After being a main talking point since the end of the first round of the playoffs, questions and rumors began to circulate whether head coach Rod Brind’Amour and the Carolina Hurricanes were going to agree to a contract extension. General manager Don Waddell told the media before the start of the second round that he and Brind’Amour have been in talks every day about him staying in Carolina. It was a foregone conclusion that the two sides were eventually going to agree to an extension. On a Saturday night in May, it was finally put to rest whether a deal was getting done or not.
Done Deal
According to a post on X from Kevin Weekes on Saturday, May 18, he broke the news that Brind’Amour and his staff were going to get multi-year extensions to stay in Carolina while calling Game 6 of the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers series in Edmonton.
It was confirmed the next day by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun that Brind’Amour accepted a five-year deal to stay with the Hurricanes. Walt Ruff, the Hurricanes beat writer, also confirmed that assistant coaches Jeff Daniels and Tim Gleason, video coach Chris Huffine, and goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder have also agreed to multi-year extensions. It was clear from the start that Waddell and Brind’Amour wanted to get a deal done. But other priorities were going on when the noise/rumors began to surface in the playoffs.
Waddell said after the Hurricanes series versus the New York Islanders when it came to contract talks with Brind’Amour, “We talk daily about it. I feel confident, as I’ve said before, that this deal will get done,” the longtime hockey executive responded. “Rod wants to be a Hurricane for life. To me, when you’re dealing with contracts, there’s always two sides. Rod’s been great to deal with and there’s going to be a solution here very quickly, I feel.”
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It became something media around the hockey world kept gravitating towards as rumors of the Seattle Kraken and Toronto Maple Leafs circulated that they were interested in the 53-year-old Ottawa, ON native. People were wondering why a deal was not done sooner and just like the last time Brind’Amour’s contract was set to expire, his staff needed to be taken care of first. Back in June 2021, the former captain and Stanley Cup-winning Brind’Amour and the Hurricanes came to a deal to keep him and his staff in Carolina for the next three seasons. He wanted to make sure his assistant coaches and staff were taken care of again just like back in 2021. Even when asked back on May 2 about the contract talks, Brind’Amour stated, “I had a great conversation yesterday with Don and again this morning. I feel really good that we’ll figure it out quickly. I’m not concerned.”
Brind’amour has been the most successful coach in Hurricanes history in terms of multiple division titles and constantly making the playoffs along with six straight first-round wins. Since being the head coach for Carolina, his record in six seasons is 278-130-44 for 600 points in 452 games. He has a points percentage (PTS%) of .664 as the bench boss. In the playoffs, he is 38-36 for a .514 winning percentage in 74 games. There is no reason for the Hurricanes to let him go despite not getting over the hump the last two seasons. Including the shortened COVID-19 season, he led the Canes to three straight division titles (back-to-back Metro Division titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23). Furthermore, he has become only the second coach along with Pat Burns to win the first round in each of their first six seasons behind the bench.
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It’s a no-brainer to keep him in Raleigh after being in the area for over 20-plus years since joining the team back in the 1999-00 season in a trade for Keith Primeau. Since then, he became the assistant captain to the 2002 Stanley Cup runner-up team then eventually leading the Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup back in 2006 after dispatching the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 in Carolina. He eventually became an assistant coach during the dark ages of the franchise before taking over as head coach in the 2018-19 season. After that, the rest has been history.
Now That is Out of the Way
Since the contract rumors and discussions have been put to rest, it is now one less distraction for the team. The Hurricanes now go into the 2024 offseason with questions mainly focused on their roster construction for the 2024-25 season. As the exit interviews are now done, all eyes turn to the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and the free agency/re-sign phase on July 1. Before all of that, Brind’Amour and Waddell will have an end-of-season press conference on Monday, May 20 at 10 am Eastern at PNC Arena.
