Carolina Hurricanes Morning News: Mike Hoffman, Jonathan Bernier, and the Arizona Coyotes

Happy Tuesday, Carolina Hurricanes fans. The dog days of summer have not been kind to the hockey world, but with so much unfinished business across the league, we should be in for an entertaining few months leading into the season.

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The Ottawa Senators have resigned a promising young player, Jonathan Bernier will look to move past arbitration with a positive attitude, and the Arizona Coyotes were featured on NHL.com’s 30 teams in 30 days segment.

Let’s take a look at today’s news.

Mike Hoffman Signs Deal with Ottawa

The arbitration ruling on Mike Hoffman came back yesterday, and the ruling is a one-year, $2 million deal for Hoffman to stay with the Senators.

Hoffman filed for $3.4 million, and the Sens filed for just $1.75 million.

The 25-year-old forward is coming off of a big rookie year, which featured 27 goals and 48 points in the regular season, along with 3 points in 6 playoff games.

Hoffman appears to be a big part of this team’s bright future. The Senators have a lot of good, young pieces coming up that will make them competitive for a while, and they locked up an important player for at least one more season.

Hard Feelings in Toronto?

In arbitration, the Toronto Maple Leafs offered goaltender Jonathan Bernier less money than what was on his previous deal, 15% less to be exact, and they argued against Bernier, but the goalie says there are no hard feelings between the two sides.

"“There’s obviously things they say that you don’t want to hear, but at the same time I think you grow from those experiences,” Bernier told the Maple Leafs website. “I won’t be sour about it. I know it’s part of the business.”"

The Toronto Maple Leafs are going through some rough times, but with the addition of hall-of-fame bound coach Mike Babcock behind the bench, Lou Lamoriello as GM, and Brendan Shanahan as team President, the club has a lot of great pieces in place for their rebuild, and Bernier wants to be a part of it.

"“I want to be part of the Maple Leafs, especially the rebuild,” Bernier said. “I think that’s something amazing. I’m pretty sure they have a good plan and we’re going to go in the right direction. I’m excited.”“Two years, it gives me a little bit of comfort and I don’t have to think this year about re-signing next summer. I can just really focus on playing hockey and not have to worry about the following year.”"

Bernier will likely start a vast majority of the games in Toronto for the upcoming 2 seasons. He will be 28 at the end of his current deal, which means he will be right in his prime when the two sides come together once again for a new deal.

The next two seasons will be big for Jonathan Bernier as he looks to prove his a viable number one goalie in the National Hockey League.

Dark Days in the Desert

The Arizona Coyotes drafted 3rd overall back in June’s entry draft. They picked up the OHL’s top point getter in Dylan Strome, but the desert-based franchise is in for an extensive rebuild.

The ‘Yotes saw an awful year from starting goalie Mike Smith, who posted a 14-42-5 record with a 3.16 goals against average. It was by far the worst season of the goalie’s career.

A lot of blame can be put on the defense, as discussed in the NHL.com’s overview of the Coyotes yesterday.

"“I think we’ll play better defense in front of [Smith], which is important,” Maloney said. “I think we’ll have a better structure in front of Mike so he doesn’t feel like he has to be all-world every night and he can just do his thing. And we still would like to continue to search for a little more puck movement on our blue line.”"

One can argue that, despite plenty of issues stemming from the blue line, the Coyotes’ defense is the best part of the team. The blueline is anchored by perhaps the most underrated player in the league, Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Ekman-Larsson is the cornerstone of the franchise and is one of the best young defensemen across the entire league. He is joined this year by veteran d-men like Zbynek Michalek and Nick Grossman, along with other young guys like Connor Murphy and Brandon Gormley.

There may be a lack firepower on offense in Arizona. The offense is set to be led by veteran Shane Doan, fast winger Mikkel Boedker, center Antoine Vermette, and young prospects like Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, and the aforementioned Dylan Strome.

There is a mixed bag for the Coyotes this season. They could come out and be a force with young studs leading the offensive charge, but they could also turn into a bottom-three team once again with question marks at almost every position.

Next: Should Justin Faulk be an Alternate Captain for the Hurricanes?