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Hurricanes sign Jesper Fast

October 10, 2020, 7:42 PM ET [2 Comments]
Ben Shelley
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The Carolina Hurricanes have signed forward Jesper Fast to a three-year deal, with an AAV of $2 million.



Fast has spent his entire career with the New York Rangers, playing parts of seven seasons with the team. This past season, he had 12 goals and 29 points in 69 games, a pace of 14 goals and 34 points per 82 games. Here’s what his goals and points per 82 games average looks like over each of the last five seasons:

2015-16: 10 G/82 and 31 P/82
2016-17: 7G/82 and 25 P/82
2017-18: 15G/82 and 38 P/82
2018-19: 10G/82 and 25 P/82
2019-20: 14G/82 and 34 P/82

Essentially, the Hurricanes can count on Fast for 10-15 goals and 25-35 points per year. He won’t fill a top-six role but could be an excellent addition for the third line. This all but confirms that a winger will be moved, likely being Ryan Dzingel, to make space for Fast in the top-nine.

I really like this deal for Carolina. Fast is still just 28 years old, so a three-year deal is a great length, plus at $2 million per season, he'll provide excellent value. Assuming they do move Dzingel, they’ll not only get an asset in that trade but they’ll also be replacing him with a player who has two extra years on his deal and costs nearly $1.5 million less.

While this signing doesn’t fill the hole in Carolina’s top-six, it is a very cap-friendly deal that sets the team up to keep their depth when they need to extend Dougie Hamilton and Andrei Svechnikov next summer. Fast is a great addition for the Hurricanes and this was a really smart signing by Don Waddell.



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OTHER RECENT HURRICANES ARTICLES:

Draft Options for the Hurricanes: Who could be a steal at 13th overall?
Draft Options for the Hurricanes: Potential targets at 13th overall
Draft Options for the Hurricanes: Potential targets at 13th overall- Part 2
Weekly Recap: Hurricanes Edition (October 4)
Draft Options for the Hurricanes: Who to avoid at 13th overall
Hurricanes select Seth Jarvis at 13th overall
Recapping all of Carolina's picks in the 2020 NHL Draft
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