RALEIGH, N.C. - You know the new season is getting closer when various media outlets are putting together their time-filling lists.
Over the past few weeks, NHL Network and its media circle have ranked players by position, with a pair of Carolina Hurricanes players in the Top 20.
Sebastian Aho was slotted as the league's 12th-best center, up one spot from last year. Following a campaign in which he served as the roster's lead anchor and led the team in scoring with his fourth-career 80-point campaign, "Fish" also earned his first career Stanley Cup.
Making franchise history along the way, he became the first player in team history to have eight 25-goal seasons.
A key part of the organization's fabric, Aho has six years remaining on an eighty-year contract extension he signed in 2024, at an affordable average annual value of just $9.75M.
On the blue line, Jaccob Slavin received the same rank of 12th.
Although limited to just 39 regular-season games last year due to lower-body injuries, "Slavo" is still widely considered the best in the league defensively.
The only player to win both a gold medal and a Stanley Cup this season, the 32-year-old registered 25 takeaways last season, a category he leads all NHL defenders in since making his debut during the 2015-16 season (731).
A two-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy - given to the player "adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability" - he received four first-place votes again this past year.
Inking an eight-year extension on July 1, 2024, #74 is locked in through the end of the 2031-22 season at a very team-friendly price of $6.3M AAV.
Originally selected in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL Draft, the Denver, Colo. native leads the Canes with 1,295 blocked shots over the last 10 seasons.
Both Aho and Slavin also made the "Top 50 Players Right Now" list, coming in at #36 and #45, respectively.
The two kick off their new season later this month when the Canes open their schedule at Lenovo Center against the Florida Panthers on September 29.
