Carolina Hurricanes sign Joakim Ryan to one-year contract

On Sunday, Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky announced that the club has signed defenseman Joakim Ryan to a one-year, two-way contract.

Ryan’s contract in his second stint with Carolina will be at the League minimum cap hit of $775,000 at the NHL level and $110,000 in the American Hockey League (AHL) during the 2024-25 season.

Ryan has not played in the NHL since 2020-21. He has 24 points (four goals, 20 assists) in 145 career games with the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings and Hurricanes. Ryan played in a career-high 62 games with the Sharks in 2017-18, recording seven assists, and 79 games over the next two seasons. The 31-year-old dressed in four games with Carolina in 2020-21 before playing exclusively in Sweden for the next three seasons.

During his three seasons with the Malmo Redhawks of the Swedish Hockey League, Ryan tallied 64 points (17 goals, 47 assists) in 156 games.

In the AHL, Ryan has recorded 83 points (13 goals, 70 assists) in 144 regular-season games. He began his AHL career with the Worcester Sharks in 2014-15 and played most of the next two seasons with the San Jose Barracuda. He added 14 points in 19 Calder Cup Playoff games from 2016 to 2017.

Prior to turning pro, Ryan played four seasons of college hockey with Cornell University in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). In 34 games as a freshman, he tallied 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists). He finished his career with 61 points (12 goals, 49 assists) in 89 games and was named All-Ivy League First Team twice (2014, 2015) and an All-ECAC Hockey First Team selection in 2015. He served as an alternate captain in his final season.

The Rumson, NJ native was originally drafted by San Jose in the seventh round (No. 198) of the 2012 NHL Draft.