It’s no secret that the Hurricanes’ success starts with their defense. For the past four seasons, Carolina has been in the top five for the fewest goals allowed, and in the past two years, the team has finished inside the top three in terms of goals scored by defensemen.

Not many teams are signing the number one free-agent defenseman and sticking him on their third pairing. This is a testament to how strong the team’s defense is and how much they prioritize it when building their roster each year.

Over half of Carolina’s defensive core will be an unrestricted free agent come July 1 but needing to pay some other players means at least one of these guys will be the odd man out when it comes to signing a new deal with the Hurricanes.

Jalen Chatfield, Right-Handed Defenseman

Given how much time Chatfield earned towards the tail-end of the season and into the playoffs, many fans might not remember that, for the first few games, he wasn’t starting and was used sparingly as the seventh defenseman.

As the season progressed, his chemistry with newly signed defenseman Dmitry Orlov earned him a consistent role in the lineup where continued to get better. In his second full season with the team, Chatfield set new career highs in goals, assists and points.

Next to defenseman Jaccob Slavin, Chatfield is one of the most positionally-sound defensemen on the team. He has extremely high defensive awareness and can often get himself back into the play with his elite speed in the rare instance he finds himself out of position.

From other team’s perspectives, Chatfield likely remains unproven and they would want him to take a step up offensively before they hand him a larger and longer contract. For now, I would expect Chatfield to remain as a highly-paid third-pairing defenseman but if management can’t make a deal work with defenseman Brett Pesce, he could slide up into the top four easily.

Tony DeAngelo, Right-Handed Defenseman

DeAngelo signed a one-year deal with the Hurricanes before this season after going through the second contract buyout of his career. Other than with the Canes, controversy has followed him, making teams unlikely to take a chance on the 28-year-old defenseman.

After starting the first few games, struggles defensively saw him watching from the press box most nights as Chatfield excelled in the third-pairing spot next to Orlov. With Pesce suffering an injury in the first round of the playoffs, DeAngelo found himself back in the lineup and looking better than he did at the beginning of the year.

In the playoffs, DeAngelo looked much more composed, and even though Carolina lost Pesce, the defense changed but was not as significantly impacted as most thought the injury would be. DeAngelo’s offensive ability is undeniable with how he can facilitate the offense from the point but the Canes will likely watch him walk and sign a short prove-it deal with another team this summer.

Brett Pesce, Right-Handed Defenseman

Drafted by the Canes in 2013, Pesce has been with the Carolina organization for over 10 years and has earned recognition as a shutdown defenseman. Pesce has never scored more than seven goals in a season and has only amassed 30 points once when he did it during the 2022-23 season.

The 2023-2024 season didn’t fare as kindly to Pesce as the previous, including an injury in the playoffs that saw him miss the entirety of the second round versus the New York Rangers. Pesce seemed to regress defensively as he didn’t look as sharp compared to previous seasons. So when you don’t provide much offensively — 13 points in 70 games — some may find it hard to hand him a big contract.

It’s difficult to measure the impact that Pesce can have on a team. Because of Pesce’s defensive style, he can open up the game for his partner and allow him to flourish towards the offensive end. This can be seen in how successful defenseman Brady Skjei has been the past couple of years when paired with Pesce.

Earning a little over $4 million AAV for the past six years, Pesce will get more in his next contract. But by how much? In his exit interview, he alluded to taking less money for a better chance at winning games, but at the end of the day, everyone wants to get paid.

Brady Skjei, Left-Handed Defenseman

Skjei is one of five defensemen to have more than 30 goals over the past two seasons and two years ago he was tied for third, scoring 18 goals, a career-high. Skjei eclipsed the 40-point mark for the first time this season, setting a new career-high with 47.

Spending the last four seasons with the Canes, Skjei was under contract for $5.25 million AAV and will look to get a big raise this offseason. If Carolina can’t get him under contract by July 1, Skjei will hit the free-agency market as one of the top-rated left-handed defensemen.

For a defenseman, Skjei has an elite shot and can snipe any part of the net, even from the blue line. He knows when to jump into the play and takes advantage of open space if no one picks him up when entering the offensive zone.

In his exit interview, Skjei said getting a “fair offer” was important to him, and out of all the defensemen hitting the market I have the least confidence about Skjei returning. With Orlov making $7.75 million next year and Slavin being up for a new contract after next season the team just doesn’t have the cap space to give Skjei what other teams can offer him.

Antti Raanta, Goaltender

It’s often said around the NHL that your goalie is your most important defender. Up until this season, Raanta had been lights out for the Hurricanes, especially at home. In 2022, he and goaltender Frederik Andersen won the William M. Jennings trophy for giving up the least amount of goals.

However, the 2023-2024 season was a bitter pill to swallow for the netminder. It was the first time he had finished the season with a save percentage below 0.900 since his first season in the league. It finally appeared as if Father Time had caught up to “Father Finn.”

The writing on the wall for Raanta not returning was evident when he was sent down to the AHL in December. And if that wasn’t clear enough, Carolina signed netminder Spencer Martin to another one-year deal. Raanta finished out the year with the Chicago Wolves where he likely played his last hockey.

For such a positive locker room presence, it was sad to see the season end this way for Raanta and potentially his NHL career. He set a franchise record for most consecutive home wins with 14, but couldn’t bounce back later on in the season.