Hurricanes Acquire Rights To Top UFA Defenseman John Carlson From The Ducks

The Carolina Hurricanes have acquired the rights to defenseman John Carlson from the Anaheim Ducks. In return, Anaheim received defenseman Kyle Masters and the 192nd pick of the 2026 NHL draft.

With that pick, the Ducks selected 17-year-old center Noah Kosick.

Carlson is a pending UFA after playing out his eight-year contract, during which he earned $8 million against the salary cap.

The veteran defenseman joined the Ducks in the past NHL trade deadline, when they acquired him from the Washington Capitals for a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 draft and a 2027 third-round pick.

The 36-year-old Carlson had his best offensive season since 2021-22. Between 55 games with the Capitals and 16 with the Ducks, he scored 14 goals and 60 points

It's the most goals and points he has scored since he marked 17 goals and 71 points with Washington.

Carolina's blueline continues to get even stronger with the possible addition of Carlson to the back end. Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky will still need to sign him to a contract extension to receive his services for the 2026-27 season and onward, but he has four days before he becomes a free agent on July 1.

If a contract with the 2026 Stanley Cup champions falls into place, Carlson would become a division rival to the team he spent 17 seasons with before moving to Anaheim.

The Hurricanes have $11.1 million remaining in salary cap space, which should be enough to cover Carlson's next deal, which has been suggested to be around the two-year, $9-million range, according to The Athletic.

See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

Copyright The Hockey News, Roustan Media Ltd.

This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 4:02 PM.