2024-25 Carolina Hurricanes Snapshot
Shows Key Differences From Last Season
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(Last updated Oct. 11, 2024)
As expected, heading into their 2024-25 regular-season opener (7 pm, ESPN+/Hulu) in Raleigh against Tampa Bay, the Carolina Hurricanes look significantly different than they did on the final day of the 2023-24 season.
Both players in Carolina’s highly respected second defensive pairing, Brett Pesce (New Jersey) and Brady Skjei (Nashville), signed lucrative, long-term contracts with other teams that the Hurricanes were unwilling to match. Veteran forwards Stefan Noesen (New Jersey) and Teuvo Teravainen (Chicago) also found big-dollar paydays with other franchises.
“You get attached to the guys, especially when we’ve had them (for many years),” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It was hard. I’ll be honest. It was hard to watch guys walk out of here. I understand it. It’s a business. They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do. But it’s also exciting, because you get a whole new group of guys coming in, and maybe some of these young guys will crack the lineup and you get to watch them grow. It’s just the evolution of it.
“I had a lot of tough (phone) calls this summer. I haven’t really had too many of those. We have good players, and teams will pay them. We can’t pay everybody. That’s just how it goes, unfortunately. I love those guys. I wish them the best. I’m just excited for the new guys coming that are excited to be here and get their game going.”
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes added a pair of proven, veteran defensemen in Sean Walker (Colorado) and Shayne Gostisbehere (Detroit), plus a trio of depth forwards in William Carrier (Vegas) Eric Robinson (Buffalo) and Jack Roslovic (New York Rangers).
The Canes also quickly re-signed two of their own free agents, veteran forward Jordan Martinook and third-pairing defenseman Jalen Chatfield. The Chatfield news was announced way back in June.
Weeks later, the Canes also re-signed restricted free agents Martin Necas and Jack Drury and released veteran center Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was scheduled to be a $3.9 million cap hit for Carolina during the 2024-25 season.
On Aug. 31, new Carolina general manager Eric Tulsky re-signed the team’s last remaining restricted free agent, Seth Jarvis, who previously had received a qualifying offer from the Hurricanes.
Jarvis, 22, signed an eight-year, $63,2 million contract with Carolina. He was the Hurricanes’ second-leading scorer behind All-Star forward Sebastian Aho during the 2023-24 regular season, with 33 goals, 34 assists and 67 points.
In 2024-25, Carolina is trying to build on its franchise-record six consecutive playoff appearances, including a 2023-24 campaign in which the Hurricanes finished with the third-best regular-season record (52-23-7, 111 points) in the entire league.
That successful run, which included trips to the Eastern Conference finals in 2019 and 2023, came immediately following the franchise’s ownership change from Peter Karmanos Jr. to Dallas-based billionaire Tom Dundon, who quickly hired Hurricanes legend Rod Brind’Amour as head coach prior to the 2018-19 season.
Immediately before those two massive culture changes, the Hurricanes had missed the playoffs for nine straight seasons. That marked one of the longest postseason droughts in NHL history.
Projected 2024-25 Opening-Night Lineup
Forward Lines
Jarvis – Aho – Roslovic
Svechnikov – Kotkaniemi – Necas
Martinook – Staal – Carrier
Robinson – Drury – Blake
Defensive Pairings
Slavin – Burns
Gostisbehere – Walker
Orlov – Chatfield
Goaltender
Andersen or Kochetkov (TBA)
Power Play Units
Aho, Jarvis, Necas, Svechnikov with Gostisbehere
Blake, Drury, Kotkaniemi, Roslovic with Burns
Contract details for the Hurricanes’ departed players, newcomers and returnees are listed in the summary below.
Carolina Hurricanes Salary Cap Summary
2024-25 NHL Salary Cap: $88,000,000
2024-25 Hurricanes Projected Cap Hit: $87,283,728
2024-25 Hurricanes Cap Space: $716,272
NHL Forwards Under Contract (14)
Player, Position, Age, 2024-25 Salary Cap Hit (Long-Term Status)
Sebastian Aho, C, 27, $9,750,000 (signed through 2031-32)
Andrei Svechnikov, RW, 24, $7,750,000 (signed through 2028-29)
Seth Jarvis^, RW, 22, $7,500,000 (signed through 2031-32)
Martin Necas^, C, 25, $6,500,000 (re-signed through 2025-26)
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C, 24, $4,820,000 (signed through 2029-30)
Jordan Martinook^, LW, 32, $3,050,000 (re-signed through 2026-27)
Jordan Staal, C, 36, $2,900,000 (signed through 2026-27)
Jack Roslovic*, RW, 27, $2,800,000 (signed through 2024-25)
Jesper Fast#, RW, 33, $2,400,000 (signed through 2024-25)
William Carrier*, LW, 30, $2,000,000 (signed through 2029-30)
Jack Drury^, C, 24, $1,725,000 (re-signed through 2025-26)
Eric Robinson*, LW, 29, $950,000 (signed through 2024-25)
Jackson Blake, RW, 21, $905,833 (signed through 2025-26)
Brendan Lemieux, LW, 28, $775,000 (signed through 2024-25)
2023-24 Hurricanes Forwards In Free Agency
Jake Guentzl, LW, 30, unrestricted — 7-year, $63M deal with Tampa Bay
Teuvo Teravainen, C, 30, unrestricted — 3-year, $16.2M deal with Chicago
Stefan Noesen, RW, 31, unrestricted — 3-year, $8.25M deal with New Jersey
NHL Defensemen Under Contract (7)
Dmitry Orlov, D, 33, $7,750,000 (signed through 2024-25)
Jaccob Slavin, D, 30, $5,300,000 (extended through 2032-33 on July 1)
Brent Burns, D, 39, $5,280,000 (signed through 2024-25)
Sean Walker*, D, 30, $3,600,000 (signed through 2028-29 on July 1)
Shayne Gostisbehere*, D, 31, $3,200,000 (signed through 2026-27 on July 1)
Jalen Chatfield^, D, 28, $3,000,000 (re-signed through 2026-27 in June)
Riley Stillman, D, 26, $775,000 (two-way contract through 2024-25)
2023-24 Hurricanes Defensemen In Free Agency
Brady Skjei, D, 30, unrestricted — 7-year, $49M deal with Nashville
Brett Pesce, D, 30, unrestricted — 6-year, $33M deal with New Jersey
Tony DeAngelo, D, 29, unrestricted — SKA Saint Petersburg (Russia)
Dylan Coghlan, D, 26, restricted — 1-year, $775,000 deal with Winnipeg
NHL Goaltenders Under Contract (2)
Frederik Andersen, G, 35, $3,400,000 (signed through 2024-25)
Pyotr Kochetkov, G, 25, $2,000,000 (signed through 2026-27)
2023-24 Hurricanes Goaltender In Free Agency
Antti Raanta, G, 35, unrestricted — Genève-Servette HC (Switzerland)
^—retained free agent
*—2024 offseason acquisition
#—expected to miss 2024-25 season (neck injury; long-term injured reserve)
NOTE: Age = at conclusion of 2024 calendar year.