After seeing Teuvo Teravainen signed to a five-year contract extension this week, the attention of Carolina Hurricanes fans has now turned to the future of star forward Sebastian Aho. An extension seems inevitable, but what will that extension look like?
These are exciting times for Carolina Hurricanes fans. The team is enjoying its best form of the season, currently in the midst of a 9-3-1 record over the last 13 games, and sit just four points out of an Eastern Conference wildcard spot. New acquisition Nino Niederreiter has started his Canes career on fire, Teuvo Teravainen is in the form of his life, and Sebastian Aho is scoring like never before.
Earlier in the season we looked at the Canes’ contract situation, and suggested that Teuvo Teravainen would receive something in the region of $5.75m annually. While we weren’t too far off on that one, in the same breath we said that Sebastian Aho would be the recipient of a contract similar to William Nylander’s $6.96m AAV deal.
But is $6.96m enough to get Sebastian Aho signed to a long-term deal?
The numbers
Sebastian Aho is now in his third year with the Carolina Hurricanes, and his production continues to improve with age. After starting with an excellent 24-25-49 in 2016/17 as a rookie, he improved to 29-36-65 last season; he already has 22-35-57 heading into the NHL All-Star Game break, and is on pace for 36-57-93. That’s 93 points. The last time the Carolina Hurricanes had a 93-point scorer was way back in 2005/06, when Eric Staal hit a perfect century. It’s also the only time a Canes player has scored 93 or more points since becoming the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sebastian Aho's last 12 games, he's been on a 123 point pace for the season. (7g, 11a)
— The Canes Stats Brand™ (@CanesStats) January 24, 2019
The scary part is this feels sustainable.
The more the season goes on, the more expensive Sebastian Aho’s contract extension figures to be. If he continues to score a the same pace as he has over the last 12 games, he could push the 100-point barrier. How many 100-point scorers in the NHL earn less than $8m?