After back to back sweeps, the Carolina Hurricanes have some spare time on their hands as they await the results of the Buffalo vs. Montreal series. So the front office decided to take care of some pending offseason business early by inking forward Mark Jankowski to a 2 year extension.
Jankowski was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, but will instead remain in Raleigh on a $1.85M AAV deal.
“Mark has been an excellent fit for our organization throughout his time here,” general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement. “He’s proven he can contribute in different ways, and we are glad he’s chosen to remain with the organization.”
Originally drafted 21st overall by the Calgary Flames back in 2012, the 31 year old winger has spent the last two seasons with Carolina after coming over from Nashville during the 2024-25 campaign. Across 68 games this season he posed 11G and 10A, along with 16 PIMs and a +7 rating.
The 6’4″ forward has spent a good deal of his time on the team’s 4th line, and helping to anchor the team’s penalty kill. While it may not be the flashy signing that generates headlines across the internet, it’s a shrewd deal by the Hurricanes front office to keep a core special teamer in town at a reasonable cap hit.
For Jankowski, it represents a sizeable pay raise from the $800K he was making this season. With that piece of business squared away, the Canes can turn their attention back to mending their bumps and bruises and hoping that the Canadiens and Sabres continue to punish each other in what’s been a physical series to date.
Photo: Doug Kerr. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.