The Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, May 20, held their end-of-season press conference at PNC Arena. Over the weekend, the team had two days’ worth of player interviews hearing from almost everyone on the roster (minus Martin Necas who was at the IIHF World Championship in Czechia). Monday gave the media a chance to talk to general manager Don Waddell and head coach Rod Brind’Amour for morethan 20 minutes to talk about the season, postseason, and what’s to come with roster building in the offseason. There was a lot discussed in the press conference. What stood out the most?
Keeping Brind’Amour in Carolina
One of the main concerns over the offseason was whether the Hurricanes would be able to agree to keep their current head coach in Carolina going into the 2024-25 season and beyond. In the end, a deal had been done for a while now; the main worry was getting the rest of the coaching staff all squared away.
Brind’Amour stated, “I think that was probably one of the most important factors to the whole thing. I think what makes us go and be successful as a group is that I really believe we’re a family in there. It’s not about me. Everybody has a role whether it’s a coach, and I see our trainers back here, like, we’re all in this together and that’s the little, you know, for me, the little thing that’s made us successful. We have great players, and we have great commitment and that’s a big deal, but it’s that that other stuff. So it certainly helps, with me, knowing that we got everything covered from top to bottom in there and got the best guys doing their jobs and it makes my job really easy, to be honest.”
Related: Brind’Amour Extension Was a No-Brainer for the Hurricanes
It comes as no surprise that Brind’Amour was worried about his guys, just like he worried about them the last time all of their contracts were set to expire (in 2020.) In the post-conference edition of the “The Jeff Marek Show,” it was stated his deal was done in September, 2023 and it was a matter of getting the assistant coaches lined up. Overall, there was no doubt Brind’amour was going to stay in Carolina. He has been there since 2000 when he was traded to the Hurricanes from the Philadelphia Flyers for Keith Primeau.
Despite the rumors of him possibly leaving, Brind’Amour has stated countless times he likes being in Carolina. He reiterated that when asked about his five-year contract extension, stating “It’s hard for me to envision just doing this anywhere else. That’s really the bottom line. What makes it important for me is the people I’m around and because I know their commitment and I see it. So when I ask the players to care about what they do, your boss has to care about it. So it’s real. If I was to go somewhere else, I don’t know how I could be that same coach because I don’t have that commitment. I don’t have that background and I don’t have the love for the guys that I have here.”
“So when the opportunity to keep coaching here is an option then that’s what I’m doing. It’s also a little bit the unfinished business thing. The carrot is that we still haven’t won. I also go back to my playing days. I remember going to the finals and losing and thinking, this is it. But maybe that was the best thing that happened because there was still that motivation at 35 to keep playing. So there’s still that carrot out there for me to help this organization get to where we need to and help these guys that are in there that all want to get it to. So I don’t know if I’m answering your question, but I just I know it’s the right fit.”
When it comes down to it, Brind’Amour is Carolina and Carolina is home to he and his family. When a coach like him has a resume of 278-130-44 in six seasons with three division titles, three consecutive 50-win seasons, and is a Jack Adams Award winner, there is no reason to let them go. While they have not gotten over the hump, there is no overlooking six straight first-round wins, two Eastern Conference Final appearances, and the ability to bring the success he has in such a short amount of time. Since that question is finally taken care of, what is next for the Hurricanes went it comes to roster construction for 2024-25?
Keeping the Band Together
One of the other main focuses from the press conference is how Waddell and the front office will be able to build a contender once again for next season. The Hurricanes face a plethora of unrestricted free agents (UFAs) and restricted free agents (RFAs) this offseason. The first player brought up, in the context of whether he will stay, was Jake Guentzel, who they traded for on March 7 to help get them over the hump.
Brind’Amour stated, “Number one, he’s a great player. We don’t want just good people around, we want good people that are good players and he checked both boxes. I think he’s got to want to be here and I think, you know, in the short time he was here, I think he enjoyed it and enjoyed the group and enjoyed the way we do things. So it gives us hope that maybe we can make this work.”
Related: Takeaways From Day 1 of Hurricanes Exit Interviews
There is a chance the Hurricanes will go after Guentzel, but it all comes down to term and what is best for his family, Guentzel said when asked on the first day of exit interviews on May 18. To be able to keep him will definitely help the team long-term. Furthermore, Waddell even added about Guentzel, “With Jake, I think he played a good role here. I know Sebastian [Aho], talked about how much he liked playing with him, so, you know, we have gotten into those talks and we’ll talk to him also. When the season ends like this, that’s something that everybody really wants to talk about? Now, in the next few days, I know I’m gonna hear from all the agents and we’ll start discussing where these players are at and what they expect.”
