Due to his wife, the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes has shed painful tears due to the Sabastian Aho decision.
Whatever happened, Sebastian Aho would have had a great 26th birthday if his mother had served him a homemade dinner of fish and veggies.
Aho was even better off because it included a large contract extension.
Aho signed an eight-year contract worth $78 million with the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday, making it the largest contract ever given to a former Hartford Whalers team. Aho is now bound by a contract that expires in 2032, with a yearly salary cap hit of $9.75 million, starting with the 2024–2025 NHL season.
“It could be a lot worse—birthday and an extension,” Aho stated while speaking via video conference with reporters from his home country of Finland. “I want to play here, please. Of course, over the previous five years, the organization has made significant progress, beginning with the front office, and we clearly feel like we’re growing every year.
Aho, their best center and one of the main reasons the Hurricanes have made the playoffs the last five seasons, is the cornerstone around whom the team is developing. In 520 career regular-season games (all with Carolina), he has scored 468 points. With 58 points in 63 postseason games, he is almost a point-per-game player.
Don Waddell, general manager, stated, “If you look at the pieces we put in place, Sebastian is absolutely the No. 1 piece. Five years ago, we were just starting to build.” Although we have numerous excellent players, Sebastian has always been there.
each and every night of the playoffs and regular season.
Aho stated that he would like to play for Rod Brind’Amour as his coach. Two years ago, Brind’Amour signed an extension of his own.
Core Carolina is still intact as well. Jordan Staal, the captain, Jesper Fast, the winger, and goaltenders Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta resigned. Teuvo Teravainen is still bound by contract, while Jesperi Kotkaniemi, another Finn, is contracted through 2029.
A crucial step in Carolina’s quest for its second Stanley Cup triumph is closing a deal for Aho.
“You know you have your key pieces in place, but you can work around the edges to fill in the holes you need,” Waddell remarked. “You must position yourself to contend for the Cup each and every year, and we believe we can continue doing so for many more to come.
Aho’s conviction that a championship might occur sooner rather than later contributed to how simple his decision was.
He declared, “On paper, this is the best team we have ever had.” “As a player, really, all you can ask of the team is that you have an opportunity to win, and we have an opportunity to be the best team in the league.”
In addition to keeping hold of key veterans, the Hurricanes made waves in free agency by signing defenseman Dmitry Orlov to a two-year contract and forward Michael Bunting to a three-year deal. They traded defenseman Tony DeAngelo to Philadelphia earlier this week, and they acquired him back at the draft for 2022.
Waddell may not be done, saying that it was a very good offseason. The team may move from an already strong blue line, has talked about trading for Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson, and has been connected to free agent scoring winger Vladimir Tarasenko.
As general manager, all I have to do is answer the phone every day and keep trying to figure out how we can improve our team. Hard to accomplish at the moment, Waddell remarked. “We’ll definitely keep talking to different teams and free agents and see what works out here over the next six weeks or so, but I can’t say anything will happen between now and the start of the season.”
