By AIDAN JENSEN
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Tuesday, September 24 is a day that all Carolina Hurricanes fans should be looking forward to, as the Canes make their long-awaited return to the ice.
Carolina will be traveling to play the Tampa Bay Lightning, at 7 p.m., to kick off the NHL preseason. After playing a home-and-home series with the Lightning, Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators, the Canes will return to the re-named Lenovo Center on Friday, Oct. 11 and open their regular season against the Lightning.
As Carolina prepares to take the ice for the first time, there’s a couple of important transactions we want you to know about: Seth Jarvis’ massive contract extension, plus Antti Raanta’s retirement from NHL hockey.
Jarvis deserves every bit of his massive contract
It doesn’t matter the sport, but if an athlete is playing out of their mind, that athlete is typically rewarded with a large contract.
The athlete in question, here, is Canes’ center Seth Jarvis. After a breakout 2023-2024 in which Jarvis scored a career-high 33 goals and dished out a career-high 34 assists, Carolina rewarded Jarvis with an eight-year, $63.2-million contract.
The Canes initially took Jarvis 13th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft – and that selection has paid massive dividends. In addition to setting career highs in goals and assists last year, Jarvis also led Carolina with 13 powerplay goals, proving someone could rise up on a unit that disappears at times in the playoffs.
Expect to see Jarvis on the Canes’ top line this coming season. Whether he plays center or on the wing, Jarvis will play a lot.
Raanta retires…he will be missed
Having an All-Star goaltender is tough to find, but it’s equally as difficult to have a quality backup.
For the past few seasons, Carolina was fortunate to have both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta.
Unfortunately for the Canes, though, Raanta retired earlier in September. This is likely a sign that Carolina will roll with a duo of incumbent starter Freddie Andersen and promising young goalie Pyotr Kochetkov in net.
Raanta was a solid goalie in Raleigh, highlighted by his postseason starts. Combined between the 2022 and 2023 postseasons, Raanta won nine games between the pipes, allowed just 2.37 goals per game and averaged a .916 save percentage.
Raanta averaged his lowest career save percentage (.872) during the 2023-2024 regular season, though, leading to him being put on waivers. The AHL’s Chicago Wolves picked him up and – after relieving Kochetkov on February 8 against the Colorado Avalanche – Raanta never played in an NHL game again.
