Hurricanes Making Progress On Sebastian Aho Extension

The Hurricanes have several key players entering the final year of their respective contracts, making them eligible for a contract extension.  One of those is forward Sebastian Aho as he is now in the final year of the offer sheet agreement that was signed with Montreal and quickly matched.  Speaking with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, GM Don Waddell indicated that they are making good progress on a new deal for the 25-year-old:

We’re working on it, getting close. 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 has been a focal point of Carolina’s attack throughout his seven-year career, scoring at least 24 times in each campaign.  Last season, he picked up 36 tallies, leading the Hurricanes in that department for the sixth straight time.  A couple of years into his career, he made the transition from playing on the wing to playing down the middle, increasing his value to the team even more.

To that end, as a number one center, Aho is well-positioned to land a raise on his current deal that carries a $8.46MM AAV.  With the expectation that there will be a bigger increase to the Upper Limit of the salary than the $1MM it has been recently and Aho’s production, he could add another million or so to that number while securing a max-term eight-year agreement and in doing so, Carolina would lock in a franchise cornerstone for the long haul.

Defensemen Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei along with winger Teuvo Teravainen are also UFA-eligible after the season and are extension-eligible as well.  However, Waddell noted that talks on those aren’t going quite as well:

We’ve had talks, but nothing close. 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.

Pesce, in particular, has also been featured in trade speculation, especially surrounding reports that they continue to show interest in Sharks blueliner Erik Karlsson along with UFA blueliner Anthony DeAngelo.  While, for now, Aho seems to be the focus from an extension standpoint, Pesce could be the next one to get a greater level of focus to see if he’ll be able to stick around or if he could be on the move before next season gets underway.