The hockey world is officially in the part of summer where the news slows down considerably after a hectic couple of weeks with the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and free agency being so close together. Now fans are just waiting nervously if their team will make any moves over the next few weeks before training camps start in September. However, the 2024-25 schedules are officially out so that will be a topic of discussion for some fanbases.
Regarding the Carolina Hurricanes and their fans, the main concern is the three restricted free agents (RFA) of Seth Jarvis, Martin Necas, and Jack Drury. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the only recent news on Necas and Drury is that they filed for arbitration. However, for weeks it seemed that Necas was going to be a part of a trade, now, it looks like the forward might stay in Carolina depending on another possible bridge deal. If he does sign an extension along with Jarvis and Drury, what could the 2024-25 Carolina Hurricanes look like on opening night on Oct. 11 versus the Tampa Bay Lightning?
Way-Too-Early 2024-25 Hurricanes Lines
As of July 13, the Hurricanes have pretty much locked down their top six defensemen in the additions of Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker on Day 1 of free agency back on July 1. General manager Eric Tulsky was busy for the first few days adding players to the roster to replace the departures of Teuvo Teravainen, Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce, etc. However, while the forward additions of Jack Roslovic and William Carrier as mainstays for the main roster do help with depth, there are still spots open to round out the 23-man roster.
Related: Hurricanes Navigate Chaotic Day 1 of Free Agency 2024
That being said, the Hurricanes have $11.681 million left in their cap space going into the middle part of July 2024. It makes sense to leave that money open if the team is going to pursue the extensions of Necas, Jarvis, and Drury to fill out the rest of the roster. If that is the case, using AFP Analytics‘ contract projections and configuring the roster on PuckPedia’s PuckGM, there is a good chance the Hurricanes could bring all three players back while staying under the $88 million cap. Here is what the roster/lines could look like on Oct. 11 versus the Lightning.
| LW | C | RW |
| Andrei Svechnikov | Sebastian Aho | Seth Jarvis |
| Jack Roslovic | Evgeny Kuznetsov | Martin Necas |
| Jordan Martinook | Jordan Staal | Jesper Fast |
| William Carrier | Jack Drury | Jesperi Kotkaniemi |
| LD | RD | G |
| Jaccob Slavin | Brent Burns | Pyotr Kochetkov |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | Sean Walker | Frederik Andersen |
| Dmitry Orlov | Jalen Chatfield | |
| Extras: | ||
| C, Tyson Jost | LW, Brendan Lemieux | D, Ty Smith |
The Hurricanes would have $1.55 million left in cap space after giving Necas another three-year bridge deal with an average annual value (AAV) of $3.5 million per season. Since he will most likely be going through arbitration, that could be the AAV he will be looking at or something closer to $4 million at maximum. Furthermore, by giving Jarvis a right down the middle of a bridge deal and a long-term deal, a five-year contract with an AAV of $5.5 million per season will take him until he is 27 years old. That way, when that five-year deal expires, he has the chance to get an extension that will keep him in Carolina for his whole career. Drury will come back as the team’s fourth-line center with a two-year, $2.22 million AAV extension. The Hurricanes know what they get out of him so it makes sense to slot him back at the 4C position.
A second line with Kuznetsov as the center makes sense since that’s where the Hurricanes slotted him after the trade deadline during the 2023-24 season. Necas had some chemistry with Kuznetsov so pairing them together could recapture some magic from last season. Adding Roslovic to that line could bring a different dynamic to the second line as the replacement for Teravainen in that slot.
The healthy scratches of Tyson Jost and Ty Smith can bring some depth to the roster in case of injury or guys needing a break. Smith has a track record of playing decently in the NHL so putting him as the Hurricanes 7th defenseman in the long run makes sense. Jost can give the team another center to slot in if they need one. Lemieux played a huge role coming from the press box multiple times throughout the 2023-24 season so it only gives the Hurricanes a safety net to slot him into the lineup when they need some extra grit on certain nights.
Related: Hurricanes Getting the Grit They Need With Lemieux Signing
While we are still a couple of months away from training camp, if the remaining $11.681 million is left for the three RFAs, it makes sense to lock them in now and fill the remaining forward roster spots. By not having them signed right now, the Hurricanes have first and second-line right-wing open along with fourth-line center. Those are the last three spots to take care of and if Tulsky along with the front office wants to use the three remaining guys to fill the slots, then hopefully there will be some news soon. After that, the rest of the contracts to get near the maximum of 50 will come down to depth players who will most likely play for the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League (AHL) this season.
Clock Is Ticking
While it is July 13, the clock is ticking for the Hurricanes to lock up the three RFA players to extensions before the Aug. 4 deadline for the two arbitration-eligible guys (Necas and Drury). Once they have those guys signed through the next season, the focus will turn to training camp and preseason before the season kicks off on Oct. 11 at home for opening night. It makes sense for the Hurricanes to bring back Jarvis, Drury, and Necas for the 2024-25 season because the three open-forward slots will be perfect spots to slide them into the lineup. There is no reason to play this out longer than need be, extend them now and we will know what the team will 80% look like come October. Let’s hope it happens soon so everyone can focus on camp instead of contract hold-ups.
