RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes expect to spend close to the NHL salary cap during the offseason in pursuit of the Stanley Cup, general manager Eric Tulsky said Tuesday.
“If there’s any chance to get better, we’re going to take it,” Tulsky said during a postseason meeting with the media. “We have the full buy-in to spend to the cap if there are ways to do it to get better.
"We have so much space and such a strong team. There’s no guarantee we can find ways to spend all that money, but we’re going to spend all summer trying.”
In December, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the salary cap for the 2025-26 season was projected to be $92.4 million.
The Hurricanes, who are expected to have significant cap space heading into the offseason despite having 11 forwards, six defenseman and two goalies under contract for the 2025-26 season, were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Final. They were swept by the Panthers in the Eastern Final in 2023.
Carolina has advanced at least one round in the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons under coach Rod Brind’Amour. One year after losing five key free agents (forwards Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen and Stefan Noesen; defensemen Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce), Brind’Amour said he believes the team is poised to continue its improvement.
“We have such a great core that didn’t leave,” Brind'Amour said Tuesday. “That’s what this team has been built on and what gives you optimism moving forward. Those guys are still going to be here. There’s tons of opportunity, but even if none of that pans out, we still have all those guys.”
The Hurricanes had an influx of rookie contributors this season who also strengthened the team. Forward Jackson Blake made the team out of training camp and had 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists) in 80 games. Forward Logan Stankoven, who acquired from the Dallas Stars in a trade for forward Mikko Rantanen on March 7, had nine points (five goals, four assists) in 19 regular-season games and added eight points (five goals, three assists) in 15 playoff games. Defenseman Alexander Nikishin made his NHL debut with four games in the playoffs, and defenseman Scott Morrow appeared in five playoff games after he had six points (one goal, five assists) in 14 games during the regular season.
“That’s just going to help us moving forward, and they’re big parts of this now,” Brind’Amour said. “There’s lots of optimism regardless of what Eric can do this summer.”
The Hurricanes will have decisions to make on two free agent defensemen; Brent Burns, who turned 40 on March 9, and Dmitry Orlov, 33, each expressed interest Friday in returning next season. Each can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Burns, who has not missed a game in his three seasons with Carolina, played on the top defense pair with Jaccob Slavin and had 29 points (six goals, 23 assists) and a plus-7 rating during the regular season and five points (one goal, four assists) in 15 playoff games.
“I can’t say enough good things about (Burns),” Brind’Amour said. “Where it goes, the business and all that, comes into play, but I’d love to have him back.”
Orlov had 28 points (six goals, 22 assists) and a plus-16 rating in 76 games this season and four assists in 15 postseason games.
Pending unrestricted free agent forwards include Jack Roslovic, who had 39 points (22 goals, 17 assists) in 81 games, and Eric Robinson, who had 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in 82 games.
“We’ve talked to the agents of every free agent we have," Tulsky said. "Those conversations are ongoing. We have four weeks left until July 1 to get deals done. We’ll see how that goes.”
Tulsky and Brind’Amour continually struck an optimistic tone on the state of the team following a 47-30-5 finish, good for second place in the Metropolitan Division, and a second trip to the conference finals in three seasons, including five-game victories against the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals in the first and second rounds of the playoffs.
“This might have been one of the best seasons we’ve had in 20 years,” Brind’Amour said. “I don’t know if we could have played much better in the first two rounds.
“Overall, we’ve raised the bar to the point where you lose in the semifinals and it’s disappointing. That’s pretty good. We’re feeling like (garbage) because we lost. This is where you want to be. This is the level, the standard you want to have as an organization.”
Tulsky left no doubt that expectations continue to grow.
“Our goal is to win a Cup, and our goal is to win more Cups after that and keep going,” he said. “We’re trying to build a team that can compete year after year. But competing isn’t enough. We want to win. So you’ve got to find a way to do that.”
