Rod Brind'Amour reacts to NHL Free Agency.
The Carolina Hurricanes kept head coach Rod Brind'Amour around after their disappointing second-round playoff exit. However, the roster he will coach in 2024-25 will look a lot different. Carolina lost a number of key players to NHL Free Agency. Defenseman Brett Pesce signed in New Jersey with the Devils while Teuvo Teravainen returned to the Chicago Blackhawks, to name a couple of notable moves.
The Hurricanes are currently holding their development camp and evaluating their prospect pipeline. But Brind'Amour took some time to address the departures from his team this summer. And he admitted that it was not easy seeing these players leave town for potentially greener pastures.
“You get attached to the guys, especially when we’ve had them [for a long time],” Brind’Amour said on Wednesday, via NHL.com. “It was hard, I’ll be honest. It was hard to watch guys walk out of here … I had a lot of tough [phone] calls this summer. I haven’t really had too many of those. We have good players and teams will pay them. We can’t pay everybody. That’s just how it goes unfortunately.”
Rod Brind'Amour, Hurricanes welcome new faces
The Hurricanes did manage to keep a few of their unrestricted free agents from leaving town. Forward Jordan Martinook and defenseman Jalen Chatfield both signed three-year contracts with Carolina. Beyond that, though, there will be some new faces on the team next season.
Defenseman Sean Walker signed with the Hurricanes to help bolster their defensive depth. Up front, Carolina reinforced their forward depth with a few different moves. William Carrier joined from the Vegas Golden Knights on a six-year contract. Jack Roslovic inked a one-year contract after splitting the season with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers. Finally, depth forwards Tyson Jost and Eric Robinson also joined the team.
The Hurricanes even brought in a somewhat familiar face. Carolina signed power play specialist Shayne Gostisbehere to a three-year contract in NHL Free Agency. Gostisbehere joined the team at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline and helped them make the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. However, he left for the Detroit Red Wings in NHL Free Agency last summer.
All of this roster turnover certainly presents some challenges for Rod Brind'Amour moving forward. But he has complete faith in the new additions to help his team succeed. He didn't deny the difficulty in watching his former players find new homes. That said, the Hurricanes coach is looking forward to seeing a new group of players grow their games under his watchful eye.
“An unfortunate part of business in pro sports is you do have turnover, but I think it will be a good opportunity for a lot of the other guys to step up a little more than they have in the past,” Brind’Amour said, via NHL.com. “It’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be exciting, too, to get to know some new faces and bring them into the group.”
