It’s the NHL ‘silly season.’ How silly, or smart, will the Hurricanes be?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Hurricanes hold $28M in cap space and 21 draft picks over three years.
- Mitch Marner, Ehlers and Rossi emerge as high-cost targets for top-line roles.
- Veterans Burns and Orlov face uncertain futures as free agency approaches.
Let’s get silly.
It’s that time of the year, isn’t it?
The Stanley Cup playoffs are over, the NHL draft is coming and free agency begins July 1. Everyone who has ever heard of Gary Bettman and seen an NHL game seems to have an opinion or a guess on how everything will play out in the next few weeks. Just check social media.
Mitch Marner to the Carolina Hurricanes? Hey, why not?
An offer sheet by the Canes? It’s been done before.
Re-sign a 40-year-old defenseman? The head coach would like that.
Another home-run swing by general manager Eric Tulsky? Who says no?
The Hurricanes will have plenty of cap space. They’re also loaded with 21 picks in the next three drafts and have those assets for Tulsky to use. The possibilities are many for a team that been in the playoffs the past seven years and now are chasing the Florida Panthers, back-to-back Cup winners.
“If there’s any chance to get better, we’re going to take it,” Tulsky said after the season. “We have the full buy-in to spend to the cap if there are ways to do it to get better.
“We have so much space and such a strong team, so there’s no guarantee we can find ways to spend all that money. But we’re going to spend all summer trying.”
Mitch Marner chatter
Marner’s time with the Toronto Maple Leafs apparently has ended and the talented, play-making winger will be with a new team next season.
It would be costly. Very costly. Marner’s camp will be asking as much as $14 million a season, well above Sebastian Aho’s team-high $9.75 million cap hit with Carolina.
But with a projected $28 million in available cap space, the Canes – with owner Tom Dundon’s approval – could afford it if inclined to make such a move.
The past couple of years, Tulsky has taken that home-run swipe by acquiring forward Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins and then Mikko Rantanen from Colorado. The goal was to fill one void that the Canes have had: a big-time scorer who can produce both in the regular season and the playoffs.
“Everybody would love to have one,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said after the season. “If they’re out there, Eric’s trying to get them. And I think everybody appreciates that.”
The Canes could not hold on to either Guentzel or Rantanen. Is Marner the answer?
The winger has been a point-per-game guy with the Leafs and has 13 goals and 63 points in 70 career playoff games. But Marner, 28, has not been that good when the lights are the brightest, in the playoffs.
Other free agent targets
Two other names that have surfaced in all the offseason chatter have been winger Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets and center Marco Rossi of the Minnesota Wild. Ehlers is due to become an unrestricted free agent while Rossi a restricted free agent.
Ehlers, 29, has been consistently effective for the Jets, with eight seasons of 20 or more goals. He has led the team in points-per-60-minutes each of the past two seasons.
Ehlers will join Canes goalie Frederik Andersen on Team Denmark in the 2026 Milan Olympics, it was announced this week. Should he need any inside intel on the Canes, he could turn to Andersen or Jets teammate Nino Niederreiter, a former Canes forward.
Then again, the Jets might re-sign him. Do that and it’s a moot point.
Rossi is interesting. According to media reports out of Minnesota, the Austria native and the team have been locked in a contract negotiation impasse as Rossi seeks a pricey long-term deal. Michael Russo of The Athletic reported that Rossi seeks seven years at $7 million per season.
Rossi is 23 and coming off a season that had him notch career highs in goals (24) and assists (36) while playing 82 games. The Canes are looking — and have been looking — for a consistent second-line center and Rossi would be the guy.
One potential drawback: he’s 5 feet 9. Another: he got some fourth-line minutes during the playoffs this year.
The Canes could work a trade for Rossi. Then again, Wild general manager Bill Guerin could sign him to a bridge deal.
Are Burns and Orlov departing?
The Canes have decisions to make on veteran defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov, who are slated to be unrestricted free agents.
Brind’Amour, when asked about Burns, has had nothing but praise for a 40-year-old who has played 925 consecutive NHL games.
“It’s no secret that I think he’s phenomenal,” Brind’Amour said after the playoffs. “I love the guy for a lot of reasons, not just the hockey side of things and what you see, but just the way he handles himself on and off the ice.”
Burns just finished up an eight-year, $64 million contract first signed when he was with the San Jose Sharks. He could retire, but also might consider a one- or two-year deal to stay with the Canes, although at less than an $8 million cap hit. Think “team friendly.”
Said Brind’Amour: “I can’t say enough good things about him. Obviously, the business (side) and all that comes into play, but l’d love to have him back.”
Forward Eric Robinson has been signed to a four-year extension that pays $1.7 million a season. But Orlov and forward Jack Roslovic could be headed into free agency as UFA’s.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM.
