Report: Carolina Hurricanes sign Shayne Gostisbehere to three-year contract with $3.2 million AAV

The Carolina Hurricanes have reportedly signed defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to a three-year contract with a $3.2 million cap hit, according to Athletic insider Pierre LeBrun.

Gostisbehere returns to the Canes after a brief stint with the team in the 2022-23 season when they acquired him at the trade deadline. He was an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his one-year, $4.125 million contract that he signed with the Detroit Red Wings.

Gostisbehere sees a drop in his cap hit of $925,000 per year, with his new contract having the lowest non-entry level AAV of his career. With this new contract, the Canes lock him up until he’s 34 years old at 3.64% of the 2024-25 salary cap.

There are currently no details regarding any no-move/no-trade clauses or signing bonuses with this contract.

With his new deal, Gostisbehere will have the 111th-highest cap hit among defensemen next season. His closest cap hit comparables are Ilya Lyubushkin, Carson Soucy, Mario Ferraro and Cody Ceci, who have a $3.25 million AAV, and Brian Dumoulin, who has a $3.15 AAV.

Gostisbehere had one of his best seasons with the Wings in 2023-24, with 10 goals and 46 assists for 56 points in 81 games. It’s the second-highest point total in his career, previously getting 56 points with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2017-18 season.

Gostisbehere was a third-round pick of the Flyers in the 2012 NHL Draft, and after making his NHL debut in the 2014-15 season, he went on to play parts of seven seasons with the Flyers before he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in the 2021 offseason as a cap dump. After parts of two seasons there, he was dealt to the Hurricanes at the 2023 trade deadline, where he joined the team on their run to the Eastern Conference Final before departing for free agency and signing with the Red Wings for the 2023-24 season.

Gostisbehere is one of several big moves that the Canes have made on their blueline on the first day of free agency, as they’ve also signed Jaccob Slavin to an eight-year contract extension and Sean Walker to a five-year deal in free agency. They also re-signed Jordan Martinook to a three-year deal and signed William Carrier to a six-year contract. They have just over $10 million in projected salary cap space after the signing, with four restricted free agents currently on their NHL roster in Seth Jarvis, Martin Necas, Jack Drury and Dylan Coghlan.