Sebastian Aho signed an eight-year, $78 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday. It has an average annual value of $9.75 million and begins in the 2024-25 season.
The 26-year-old forward led Carolina in goals for the sixth straight season in 2022-23 (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.
"This is the place I want to play," Aho said. "Obviously, starting from the front office, the organization has taken huge steps over the course of the last five years and, obviously, we feel like we're building every year. 'Roddy' (Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour) as a head coach, he's the guy I want to play for, all the teammates around me and, obviously, the amazing fanbase, made it a pretty easy decision for me.
"Actually, the only choice I had in my mind was to [sign] another contract with the Canes."
Carolina general manager Don Waddell said July 20 that a new contract was getting close, and he was hoping to complete it within the next week.
"Obviously, for us knowing how important Sebastian is for our organization, to get this done and not have to sit on it all year to try to figure out something for the following year, this is it critical for us to get this done this summer and put it behind us," Waddell said. "Nobody has to worry about it now. We know we have Sebastian the next nine years, so it was goal of ours as an organization to get this done quickly."
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.
"It was kind of a no-brainer for me that I wanted to keep on playing for the Canes and, obviously, the earlier the better was kind of my mindset going into this offseason," Aho said. "We started off really well when we first talked with Don and (owner) Tom (Dundon) and, obviously, it looked like it could be done this summer, so it got my hopes high and, obviously, [I'm] really, really happy to get this done right now."
Carolina also signed UFA defensemen Tony DeAngelo (one year, $1.675 million) and Dmitry Orlov (two years, $15.5 million), and forwards Michael Bunting (three years, $13.5 million) and Brendan Lemieux (one year, $800,000), during the offseason. The Philadelphia Flyers bought out the final season of DeAngelo's two-year, $10 million contract July 15.
"If you look, Sebastian just said, five years ago we were just starting to build and if you look at the pieces we put in place, Sebastian is absolutely the No. 1 piece," Waddell said. … "We've got some great players, but Sebastian has been there each and every night in the regular season and the playoffs. When you build your team, we all know Sebastian is a great player, but he's a great person, and those are the kind of people you want to surround yourself with because when times get tough these are the kind of players that dig down and make it happen for you. So, this was an easy decision for us to sign Sebastian for eight years, and we're very pleased with it."
NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report
