The Carolina Hurricanes have built themselves a roster that’s not just good - it’s affordable in all the right places. With the salary cap climbing to $104 million, Carolina sits with $11.105 million in space and nearly its entire Stanley Cup team back in place. That kind of setup makes the conversation pretty simple: which contracts are the real bargains?
Three stand out above the rest.
Jackson Blake is one of them, and the timing of his deal is a big reason why. On July 24, 2025, the Hurricanes locked him up for eight years and $40.94 million, a contract that carries a $5.117 million AAV. The key detail is when it happened: Carolina got it done in Blake’s final year of his entry-level contract, before he put together the kind of season that drives the price tag way up.
And Blake absolutely delivered in 2025-26. He scored 22 goals and finished with 53 points in 81 games, building on a rookie year that saw him post 17 goals and 34 points.
Then he turned around and led the Hurricanes in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 13 assists and 20 points. The year before, he had three goals and six points in 15 playoff games.
That’s a major jump, and it’s exactly why this contract looks so sharp now. A season like that could have pushed him to $7 million or more per year on the open market.
Instead, Carolina has him at just over $5.1 million through a deal he was willing to sign early to stay in Raleigh.
Jaccob Slavin belongs in this conversation too, and maybe even at the top of it. On July 1, 2024, the Hurricanes signed him to an eight-year, $51.17 million extension worth $6.369 million per season.
That number was already a bargain at the time, with projections suggesting he could have landed at $9 million or more annually. Now, with the second season of the deal underway, it looks even better.
Slavin’s 2025-26 season was shortened by injuries, limiting him to 39 games, but he still put up one goal and eight points with a plus-8 rating. He also added a Gold Medal at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games and a Stanley Cup, becoming only the second American player to do both in the same season.
Around the league, he’s still viewed as one of the NHL’s premier defensive defensemen, and the numbers back up the reputation. He averaged 21:19 of ice time last season, extending his streak to 11 straight seasons at 20 or more minutes per game.
Over 784 regular-season games, he’s averaged 22:23, and he’s done it while keeping penalty minutes to a minimum. He has 98 PIMs in his career, including just four last season, and over the last four years he’s had eight or fewer.
In the playoffs, he has 10 PIMs in 105 games, with zero in each of the last two postseasons.
Logan Stankoven rounds out the list, and his deal fits the same mold as Blake’s: sign early, lock in value, and let the production keep climbing. On July 1, 2025, Stankoven agreed to an eight-year, $48 million contract that pays him $6 million annually through the 2033-34 season. Carolina didn’t just secure another young piece; it secured one who already looks like a major part of the lineup’s future.
Stankoven posted 21 goals and 44 points in 81 games during the 2025-26 season, and his faceoff work improved as the year went on, finishing at 44.3%. In the playoffs, he stepped up again with 11 goals and 16 points, which led the Hurricanes in goals.
His postseason faceoff percentage was 46%. He’s now the second-line center with Blake on his right wing and Taylor Hall on his left, and the three have already earned the “Junkyard Dog line” label after their work in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
There’s a strong case that Stankoven’s best years are still ahead of him. If he keeps trending the way he has, a 50-point season in his second full year in Raleigh wouldn’t be a surprise. For Carolina, that makes a $6 million cap hit look better by the day.
Taken together, Blake, Slavin and Stankoven show why the Hurricanes are in such a strong spot. There are plenty of good contracts on this roster, but these three are the clearest steals. Eric Tulsky and the front office have done the kind of work that keeps a contender’s window open.
In Other News...
Hurricanes Keep Doubling Down On Their Blue Line Vision
The Hurricanes added another piece to their blue line plan by signing William Hakansson to a three-year entry-level contract, a move that keeps the organization leaning into a defense-first pipeline. Selected 51st overall in the recent NHL Draft, Hakansson comes in with a $900,000 cap hit and the kind of profile Carolina has increasingly targeted as it tries to stock its system with size and reliability on the back end.
Eric Tulsky has already pointed to Hakanssons development as part of the appeal, and the organization sees a defender who can handle tougher minutes as he grows into the pro game. The question now is how quickly that upside translates, but for a team that has made a habit of investing in its blue line, Hakansson fits neatly into a long-term picture that is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Fans Have Every Reason To Expect Even More From Ehlers And Miller
Nikolaj Ehlers did not just arrive in Carolina last summer, he immediately looked like a fit for the way the Hurricanes want to play. Signed on July 3, 2025, and locked in for six years, he stayed on the ice for all 82 games and delivered a career-best season in goals, assists and points, giving Carolina the kind of top-six speed and finishing touch it had been looking to add. His impact carried into the spring, too, where he remained a meaningful part of a deep playoff run and even found the net in the Stanley Cup Final.
KAndre Miller brought a different kind of value, but the same sort of early return. Acquired from the Rangers in a sign-and-trade and then extended for eight years, he settled into a major role right away, playing 72 games and producing eight goals and 37 points while giving Carolina another big, mobile defenseman to lean on. He was also a key piece on the back end in the playoffs, and for a team that already liked what it saw from both newcomers, the bigger question now is how much more there is still to come. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Lock In No. 51 Pick William Hakansson For Future Blue Line
The Hurricanes have moved to secure another piece of their blue-line pipeline, signing defenseman William Hkansson to a three-year entry-level contract after taking him with the 51st pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old spent last season split between Lule HF in the SHL and a loan stint with Almtuna IS in HockeyAllsvenskan, giving Carolina a look at him against pro competition in Sweden before bringing him into the organization.
Hkansson also arrives with a bit of international polish, having helped Sweden capture gold at the U20 IIHF World Junior Championship. For a Carolina team that keeps trying to stockpile mobile, long-term defensive depth, the signing adds another prospect to watch as he begins the next stage of his development, even if the path from draft day to Raleigh is still very much a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]