Svechnikov agrees to eight-year, $62 million contract with Hurricanes

Andrei Svechnikov agreed to an eight-year, $62 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. It has an average annual value of $7.75 million through the 2028-29 season.

The 21-year-old forward was a restricted free agent. He scored 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists) in 55 games last season, tied for third on the Hurricanes with defenseman Dougie Hamilton (10 goals, 32 assists).
"It's actually an easy decision for me," Svechnikov said of the long-term contract. "... I want to be a Hurricane. We've got a great team here and great coaches. I thought we can win (the Stanley Cup) last year, but we didn't and I was a little bit frustrated. But I thought it was us or [the] Tampa [Lightning], and if we would [defeat] Tampa, we would go farther. So we've got a great team, great coaches and we've got to make it happen."
Svechnikov helped Carolina finish first in the Discover Central Division (36-12-8) last season and scored eight points (two goals, six assists) in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games. The Hurricanes lost the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Second Round in five games to the Lightning, who won the Cup for the second straight season.
Selected by Carolina with the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Svechnikov has scored 140 points (59 goals, 81 assists) in 205 regular-season NHL games and 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 26 playoff games.

"From Day One when we started (negotiations), we've always been talking about a long-term deal," Carolina general manager Don Waddell said. "So that was the good part, that we were both on the same page of finding the right number for eight years. ... We've been talking for a few months but the last three weeks probably almost daily. I think [agent Mark Gandler] was probably tired of hearing from me.
"But we're very pleased, obviously. Andrei is one of our key players and, moving forward, is going to [play] even a bigger role. So we're excited about it. It's also nice because our owner Tom Dundon was very supportive of the deal. Obviously, it's a lot of money to commit, but we all felt it was a very worthy investment."
Svechnikov ranks first among players selected in the 2018 draft in points, is second in goals, one behind forward Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators, and third in assists behind defensemen Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres (89) and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks (86).
The Hurricanes previously signed goalies Frederik Andersen (two years) and Antti Raanta (two years), forwards Jordan Martinook (three years), Derek Stepan (one year) and Josh Leivo (one year), and defensemen Tony DeAngelo (one year), Ian Cole (one year) and Brendan Smith (one year).
Hamilton agreed to a seven-year, $63 million contract ($9 million AAV) with the New Jersey Devils on July 28.
NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report