Carolina Hurricanes Bring Back Warren Foegele for One Year

The Carolina Hurricanes have re-signed RFA Warren Foegele

The Carolina Hurricanes once again avoid arbitration signing RFA Warren Foegele to a $2.15 Million deal for a single season rounding out their roster.

With the latest contract inking Warren Foegele to a one year deal the Hurricanes can now go into the upcoming regular season with all of their NHL RFAs signed and ready to go (Oliwer Kaski and Roland McKeown are the only two remaining RFAs needing contracts in the minors).

The contract only sets up Foegele for a single season at the $2.15 Million rate, after which he will once again become an restricted free agent. It is critical to note that this deal which avoids arbitration is about $50,000 more than the deal that Brock McGinn took on a two year deal last offseason and is almost a million more than the what Haydn Fleury received.

So where does this deal leave the Carolina Hurricanes Cap Space wise?

It was a struggle for many to think that the Hurricanes could fit both Warren Feogele and Hayden Fleury into the Cap Space provided after signing Jesper Fast and not making any moves trade-wise. But you have to hand it to Don Waddell and the team who fit both well under the close to $5 million cap space that they had heading towards arbitration.

Now they have about $1.5 Million in Cap space that can potentially be used in any upcoming trade (now or before the deadline) or to keep on any defensive extras on the NHL roster. This space can be huge towards the deadline and can allow them to upgrade the team as the season gets more competitive as needed. It could help provide the answer in net if an adequate trade partner is found.

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The only concern that I have is that this deal is only a year long. Warren Foegele will still be an RFA at the end of it and this dance will start anew but with guys like Dougie Hamilton and Andrei Svechnikov also needing new contracts that will distract from Foegele.

So why would they only agree to a single year? Best guess is to try and hope for a larger salary cap next season that would justify asking for more money, especially if Warren continues to improve as a player, something that Waddell is certain to happen:

“Warren has shown improvement each year of his professional career. We expect him to continue to develop and enhance his role on our team.”

Regardless, this is an excellent deal for the Carolina Hurricanes as they continue to boast their ‘homegrown’ talent and leverage their excellent farm system to make the playoffs year after year. A happier change from signing the likes of Lee Stempniak and grinding at the edge of the bubble.

Question for CC Readers: What do you think of this signing?