For both unrestricted and restricted free agents, the Hurricanes have exclusive negotiating rights with the player until July 1.
After July 1, unrestricted free agents can sign with any team, however, with restricted free agents, the team that owns those rights has certain abilities that can make it easier to keep the player or get more for losing him to another team.
If a restricted free agent, RFA, signs with another team, the team that owns the player’s rights still has the opportunity to match the contract signed. Let’s say center Seth Jarvis signs a contract that pays him $8 million AAV for eight years with a different team, the Hurricanes can match that offer and then keep Jarvis under contract for that exact amount.
The second thing that can happen with RFAs is if the Hurricanes decide not to match an offer sheet, depending on the AAV of the contract signed by the player and another team, the Canes will be compensated with a draft pick package for the next draft.
If neither party can agree to a contract, certain players have the right to file for arbitration where the player and team go in front of an independent arbitrator, argue their respective sides, and the arbitrator decides the contract length and amount which is a final decision.
Jack Drury, Center/Left Wing
Drury should be a player the Hurricanes can easily get to sign another contract with and for a relatively cheap deal. After playing around half of the regular season games during the 2022-23 season with Carolina, Drury played his first full NHL season this year, recording 27 points in 74 games.
With center Jesperi Kotkaniemi not panning out to be the true standout second-line center the Canes wanted him to be, Drury split time centering the second and fourth line throughout the year. When bumped up to the second line, Drury’s lack of offensive skill was glaring and emphasized the team’s problem at that position.
Drury, however, plays the system exactly like head coach Rod Brind’Amour wants, so if he can find something on the offensive side of the ice, he can solidify himself in the lineup. When a defenseman jumps into the play, Drury knows when to forecheck and rotate back defensively. He is defensively responsible and because of this, had the highest +/- of the playoffs on the team with a +7.
He is also an extremely underrated center when it comes to faceoffs. Of all players who took more than 500 faceoffs in the regular season, Drury ranked 24th out of 119 in terms of faceoff win percentage at 55.3%.
It’s likely Drury will be signed to a shorter bridge contract where, if he can get something going offensively, the team will look to him long-term but right now, he and Kotkaniemi are battling for that fourth-line center spot.
Seth Jarvis, Center/Right Wing
Jarvis might be one of the toughest players on the team and is only 22 years old. Playing most of the season with a torn labrum and rotator cuff, Jarvis smashed his career-highs out of the park with 33 goals and 34 assists for 67 points in 81 games.
Despite his size, Jarvis is easily one of the more physical forwards on the team. He’s not afraid to lower the shoulder to deliver a hard check. He’s gritty, constantly winning board battles even when he is outnumbered and never seems to stay knocked down.
His quick release makes him an elite shooter and although he is one of the most technically skilled forwards, he still excels in Brind’Amour’s more simplified system of dumping the puck in deep and forechecking hard. Because of this, each year his time-on-ice jumps significantly, and is entrusted with significant roles on the power play and penalty kill.
Jarvis burst onto the scene in his draft year and never looked back with each of the past three seasons being on his entry-level contract. With the cap expected to rise significantly in the coming years, management would love to lock him up on an eight-year contract, but don’t be surprised if he too signs a bridge deal.
If maximizing earnings is important, Jarvis could sign a shorter-term contract and if he continues to play like he has this past season, sign a larger and longer contract in a couple of years when he can earn more but not take up as much of the cap per season.
Martin Necas, Center/Right Wing
The most difficult contract negotiation the Hurricanes will face is to sign or trade Necas. Naturally a center, Necas has played his entire career with Carolina as a right wing which he has expressed discontent with in the past.
Necas is one of the fastest and craftiest players in the NHL but his ability hasn’t quite blossomed like people think it can inside Brind’Amour’s system. Because of that and Necas’ personal reasons, many NHL insiders think that Necas has played his last game in a Hurricanes jersey.
His speed creates an almost automatic zone entry for his team every time he carries the puck and has the vision and passing ability to set up his teammates. Offensively, Necas is a first-line player and in Carolina, deserved more opportunities on the first line than he ever got.
Bounced all over the lineup, Necas rarely was kept on the same line with players who could keep up with him, leaving what was often a one-man show whenever he was on the ice. Because of his defensive shortcomings and Brind’Amour’s emphasis on his forwards being defensively responsible, Necas didn’t see the minutes he thought he deserved.
With Carolina’s season ending in the second round, Necas went back to his native country of Czechia to compete in the 2024 IIHF World Championships, scoring seven points in five games. There, he showed what he could do in a more open system and only increased the value of his next contract.
Two seasons ago, Necas signed a two-year bridge contract with the Canes and that was towards the end of the summer in August after a long negotiation process. The Hurricanes likely can’t afford to pay Necas the money he wants, and the money at this time doesn’t seem to be his biggest concern.
Both parties would benefit from trading Necas’ rights to another team that plays a different style or waiting until an offer sheet comes in to get something in return for letting him go.