Before that, Waddell answered the first part of the question in regard of the upcoming UFAs, saying “We’d like to sign them all. I mean, as Rod said, we’ve got something good going here and we’d like to keep it going. There’s just this thing called the salary cap that won’t allow us to do that.” While they want to run it back, both guys know that hockey is a business and they have to do what’s best for the team. If they could run it back with the current team, they would.
When asked about Seth Jarvis, Waddell and Brind’Amour gave the 22-year-old winger high praise after his third season with the team. Waddell started off the Jarvis set of questions by stating, “You can’t say enough about this guy other than he does need a new contract so I gotta be careful. But he is something else. I mean, we watch how he plays. Forget about the status of his size, if he’s got a chance to go get that puck, it doesn’t matter who’s going to take him out, he’s going to get it first. It’s just every game he amazes me. He’s got big kahunas there. So he’s a guy that you want to continue to build your team around, that’s for sure.”
Related: Seth Jarvis Is Playing Otherworldly for the Hurricanes
Firstly, Jarvis deserves a lot of credit for playing 67 regular season games and 11 postseason games with a torn labrum and a torn rotator cuff. Furthermore, he also played with a broken finger that he suffered in the first round versus the New York Islanders. To say he has “big kahunas” is an understatement for how team-first Jarvis has been in a career campaign where he set new career highs in goals (33), assists (34), and points (67) along with scoring a team-leading 13 power play goals and five postseason goals.
Brind’Amour followed up Waddell about Jarvis, “I can’t say much more than that. I’m not even know if you’re allowed to say all that. Anyway, we get the point. He’s had a good year. What I like about Seth, is he’s just getting better and he’s willing to get better. You just see the progression. I think there’s still another level for him to get to. So that’s a real bright spot for this organization.” It’s clear Jarvis’s head coach and the organization think highly of the Winnipeg native, who is due for a pay raise as he will be an RFA this offseason. He is more than deserving of an extension after the 2023-24 season and playoffs. he had,
Waddell made a funny comment about Jarvis’s summer as he is going to Finland for two weeks for a golf tournament and Sebastian Aho’s wedding. The executive said, “I’m worried about the country of Finland this year though. He’s going to spend two weeks in Finland and they’ve never seen a Jarvis. He’s got a golf tournament and then he’s got Fishy’s [Aho’s] wedding so Finland might be a little different when he leaves.” To the people in Finland: good luck and have fun experiencing Jarvis as the honorary “half-Finn” according to Aho.
Fixing Relationship with Chicago Wolves
The last takeaway involved the relationship between the Hurricanes and the American Hockey League (AHL) side Chicago Wolves. Back on May 2, it was announced that the two sides agreed to become affiliated once again for the next three seasons. Regarding that, what was part of the deal for the Wolves to become the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate again? Waddell stated, “So the deal we made is that Chicago’s ownership, they run the business of the franchise and we run all the hockey departments. Coaches, trainers, equipment, everybody works for us. So that’s a big change there. We started to talk to some coaches, actually. Darren Yorke, our assistant GM, is leading the charge in that. He’s talked to some guys and we’ll get it down like we did before to a small group and then, Rod and I’ll jump into it. Things are happening, but don’t look for anything to happen in the next few days.”
Related: Hurricanes Reunite With Chicago Wolves for AHL Affiliation
What it comes down to is that the Hurricanes will control all the organization’s on-ice facets. It means the coaching staff, equipment guys, trainers, and players who are under contract will be handled with by Carolina. The Wolves will take care of the organization’s business side. It will be interesting to see what comes of the Hurricanes being more in control of their prospects’ development which other teams did not have in the past with the Wolves. Either way, it is good to see the Canes having an AHL team once again to have all their prospects in one place, and for the Wolves to hunt for another Calder Cup Trophy in 2024-25 and beyond.
If you want to be able to watch the whole 21-minute press conference, click the link here to hear Brind’Amour and Waddell talk about all of this and so much more. There was so much more that was discussed that it could not all fit here.
All Eyes on the 2024 NHL Entry Draft
Now that the end-of-year press conference is done, all eyes turn to the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The draft is set to be held on June 28 and 29 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The Hurricanes roll into the draft with nine picks (three in the sixth round via the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs) and one pick in each of the other rounds. The questions will now begin on who the Hurricanes will choose with their first-round pick. It’ll be something to keep an eye on as we are just a tad over a month away from the event. As always, The Hockey Writers will be covering the draft and there will plenty of content over the next few weeks.
