Sebastian Aho Gets a Well-Deserved Pay Raise
By Eli Strong
Good news for all Hurricanes’ fans: Sebastian Aho has signed an 8-year, $9.75 million per year deal that goes through the 2031-32 season, announced on the same day as his 26th birthday. That’s right, the guy who has been the Canes’ best player for each of the past five seasons is only 26 years old and just now entering his prime.
This contract extension is no surprise to anyone who has been following the Canes because they know well that Sebastian Aho is elite. He is has earned every bit of his now $9.75 million AAV contract.
When Don Waddell came in as the Canes’ GM five years ago, at the start of the 2018-19 season, he made it clear that Sebastian Aho was the future of the organization and built the Carolina Hurricanes around him. The Canes have gone on to make the playoffs each of those five consecutive seasons, with Aho producing right around a point per game pace each of those seasons. He has also led the Canes in points in four out of five of those seasons and lead the Canes in goals in all five seasons.
As Canes fans, we are now used to seeing Aho take control of games and create highlight-reel goals. There is no doubt that Aho is an offensive threat any time that he is on the ice, but it is the other side of his game that has impressed me the most and is what places him in the “elite” category of NHL players.
Sebastian Aho is a complete player. He does it all. He plays on the Canes’ top powerplay unit, kills penalties, and even wins >50% of his faceoffs. He is the player that Hurricanes’ coach Rod Brind’Amour wants on the ice in any situation, at any time.
According to moneypuck.com, to no surprise, in this past season, Sebastian Aho led all Canes forwards in average time on ice. He also posted an impressive 63 takeaways last season, second only to Canes’ defender Jaccob Slavin, and being good enough to be 20th out of all NHL players last season.
He has established himself as a reliable two-way forward but has also been a great leader for this Canes’ team. Aho has been one of the team’s alternate captains for the past two seasons and leads this team with passion and consistent play night-in and night-out.
Aho is not going anywhere and will continue to lead the Carolina Hurricanes for many years to come. I fully expect Aho to get even better than what we’ve seen from the now 26 year old. Aho will likely be a future captain of this organization and do not be surprised when you see his name mentioned in conversations for the Selke and other NHL awards in the coming years.
This is a great move by Don Waddell and the Carolina Hurricanes, and I am excited to see what the future has in store for Sebastian Aho.