[Editor-in-chief’s note: This article previously listed an approximate figure of Sebastian Aho’s offer sheet from 2019 due to an oversight while cross-referencing different sources. It has since been amended to include the correct total of his extension that begins in the 2024-25 season.]

This past season, the Hurricanes continued their several season stretch of being one of the most dominant teams in the NHL, capturing their third consecutive division title, having the league’s second best record and, absent a major scoring talent in Andrei Svechnikov, made a run to the conference finals for second time in the past five seasons (this time being swept by the Cinderella run Florida Panthers in four games). It seems as though this is a franchise with a very good chance at making the finals and winning their second ever Stanley Cup in the near future. It is not a guarantee that a team will make the right moves to take the next step in such situations. But is Carolina doing so beginning with this offseason? Let us examine their performance in the offseason to this point and make an evaluation.

Arguably the biggest move the team made was the recent signing of LW Sebastian Aho to a long-term contract extension (8 years, $78 million). The 26-year-old Finn is undoubtedly already a franchise legend. Aho is already the team’s all-time leader in playoff goals, assists, and points, is an essential part of their elite penalty kill (second only to Boston this past season), and has never scored fewer than 24 goals in a season, including 4 30-goal campaigns (among them a combined 73 the past two years). He is on pace to go down as one of the best Finnish players in league history and still has many vital years ahead of him, so it bodes quite well for the future of the team that he will be a fixture in the times to come. Captain, fellow essential penalty kill fixture and long-time staple Jordan Staal was also extended, for four seasons at an AAV of $2.9M, therefore ensuring two essential pieces will remain in place for the coming years. Staal is on the older end at 34, meaning this could possibly be his last deal, but he is coming at a low price and has been steady in his role and will likely remain such. The team also has knocked it out of the park in the UFA market, signing LW Michael Bunting (a proven, capable goal-scorer and 2022 Calder Memorial Trophy finalist) to a three-year deal with an AAV of $4.5M, and D Dmitry Orlov (a career holder of 35.65 defensive point shares – good for 50th among all active players – and a reliable scoring contributor, his stats during his rental run with Boston indicating this as they include 17 points in 23 regular season games and him averaging just above a point-per-game in their one-and-done against Florida, with 8 points in 7 games) to a two-season deal worth $15.5 million. The team also brought back Tony DeAngelo on a one-year deal after his recent Philadelphia Flyers buyout. Sticking just to the facts, my personal biases aside, his brief tenure left much to be desired from many in the franchise and the Flyers fanbase. DeAngelo’s even strength goals above replacement was -10.9 [reference: https://www.inquirer.com/flyers/flyers-waive-tony-deangelo-defenseman-20230714.html], dead last among all 326 qualified defensemen in the NHL, and he also ranked 132nd out of 219 players with at least 400 5-on-5 minutes in CF% and 153rd in Expected Goals For % [reference: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/the-case-for-buying-out-tony-deangelo/]. Now of course, as has been noted by many and perhaps stands to conventional wisdom, the offensive-minded defenseman’s role inherently has many risks, but these metrics are inexcusable. 11 goals and 42 points do suggest that DeAngelo can be a contributor on that end of the ice but it is likely that, with Carolina’s stacked defensive core (take Jaccob Slavin for an excellent example of how dominant their blueline is – His career defensive point share total is 41.57, good for 28th amongst all active players despite only having been in the league since the 2015-16 season), his role will be minimal and to provide supplementary scoring and power play presence. DeAngelo’s weakness in 5-on-5 play just does not lend itself to a bigger role on a team with that competition for ice time. In other FA news, the Hurricanes also added LW Brendan Lemieux and will be bringing back both goaltending tandem members Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta.

The 2023 NHL Entry Draft was also a successful endeavor for Don Waddell and the Carolina franchise. University of Maine commit Bradly Nadeau was a great pick at 30th overall. His frame is not exactly imposing, standing 5’10’ and weighing in at 161, but his scoring talent is exceptional. Nadeau’s numbers in the BCHL were otherworldly, totaling a league leading 113 points in 54 regular season games and adding 35 points in 17 games for the Penticton Vees as they won their second consecutive Fred Page Cup. According to hockeyprospecting.com, Nadeau’s draft year comparables on the higher end include German Rubtsov, Dylan Larkin, Jonathan Toews, Blake Wheeler, and Anze Kopitar. At present, his star probability by Byron Bader’s metrics stands at only 19%, but he should be exciting to keep an eye on, nevertheless. On Day 2, the Canes drafted RW Felix Unger Sörum at 62nd overall, by all accounts a solid two-way player and playmaker. Noteworthy numbers include 46 points in 42 games with Leksands IF’s J20 team this past year and averaging a point-a-game in 14 games played with Sweden’s U-18 team. Other day two picks include very solid USHL product RW Jayden Perron (who totaled 72 points in 61 games with the Chicago Steel in 2022-23), F Stanislav Yarovoy from Vityaz, Quinnipiac D and NCAA Champion Charles-Alexis Legault (notably a teammate of head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s son Skyler), and yet another Chicago Steel forward by way of Michael Emerson (who scored 64 points in 60 games this past year and might end up being a great value selection at 190th, as FloHockey’s Chris Peters placed him at 91st in his pre-draft top 100). Overall, a solid crop was selected by Waddell and the front office at this year’s draft.

It is arguable that the only real demerit to the Carolina Hurricanes’ offseason was that they have picked up a piece that they did not truly need (however, they did not win out in the Karlsson trade war to repeat that). That said, the team has done just about everything they needed to do to lock up future assets and keep key pieces around, as well as made a splash in the UFA market. With that said, I’m giving Carolina an A- grade for their performance this offseason to this point. They were already a force and have only made that even more the case with the moves made this offseason while solidifying essential parts of their core group going forward. This team will be a Stanley Cup contender this season and do not be surprised if they end up winning it all.