Hurricanes star signs 8-year extension to stay in Raleigh. Here’s what he’ll make
Sebastian Aho has signed another kind of offer sheet that will keep the center with the Carolina Hurricanes in the long term.
Aho, who turned 26 Wednesday, has agreed to an eight-year contract extension with the Hurricanes that will pay him an average of $9.75 million per season, it was announced Wednesday.
“It’s been a great day,” Aho said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “A birthday and an extension. Could be a lot worse.”
Aho, who led the Canes with 36 goals last season, is entering the final year of a five-year contract stemming from an offer sheet from the Montreal Canadiens that sent ripples through the NHL in July 2019.
Aho signed the offer sheet, which was a five-year contract worth $8.46 million a season, tendered by the Canadiens. Carolina owner Tom Dundon did not hesitate in matching the offer, which he found frivolous, and kept Aho a Cane.
That prevented what could have been a protracted period of contract negotiations from extending into the 2019-20 preseason. The new eight-year extension ends the chance of Aho playing out his contract in 2023-24 and becoming an unrestricted free agent after the season.
“Sebastian has developed into one of the best two-way centers in hockey,” Canes president and general manager Don Waddell said in a news release Wednesday. “He’s a tremendous leader on and off the ice who sets a great example for our younger players. We’re grateful that he’s decided to stay in Carolina for the foreseeable future.”
Dundon said signing Aho to a long-term extension in the offseason was a “top, top priority.” The Canes, with Aho again centering the top line, won the Metropolitan Division and reached the Stanley Cup playoffs for a fifth straight season. Aho said a large part of signing now was to avoid contract negotiations during the season, saying there was a sense of urgency to have the extension taken care of this summer..
The Hurricanes notched playoff series wins against the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils before losing to the Florida Panthers in four straight games — all by one goal — in the Eastern Conference final.
“We had a chance to win it all. I feel like we were right there,” Aho said after the season. “The good thing is we’re going to be a really good team for a long time. We have to keep giving ourselves a chance to get there and hopefully one day it will happen.”
Waddell said he believes this team is in “the heart” of their Stanley Cup Championship window, particularly with the extension of Aho. And with the continued success of young players like Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and other developing prospects, Waddell said he hopes this continues to build the Canes toward Cup contention for multiple seasons.
“You lock these guys up for a long term, you put yourself in a great position that you can work around the edges to fill out the holes in you need, you get your key pieces in place,” Waddell said. “So I think we’re franchise that doesn’t want to win one cup. We want to try to win 10 cups, and so you gotta put yourself in position to compete for the cup every year.”
While Aho has been signed, there are other players approaching the final year of their contracts including defensemen Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei, and forward Teuvo Teravainen.
Waddell said Wednesday the Canes have had “conversations” with them and their agents but are “not close” to signing any to extensions, saying, “It’s a different market for different players.”
Aho was asked after the season about contract talks but basically shrugged off those questions, saying, “I’d like to be here, right? We’ll see. I don’t think about it at all.”
He doesn’t have to now. He can continue his preseason training in Finland and prepare for his eighth NHL season.
Aho is a former NHL All-Star who now has played 520 regular-season and 63 playoff games for the Canes, who made the Finnish forward a second-round pick, No. 35 overall, in the 2015 NHL draft.
While Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour was hesitant at first to use Aho at center, he quickly proved he could handle the demands of the position and had the skills of an elite centerman. He has excelled on special teams and arguably has been the Canes’ most competitive player.
“That’s what makes him a special player to me,” Brind’Amour has said. “He hates to lose and will do anything he can to win.”
Aho was not the Canes’ leading scorer this past season — Martin Necas had 71 points to Aho’s 67 — for the first time since his rookie season, but he had a team-leading nine game-winning goals, two in overtime. He has had 30 or more goals in four seasons and has 16 career shorthanded goals, three in 2022-23.
This story was originally published July 26, 2023 at 10:10 AM.
