Hurricanes Sign Prolific Center Charlie Cerrato to a 3-year ELC

Apparently, since the Carolina Hurricanes have a few days off before the Eastern Conference Final, they thought it was a good time to sign some deals. After signing Mark Jankowski to his two-year extension on Monday (May 11), they went ahead and finalized another deal. This time, Charlie Cerrato put pen to paper. What does it mean now that the prolific two-way center has inked a deal?

How About It, Chuck?

On Tuesday morning (May 12), the Hurricanes announced that they had signed Cerrato to a three-year entry-level contract (ELC) after two seasons with Penn State. The deal comes to $775,000 in 2025-26, $850,000 in 2026-27, and $900,000 in 2027-28 at the NHL level. Regarding the American Hockey League (AHL), Cerrato is set to receive $85,000 for three seasons. The deal also includes signing bonuses worth $220,000.

After the signing, Hurricans general manager Eric Tulsky stated, “Charlie is a skilled, two-way center who has excelled at the college level over the last two years. He’s strong at faceoffs, smart defensively, and should be an excellent fit for the way the Carolina Hurricanes play hockey.”

The 49th-overall pick of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft had a stellar collegiate career at Penn State after playing with the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League (USHL). During his time with the Phantoms, Cerrato tallied 12 goals and 50 points in 45 games. He finished the 2023-24 season ranked second in points and led the team in assists (38).

With Penn State, the Nittany Lions center tallied 15 goals and 42 points in 38 games during his rookie season (2024-25) and seven goals and 27 points in 23 games in his sophomore season. Overall, Cerrato finished his collegiate career with 22 goals, 47 assists, and 69 points in 61 games. For added measure, he also had 78 penalty minutes to go along with the 69 points.

What made Cerrato’s freshman season impressive was that he finished second in the nation in points and assists and third in goals as a skater. He led all Big Ten rookies in goals, assists, and points while also taking home Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors. His sophomore season got cut down significantly by an injury in January.

Since completing his season with Penn State, Cerrato has been on a professional tryout with the Chicago Wolves. So far, he’s played one Calder Cup Playoff game, tallying zero points. Now that he is within the organization for the next two seasons after this one, keep an eye out for the Fallston, MD native to make an impact. He’s been a scorer everywhere, while being an excellent faceoff specialist and great defensively. His two-way style of play fits in well with the Hurricanes.

There is no doubt Wolves head coach Spiros Anastas will get the most and then some out of Cerrato. He’s proven that he can get players with the Wolves ready for the jump to the Hurricanes when they are needed. If that trend continues, expect Cerrato to be knocking on the door within the next couple of seasons for head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s club.

While it’s only USHL and NCAA numbers, Cerrato has shown that he is a prolific center who can score, play excellent defense, and win faceoffs. All three of those things are Hurricanes hockey to the letter. It’ll only be a matter of time before we hear Cerrato make his case in Raleigh.