Sebastian Aho and the Carolina Hurricanes are closing in on a long-term contract, general manager Don Waddell said Thursday.
"We're working on it, getting close," Waddell said. "Not there yet, but we are talking on a regular basis, almost daily, so I'm hoping that we can get this to the finish line here in the next week or so."
Aho, who turns 26 on Wednesday, has one season remaining on the five-year, $42.27 million contract ($8.45 million average annual value) he signed July 7, 2019, when Carolina matched a restricted free agent offer sheet he received from the Montreal Canadiens. The forward would be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent when that contract expires.
"He wants to be a Hurricane player for life, Waddell said. "What happened four years ago now (with the offer sheet), that's water under the bridge. We made a decision to match the offer sheet and that was the last time we talked about it and now after having him here for as many years as we have, he wants to be a Carolina Hurricane. He likes what we have going on and the coach (Rod Brind'Amour), so those are all positive things."
Aho led Carolina in goals last season for the sixth straight season with 36 and was second in points with 67 (Martin Necas, 71), in 75 regular-season games. He tied Jordan Martinook for the team lead with 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 15 Stanley Cup Playoff games to help the Hurricanes reach the Eastern Conference Final before getting swept by the Florida Panthers.
Selected in the second round (No. 35) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Aho is fifth in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history in goals (218) and points (468) and sixth in assists (250) in 520 regular-season games over seven seasons. He holds the Hurricanes/Whalers playoff records for goals (23), assists (35) and points (48) in 63 games.
"Those players are hard to replace," Waddell said. "Let's just face it, they are."
Waddell said the Hurricanes have also had conversations with the agents for defensemen Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei, and forward Teuvo Teravainen, who each are eligible to become unrestricted free agents after the season.
"We've had talks, but nothing close," Waddell said. "We've reached out to all of the different agents just to tell them our interest. You try to go a year early, which is always tough. But I look at it two ways: it's protection for us but also for them not having to worry about playing out a year. Injuries and all those things come into factor. So, we're trying to find medium ground that works both for the player and the team."
The Hurricanes are also open to being proactive if they can't reach agreements on contracts with those players before the season begins.
"We'll continue to (talk), but if there's a deal that makes us better at a different position and we can afford to move one of the guys, we certainly are looking at that, for sure," Waddell said.
After signing defenseman Dmitry Orlov (two years, $15.5 million) and forwards Michael Bunting (three years, $13.5 million) and Brendan Lemieux (one year, $800,000) as unrestricted free agents, the Hurricanes continue to have interest in unrestricted free agent forward Vladimir Tarasenko, but Waddell said they don't have the salary cap space to sign him.
"Continue to talk to the player and his agent," Waddell said. "The cap is the issue for a lot of us. The cap went up $1 million (to $83.5 million). That's why there's been so little movement around the League this summer and there's still some pretty good players that are sitting out there because there's not enough money in the system right now to go around everybody."
Waddell did not want to comment specifically on reports that the Hurricanes are among the teams interested in trading for Erik Karlsson, the Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's top defenseman last season. Karlsson said June 25 he would like to be traded to a Stanley Cup contender and Sharks general manager Mike Grier said June 27 there has been, "some serious interest."
"What I would say is it's my job as general manager to try to always look at players that can help us," Waddell said. "I'm not saying any individual players right now, but when good players are available, we try to see first if it fits with our MO of our team and then, secondly, if we can make a deal with the team."
The Hurricanes also have interest in bringing back defenseman Tony DeAngelo, who became an unrestricted free agent after he had the final season of his contract bought out by the Philadelphia Flyers on July 15. DeAngelo had 51 points (10 goals, 41 assists) in 64 regular-season games and 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 14 playoff games with the Hurricanes in 2021-22 before they traded him to the Flyers on July 8, 2022, three days before Philadelphia signed him to a two-year, $10 million contract.
"We're talking to his agent just seeing how we'd make it all work financially from that standpoint, so there's definitely interest," Waddell said. "Tony played really well for us. We didn't want to lose him the year before, but we couldn't meet his salary needs, so we decided to trade him, so now he's a free agent. Our experience with Tony was very good, so we continue to talk to him."
