As the calendar turns to July 1, we are officially in the NHL schedule’s free agent and re-sign phase. When the clock hits noon Eastern, there will be a flood of reports of players either getting extensions with their current teams or we will see some fresh faces in new places. Before that kicks off, Sunday, June 30 had the qualifying offers (QO) deadline at 5 p.m. Eastern when teams had to give their restricted free agents (RFA) their QO or they would become unrestricted free agents (UFA). Regarding the Carolina Hurricanes, they were once again in the middle of the rumor mill with the Jake Guentzel situation of whether or not they were going to re-sign him. Furthermore, they made decisions on their RFAs before the afternoon deadline on Sunday. The early week of Martin’s Musings column will get you up-to-date on the QOs, rumors, and what to expect on the crazy first day of the free agency period.
Hurricanes Offer Qualifying Offers to 4 Players
As the qualifying offer deadline was drawing near, the Hurricanes with 40 minutes left announced their decision with their RFAs and what fate lies for them before the start of free agency. General manager Eric Tulsky and the front office gave QOs to four players who will remain RFAs when the free agency period starts at noon Eastern on Monday, July 1. The four qualified players were:
- Dylan Coghlan (arbitration-eligible)
- Seth Jarvis
- Martin Necas (arbitration-eligible)
- Jack Drury (arbitration-eligible)
Out of the four, only Seth Jarvis is the only one who got a QO that is not arbitration-eligible. The only way to file for arbitration is that players 18-20 years old must have four years of NHL experience before they are eligible. Someone who is 21 years old must have three, a player 22-23 years old must have two, and a player 24 or older must have one. A player earns a year of NHL experience by playing in at least 10 NHL contests. Regarding Jarvis, he fits none of these, which is why he is not eligible, unlike Coghlan, Necas, and Drury. When it comes to what’s next for the guys who got a QO, players can accept the qualifying offer from noon ET on July 1 until 5 p.m. ET on July 15. If they do not, then it goes to the arbitration court.
Related: 2024 NHL Free Agency Tracker
The four players who were RFAs but were not qualified:
- Max Comtois
- Griffin Mendel
- Blake Murray
- Tuukka Tieksola
Once it hits noon Eastern on July 1, they will officially become UFAs with the possibility to sign somewhere else. It’s not surprising that these players did not get QOs as they are buried in the depth chart and with the recently completed 2024 NHL Entry Draft, the Hurricanes needed roster room for the max 50 contracts for the 2024-25 season.
Free Agency Rumors
The Hurricanes were in the middle of rumors leading up to the NHL Draft. On Thursday, June 27, Elliotte Friedman on the Pat McAfee show stated how Carolina was going to match Guentzel’s ask of an eight-year, $8 million per season contract. However, it came out over the weekend per Cory Lavalette of The Athletic, more so during the later part of the draft, Guentzel and his camp told the Hurricanes that they were going to test free agency instead. Sunday afternoon (June 30) saw the Hurricanes trade his UFA rights to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2025 third-round pick. It was a smart move by Tulsky and the front office to trade away his rights to at least get something out of it without Guentzel leaving for nothing. That is not an ideal situation if you’re Guentzel’s camp when the team will match the asking price and then back out of it a couple of days later.
Related: Lightning Acquire Jake Guentzel From Hurricanes
The one rumor that Hurricanes fans are waiting on is the contract extension of defenseman Jaccob Slavin. Friedman on the June 19 episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast heard that the Slavin extension is done and they were just waiting for July 1 to roll around. The offer he heard about was going to be an eight-year, $6.5 million average annual value (AAV) contract. If that is the actual deal, that will be an absolute steal for the Hurricanes. It would lock in Slavin as a Hurricanes player for life along with giving the team flexibility to fill the remaining roster spots. While there seems to be a case of a ton of moving parts, getting the best defensive defenseman in the league at such a team-friendly deal will go a long way in the long run.
One last rumor that is circling the team, more so an upcoming UFA, Pierre LeBrun of TSN believes that the New Jersey Devils will sign Brett Pesce on the first day of free agency. The Devils during the draft traded defenseman John Marino to the Utah Hockey Club which gives an indication of the team making a move for him. If that is the case, he will reunite with former Hurricanes teammate Dougie Hamilton.
Final Thoughts
As free agency starts at noon Eastern on July 1, fans will need to be ready to see a slew of new faces for the Hurricanes for the 2024-25 season. While it will be tough to see some fan favorites go, unfortunately, that’s the business of sports, especially the NHL. The hope is that Tulsky and the front office can keep some of the UFAs from leaving while re-signing some of the RFAs as well. Furthermore, the goal is to extend some cornerstone pieces of the franchise, i.e. Slavin. It’s going to be a busy first day, and the week as a whole for the Hurricanes, as they hope to have a competitive roster set for the start of next season. It will be the first free agency period with this much uncertainty in a long time. However, the team has been successful for the last six seasons due to the culture and team effort on and off the ice.
No matter how it goes down, the front office with Tulsky at the helm will do all they can to build the best roster possible to make another run for their seventh straight playoff appearance and hopefully their second Stanley Cup in franchise history.
