Carolina Hurricanes: Teuvo Teravainen’s Extension Value

Teuvo Teravainen has been an offensive force for the Carolina Hurricanes since he was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. We take a look at how his recent contract extension has value.

Teuvo Teravainen built on his impressive 2017-18 campaign, which resulted in a five-year, $27 million extension in the middle of the 2018-19 season. He proved that he is capable of being a top end offensive talent for the Carolina Hurricanes for years to come.

He had a career year in which he had 76 points (21 goals and 55 assists) as well as being a plus-30. Those 55 assists were the most on the Hurricanes for the season. He signed this extension on January 21. After signing, Teravainen had 11 goals and 26 assists showing that he was completely worth the extension.

Teravainen also showed his playoff experience he got from his time in Chicago. In 15 playoff games for the Hurricanes, he scored seven goals and added 3 assists. He was the goal scoring leader for the Canes in their postseason run and arguably outside of Jaccob Slavin, the most important Hurricane for the playoffs.

But what makes his $5.4 million a year such a bargain? Let’s go through some players in the NHL in the 70-80-point range as well as a player in Teravainen’s yearly salary range.

Mikael Backlund of the Calgary Flames has an annual average of $5.35 million. On the season, he had the same amount of goals as Teravainen (21) but had 29 fewer assists (26).

Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals, who is a well-known player in the league had 22 goals and 52 assists. He finished with 2 less points on the season than Teravainen. Backstrom makes $6.7 million annually and is on a team that contends consistently.

Mark Stone, who was acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights at the trade deadline, was given a massive contract extension of eight years’ worth $76 million ($9.5 million annually). He finished the season with 12 more goals, but 15 less assists than Teravainen’s totals. Even though Stone is more of a goal scoring threat than Teravainen, Turbo is still a threat to set teammates up to score. He finished four points ahead of Stone (77 to 73).

Brock Nelson of the New York Islanders was just recently signed to a six-year, $36 million deal ($6 million annually). Nelson had a career year for New York, scoring 25 goals and gathering 28 assists. That gave him 53 points on the year. But what sticks out about Nelson is that he was a plus-20, which is still 10 less than Teravainen’s plus-30.

This isn’t discounting the play of any of the players listed, but looking at these players that either make almost the same amount as or more than Teuvo Teravainen shows that the Carolina Hurricanes got Teravainen on a very team friendly deal.

He will be a cornerstone, with Sebastian Aho who will get a new deal at some point this offseason, of a Hurricanes franchise that has a very bright future, especially with all the draft picks and organizational depth the team possesses.

Teravainen is an important piece because of his playmaking ability. His passing ability allows his teammates to get better scoring chances. Just based on hockey sense and his skill, Teravainen has the ability to surpass his career high 55 assists, especially as the Hurricanes push towards making the playoffs again.

He also has an underrated shot and even though he is a pass first type of player, he has shown that he can score 20+ goals in a season. \Turbo was a huge part of the successful season the Hurricanes put together and it was smart of them to get him locked up for the next five seasons. This bargain of a deal helps the Hurricanes spend on others to solidify the greatness they can achieve.

Question for CC Readers: How do you feel about the extension the Carolina Hurricanes gave Teuvo Teravainen?