How Jackson Blake’s new Hurricanes contract fits with growing NHL salary cap era
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Carolina signed Jackson Blake to an eight-year, $45 million deal starting 2026-27.
- Hurricanes locked in a young core of 12 players with long-term contracts
- Eric Tulsky continues blending analytics and scouting to build a sustainable roster.
Jackson Blake was enjoying the good life of a soon-to-be multi-millionaire Wednesday.
Seated in a golf cart, playing the third hole at Bearpath Golf Country Club in Minnesota, the Carolina Hurricanes forward took a few minutes out of his round to speak with the media about the latest development in his NHL career.
And a big development it was: an eight-year, $45 million contract extension that begins with the 2026-27 season.
“I’m super fortunate, super grateful to receive it,” Blake told reporters Wednesday.
Blake, a rookie last season, earned a roster spot in preseason camp. He made the roster, played 80 games, scored 17 goals and quickly convinced Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour and management with his skills, toughness and production that they had made the right choice in camp.
“It has been an absolute whirlwind, I won’t lie,” Blake said.
General manager Eric Tulsky is considered an analytics guru in NHL circles. But it was the “eye test” that many coaches, including Brind’Amour, still heavily rely on that told Tulsky a lot about Blake, who came to Canes after two seasons of college hockey at North Dakota.
“This is more about what we’ve seen from Jackson as a player and Jackson as a person, as anything in the data,” Tulsky said on the media call. “We’ve watched him take steps at every level. We’ve watched him come in and fit in and force his way to the top line. Honestly, there were stretches last year where he was a player driving the results for that top line.
“So our coaching staff knows him inside and out. He’s the kind of person we want to bet on, and we want to have him as part of our family for as long as possible. Our hope is Jackson retires as a Hurricane.”
Blake, 21, is the latest player to receive a long-term pact after Tulsky and staff crunched the numbers. The Hurricanes took care of Jaccob Slavin a year ago, signing an eight-year, $51.69 million deal with the star defender. Tulsky then did the same with forward Seth Jarvis, who received an eight-year, $63.2 million pact.
Forward Logan Stankoven, traded to the Canes in March by the Dallas Stars, agreed to an eight-year, $48 million contract on July 1.
“We have 12 players signed for at least four years,” Tulsky said Wednesday. “Those 12 players have an average age of 26 years old. We have a core here that is really solid.
“So part of what we’ve done here, we’ve put ourselves in a position where we know we won’t have our core eroded by the salary cap. We’ve got the players signed and in place. We know it’s not going to be eroded by age because they’re not at a place where we worry about that yet.”
The Canes did not look to re-sign defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov — two of their older players — after the season, allowing them to leave in free agency. Tulsky worked a July 1 trade with the New York Rangers to acquire defenseman K’Andre Miller, then made a huge splash around the league by signing free agent forward Nikolaj Ehlers.
A veteran, proven point-producer for the Winnipeg Jets, Ehlers agreed to a six-year contract with Carolina that will pay an average of $8.5 million a season.
“We’ve put ourselves in position to keep bringing players in and keep building on this,” Tulsky said. “That’s a rare opportunity for a team that’s as good as we are and as good as we’ve been for as long as we have.
“To keep having room to keep taking steps forward is an opportunity I’m really excited about.”
The Hurricanes brought in defenseman Alexander Nikishin after the KHL season ended, and gave the Russian his first NHL experience with four games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Nikishin, 23, a former third-round draft pick by Carolina, signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Canes in April, but Tulsky said something longer could be in the works.
“Like Logan and Jackson, if there’s a deal that makes sense in both the long and short term, for both the player and the team, we’re happy to do it,” Tulsky said. “It’s a little trickier to do it when the player hasn’t played a season yet, so it’s harder to figure out what that should be. But we will be talking with them and see if there’s something we can get done.”
Blake said the last year has been an “absolute whirlwind” and at times a challenge as he proved he belonged in the NHL playing against the best players in the world. Some in the league wondered if the 5-foot-11, 178-pound winger could handle the constant grind and physicality. He did.
“I always believed in myself that I could play with these guys,” Blake said. “I didn’t know when it was going to be, but I always had faith in myself that I could play with these guys.”
Blake, whose father Jason was an NHL forward, said he celebrated his new contract extension during a family weekend at Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota. As for splurging on something expensive, he smiled and said he doesn’t like to “spend money very much” but did buy a new family boat to replace an older one.
Soon, it will be time to head back to Raleigh for camp. The Hurricanes open the 2025-26 season Oct. 9 against the New Jersey Devils at the Lenovo Center.
“It’s back to the grind,” Blake said.
This story was originally published July 30, 2025 at 1:51 PM.
