Rod Brind'Amour is staying in Raleigh
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The first piece of the Carolina Hurricanes' offseason puzzle has fallen into place with Rod Brind'Amour signing a multi-year deal to remain head coach of the team.
Why it matters: Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said during a press conference that signing Brind'Amour and his assistants to a long-term deal was their first priority — given the Canes have made the playoffs six years in a row under Brind'Amour's leadership.
Driving the news: Brind'Amour and Waddell declined to say how long the contract for Brind'Amour would be, but a graphic briefly shown during the presentation Monday noted it was a five-year deal.
- The Canes have nine unrestricted free agents this offseason — including key players like Jalen Chatfield, Jake Guentzel and Teuvo Teravainen — and Waddell acknowledged it will be hard to keep all of them under the salary cap.
State of play: Brind'Amour has been one of the most significant figures in team history, both as a player winning a Stanley Cup in 2006 and as a coach building a sustained run of success.
- But despite getting tantalizingly close and putting up tremendous regular season statistics, the Canes have yet to get over the hump and make a Stanley Cup final under his leadership.
What they're saying: When asked whether the Canes need to make any tweaks to their style, Brind'Amour said he doesn't "want to change a bunch of stuff" and is trying to block out the noise from the outside.
- "I believe in this group. I believe in the way we do things," he said Monday. "I just look at, even this year, we had a great year. We get to play the best team in the league, and we're going toe to toe. Can we do things better? Of course."
- "We're knocking on the door, and I can tell you what, I'd rather be knocking on the door than be two houses down, which is where we were for a long time," he added.