Amid offer sheets, ‘crazy money,’ Carolina Hurricanes brace for NHL free agency
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Carolina holds $25M in cap space but plans measured free agency strategy.
- Pending UFAs Burns, Orlov and Roslovic may leave if deals aren't reached.
- Offer sheets could shape roster moves; Marco Rossi named possible target.
A lot of NHL general managers moan and groan about “crazy money” being thrown around on the first day of free agency.
And a lot of them will, yes, throw it around when the time comes.
NHL free agency begins Tuesday at noon. Several players will hit the open market, GMs will be on the phone with agents and deals will be struck for contracts that have many shaking their heads. Crazy money.
The Carolina Hurricanes have about $25 million in salary-cap space, more than enough to make some major moves, but general manager Eric Tulsky might take more of a measured approach, biding his time.
“I think we will have to see who hits the free agent market and what we can get done,” Tulsky said Friday “We’re also continuing to look at trades, of course.”
The Canes made a minor trade Monday, obtaining the negotiating rights of goalie Cayden Primeau -- the son of former Carolina captain Keith Primeau -- from the Montreal Canadiens. The Canes gave up their seventh-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft for Primeau, who appeared in 11 games for the Habs last season and was 21-2-2 for the Laval Rocket of the AHL.
As of Monday, the Canes had defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov as pending unrestricted free agents, along with forward Jack Roslovic. Unless re-signed, they could have played their last games for the Hurricanes and be moving on.
Here’s what to look for:
Who’s the big fish?
This was about to be an easy one: Mitch Marner.
Marner’s time ran out with the Toronto Maple Leafs after nine seasons, and there was considerable interest in the playmaking forward, who had a career-high 102 points in 2024-25.
But the Vegas Golden Knights traded for Marner ahead of free agency and obtained his rights from the Leafs, according to numerous media outlets. That would come after Marner, 28, had agreed to a new eight-year for $12 million a season.
The Florida Panthers, after back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, had two pending UFAs in defenseman Aaron Ekblad and forward Brad Marchand. But Panthers general manager Bill Zito reportedly reeled both veterans back in Monday.
Two forwards to keep an eye on, barring an 11th-hour re-signing, are forwards Nikolaj Ehlers of Winnipeg and Brock Boeser of Vancouver.
Who will Canes lose?
Tulsky made an early move by re-signing forward Eric Robinson, who was due to become a UFA. Robinson, a free-agent acquisition last year by Carolina, was signed to a four-year deal.
That left Burns, Orlov and Roslovic as the top remaining pending UFA’s. Orlov and Roslovic both came to the Canes as free agents — Roslovic on a one-year contract before last season.
Tulsky was asked Friday if the three players would go into free agency or if new deals would be arranged before noon Tuesday.
“We’re still working on it, so it’s hard to say right now,” Tulsky said. “Hoping to get more done, but there’s work to do.”
The offer sheet approach
When a team is having protracted contract negotiations with a player who is a restricted free agent, another team might swoop in and tender an offer sheet. If the player signs it, the contract has been locked in and the price is set. A team can match the offer and keep the player or accept the return of draft assets.
Case in point: Jesperi Kotkaniemi in 2021.
The Canes tendered an offer sheet to the Montreal Canadiens for the Finnish forward. The offer: one year for $6.1 million.
The Habs took a pass on matching the offer, accepting the Canes’ first- and third-round draft picks in the 2022 NHL draft. Just like that, Kotkaniemi was a member of the Hurricanes.
A year ago, the St. Louis Blues tendered offer sheets to two Edmonton players: defenseman Filip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway. The Oilers did not match for either and the Blues had two new players.
This year, a player such as Minnesota’s Marco Rossi could be an offer-sheet target as the Wild continue to try and hammer out a deal with the center.
Best Canes free agent ...
Let the arguments begin. It’s fairly easy to pick the Canes’ best free-agent signing — Ron Francis.
Drafted by the Hartford Whalers, Francis was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins and won a pair of Stanley Cups. After the Whalers relocated to North Carolina in 1997 and became the Carolina Hurricanes, the franchise needed someone of stature to bring added legitimacy to their move to the Southern market.
Francis was that someone, signing a four-year, $28 million contract in July 1998. As captain of the Canes, he helped them reach the Stanley Cup final in 2002 and start to cement their place in the state’s sports landscape. He later was chosen for the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Among the other notable players who came to Carolina as free agents were forwards Ray Whitney, Cory Stillman, Matt Cullen and Chad LaRose, all key members of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup champions.
More recently, the Canes have been successful in signing defensemen Sean Walker and Jalen Chatfield along with Robinson.
... and the worst?
After the fact, former Hurricanes president and general manager Jim Rutherford bemoaned signing defenseman Tomas Kaberle, a four-time NHL All-Star, to a three-year, $12.75 million deal in July 2011. Five months and 29 games later, Rutherford traded an ineffective Kaberle to the Canadiens.
Kaberle’s older brother, Frantisek, also came to the Canes as a free agent, signing in 2005. He has the distinction of scoring the Stanley Cup winning goal in Game 7 of the Cup final against the Edmonton Oilers.
This story was originally published June 30, 2025 at 3:33 PM.
