DeAngelo agrees to one-year contract with Hurricanes

Tony DeAngelo
agreed to a one-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.

DeAngelo, a 25-year-old defenseman, received $1 million. He had the final season of his contract bought out by the New York Rangers on July 25.
"I think there's not going to have to be another chance because this is going to work out," DeAngelo said. "They've got a great culture down there, a great culture, from what I hear. I've been speaking with some of the players today and I know what I can bring hockeywise to the club as well. They needed a guy that plays like myself. Obviously, they just lost Dougie [Hamilton] today, and I kind of play a similar style in a sense. So I'm looking forward to getting down there. It's going to work."
DeAngelo was waived by New York on Feb. 1 after he was involved in an incident with goalie Alexandar Georgiev following a 5-4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins two days earlier. He cleared waivers and was assigned to the taxi squad.
"I think as you get older and more mature, a lot of stuff that's happened in my career has stemmed from being competitive," DeAngelo said. "There's never been any off-ice problems or anything like that. It just comes from having a high level of compete for the game and passion for the game. I've made some mistakes along the way, obviously stuff that I regretted and tried to improve upon, and now I just have to prove [it] to the Hurricanes. I think they spoke to a lot of people, and I've spoken to them, and they talked to ex-teammates and coaches and stuff and they felt comfortable to bring me in, and I told them I'm not going to let them down. I'm a man of my word, so that's what I plan on doing."
Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said, "We did our research in who this person is beyond what the perception of him [is]. There's no doubt that he has made mistakes. We acknowledge that, and more importantly he recognizes that he's made mistakes and he knows that he's got to continue to work and grow as a person. We talked to his teammates, coaches, support staff, we have guys that played with him, and everybody that's worked with him, the common thread was, the message was that they support this player. So, we felt comfortable after doing all the research and bringing him here on a short-term deal and we'll continue to work with him."

DeAngelo had one assist and was minus-6 in six games after signing a two-year, $9.6 million contract ($4.8 million average annual value) with New York as a restricted free agent Oct. 15, 2020. He was fourth among NHL defensemen in 2019-20 with 53 points (15 goals, 38 assists) in 68 games, and scored 92 points (19 goals, 73 assists) in 167 games for the Rangers, who acquired him in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes on June 23, 2017.
"The value of this player is a lot more than $1 million," Waddell said. "We all know that. He can be a top player. The value is in the millions. But we weren't going to take that. He's taking a low contract to prove himself also. So when you put it all together, this decision was made and we really like moving forward, the proof is in the pudding, of course, but we believe it's going to all work out."
Goalie Frederik Andersen agreed to a two-year, $9 million contract (AAV of $4.5 million). The 31-year-old was 13-8-3 with a 2.96 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage in 24 games (23 starts) with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, limited to one game after March 19 because of a lower-body injury.
"Given the way last year ended with some injuries and the way that kind of played out, I think I'm
returned to the Hurricanes after agreeing to a three-year, $5.4 million contract (AAV of $1.8 million). The 29-year-old forward has scored 51 points (21 goals, 30 assists) in 171 games for Carolina.
"Jordan has played a tremendous part in helping to change the culture of our organization over the past three years," Waddell said. "He's an asset to our team and our community, and we're a tougher team to play against with him on the ice."
The Hurricanes also signed goalie Antti Raanta to a two-year, $4 million contract ($2 million AAV). The 32-year-old was 5-5-2 with a 3.36 GAA and .905 save percentage in 12 games (11 starts) for the Coyotes, missing most of the season because of injury. He is 93-65-20 with a 2.46 GAA, .919 save percentage and 13 shutouts in 198 NHL games (179 starts).
Hamilton, who played three seasons for Carolina, agreed to a seven-year, $63 million contract (AAV of $9 million) with the New Jersey Devils.
Defenseman
Brendan Smith
agreed to terms on a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Hurricanes on Thursday. The 32-year-old scored 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 48 games with the Rangers last season. He ranked tied for third in the NHL in penalty minutes (73) with forward Brendan Lemieux.
"Brendan is a veteran defenseman who will add physicality and toughness to our lineup," Waddell said.
NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen and independent correspondent Kurt Dusterberg contributed to this report