The Carolina Hurricanes Quietly Made a Quality Signing
The Carolina Hurricanes continued their transformative offseason this week by making a sneaky signing.
While Phil Kessel was garnering all of the attention by making his long-awaited decision (to sign with the Vegas Golden Knights), former Winnipeg Jets forward Paul Stastny was signing a one-year, $1.5 million deal of his own.
Carolina will now look to the 36-year-old to help provide some more offense, especially with Max Pacioretty, whom the Canes acquired from the Golden Knights, will be out for at least half of the season.
In 71 contests last season with the Jets, Stastny was able to score 45 points (21 goals and 24 assists), so there is no doubt that he’s still got plenty left in the tank and can therefore provide the complimentary offense that the Hurricanes are hoping he can bring.
The Hurricanes have signed Paul Stastny.
Last year was Stastny’s best season since the 2017-2018 campaign, which saw him record 53 points while splitting the season between the St. Louis Blues and the Jets.
His most recent season was also the first time he surpassed the 20-goal mark since 2013-2014 when he was with the Colorado Avalanche.
At age 36, it’s fair to wonder how many more productive seasons Stastny has left. For the Hurricanes, though, their win-now mentality means that they only need one from him, or at the very least, a useful playoff performance.
The best part about this new Stastny-Carolina relationship is that with as deep as the Canes are, Stastny won’t need to be a leader in ice time or an offensive juggernaut. He’ll be a great secondary scorer that can help this team make a bid for the Stanley Cup.
Over 16 seasons in the NHL, Stastny has played in 1.072 games. In that time, he has scored 284 goals and 516 assists for 800 points, and he has been a plus-50.
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We are quickly seeing the top remaining free agents come off the board, and while Stastny was overlooked due to the timing of Phil Kessel’s signing, don’t underestimate the difference he can make for the Hurricanes.