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After it was heavily reported yesterday, the Carolina Hurricanes announced today that they’ve signed captain Jordan Staal to a four-year contract extension. The deal will carry a $2.9 million cap hit.
Staal is turning 35 years old in September, and this season, the forward scored 17 goals and 34 points in 81 games. While he won’t put up the same offensive numbers he did a few years ago, he remains a great defensive center and adds stability to the team’s bottom-six.
As for the contract itself, it’s not necessarily the best, but it should work out alright. It’s very rare that centers at Staal’s age are given a three-year deal, let alone a four-year contract, so there’s undoubtedly too much term on it. I had projected Staal’s contract to come in either at $3M on a one-year deal, or $2.25M on a two-year deal at HockeyComparables.com. So it’s a little bit surprising the cap hit wasn’t lower if the Hurricanes were giving out extra term.
The deal also carries a full no-movement clause for the first three years, before that becomes a no-trade clause in Year Four. The base salary will also drop to just $775,000 for the final year.
At the end of the day though, the Hurricanes are much better off with him signed to this contract than they would be without him. At some point in the deal, Staal is likely to slip to be a fourth-line center but given his play-style, he could still provide value in the role even at that point.
More than anything, it’s a positive the Hurricanes were able to re-sign him.
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In other major news, the Hurricanes are reportedly close to re-acquiring defenseman Tony DeAngelo, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the deal would see the Philadelphia Flyers retain half of DeAngelo’s salary, meaning he’d come to the Hurricanes at $2.5M for one year. LeBrun says Carolina would be sending back a lower-end prospect in exchange, a significantly lighter package than the Flyers gave up to get him from Carolina just a year ago.
However, LeBrun did provide an update that the deal hit a bump last night.
DeAngelo spent the 2021-22 season with the Hurricanes, finding a lot of success while playing with Jaccob Slavin on the team’s top pairing. He posted 51 points in 64 games with Carolina, before adding 42 points in 70 games with the Flyers this season.
DeAngelo’s return would all but confirm that Shayne Gostisbehere is likely on his way out. With Carolina’s top-four under contract for next season, as well as Jalen Chatfield, there’d be no room for Gostisbehere in the group, even though it was never necessarily expected that he’d return to the Hurricanes. I projected Gostisbehere’s contract, which can be viewed below, and there’d be no reason for the Hurricanes to pay him what he’d command as a free agent just to play limited minutes anyways:
ARTICLE: Projecting Shayne Gostisbehere’s next contract
In other news regarding the Hurricanes’ blue line, Pierre LeBrun also reported that an extension for Brett Pesce is looking more likely as well. Pesce is set to be a UFA in 2024, and the potential acquisition of DeAngelo likely shouldn't impact Pesce’s contract situation with Carolina.
Quiz maker
OTHER ARTICLES FROM JUNE
Which of the Hurricanes’ UFAs will return next season? 
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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