You may have thought that we were in the quietest part of the NHL offseason, with all of the major signings done, all the schedule news out of the way, and still over a month away from training camp.
It turns out that quiet is a perfect time to take care of some business.
One of the big pieces of news to come out on Free Agent Day was that the Hurricanes locked in Logan Stankoven to an eight year extension that kicks in after next season. It showed the team was already looking to next year’s crop of Restricted
Free Agents and with this being the last year that teams can offer eight year contracts, both sides were motivated to get a deal done. Another future RFA was taken care of with the sign and trade of K’Andre Miller, as Scott Morrow went back to the Rangers in the deal.
That left just two potential Restricted Free Agents heading into the 2025-26 season: Jackson Blake and Alexander Nikishin.
Now there’s just one.
On Thursday Night, the Hurricanes announced an eight year extension for Jackson Blake. Blake had a fantastic rookie season for the Hurricanes, seeing a lot of first line time and led the NHL rookies in game winning goals. His 34 points were evenly split between goals (17) and assists (17). The University of North Dakota product was drafted by the Canes in 2021, and he stayed with North Dakota all the way through their 2024 NCAA Tournament run. He signed a contact once the run was over and was able to make his NHL debut in the season finale against the Blue Jackets.
Blake went into last season’s training camp with next to no shot at actually making the big squad. Yet his play during camp and the preseason forced the hand of Rod Brind’Amour to give him a shot, and he never relinquished it.
Blake’s deal will kick in after the 2025-26 season, and per the Canes it’s for $45 million over the eight years. That comes to an AAV of $5.625 million each season until he can become an Unrestricted Free Agent in 2034.
The deal could be a boon for the Canes should Blake continue at this rate. His UFA year was scheduled to be 2031 and so the Canes were able to get three years of that for the $5.625 million rate, which in the world of the rising cap could be a bargain. For Blake, it locks in an overpayment for the first few years but offers him an assurance of where he’ll be for the next nine years, and also no stress of a RFA negotiation.
The deal just leaves Nikishin as the lone 2026 RFA on the roster—and as mentioned with this being the last year that teams can sign players to eight year extensions plus the trouble the Canes went to in order to have Nikishin come to North America, it wouldn’t be surprising if that gets worked out in the near furture, either.
