much of the time.

This team is at its best when the blue line is deep behind Slavin without a clear weak link, and assuming Miller is not a complete disaster, the roster is set up that way as of now.

Hurricanes Sign Nikolaj Ehlers to Six-Year Contract

2025-07-03T15:48:41-04:00

NHLI via Getty Images

Boom.

The Carolina Hurricanes announced the signing of winger Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year, $51 million contract on Thursday.

The Danish winger was the top player available on the free agent market entering July 1 after a flurry of re-signings and the sign-and-trade of Mitch Marner to Vegas, and now he’ll call Raleigh home for the foreseeable future.

Ehlers, who the Winnipeg Jets selected with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2014 NHL draft (just two picks after Carolina selected Haydn Fleury), put up 63 points in 69 games played this past season.

He followed that up with the best playoff run of his career, scoring 5 goals and 7 points in 8 games as the Jets lost in the second round.

The Danish winger had spent his entire career in Winnipeg before hitting the market this week. In 674 career games played, he’s racked up 225 goals, 295 assists and 520 points with a plus-106 rating.

The situation for Ehlers with the Jets has been increasingly untenable, as a player with undeniable talent had been deployed like a middle-six winger for years in an effort to keep the team’s lineup balanced.

As pointed out by Dimitri Filipovic on Twitter, Ehlers ranks 16th in five-on-five points per 60 among all NHL forwards over the past three seasons, but 199th in five-on-five time on ice per game.

The Hurricanes will likely be eager to offer him the increased role he’s undoubtedly looking for, as he immediately slots in as the most talented finisher on the roster and the most offensively creative player the team has since Martin Necas left in the Mikko Rantanen trade.

Look for Ehlers to fit right in on the top power play unit, and he will likely get every opportunity to build chemistry with Sebastian Aho on the top forward line.

General manager Eric Tulsky wasn’t able to add a legitimate top-line scoring winger in his bids with Jake Guentzel and Mikko Rantanen, but now the job is done.

Day Three - Free Agent Frenzy Open Thread

2025-07-03T08:41:55-04:00

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Will the Canes be able to sign a certain winger from Denmark?

Brent Burns has been signed in Colorado and Tyson Jost is returning on a two-way deal.

What’s next?