Report: Hurricanes threatened to offer sheet Oilers’ Evan Bouchard
The Carolina Hurricanes had plans of making what could have been the biggest splash of the NHL’s 2025 offseason.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts podcast, the Hurricanes were threatening the Edmonton Oilers with an offer sheet for defenseman Evan Bouchard, who would have become a restricted free agent on July 1.
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“The Hurricanes made it very clear that they had a lot of cap room, as everybody knew, and they were going to use it,” Friedman said. “Mitch Marner obviously didn’t end up there, but going into free agency, if they got to a point that they could offer him a contract, there were a lot of people who believed the biggest number was going to come out of Raleigh.”
Friedman says once Marner and the Toronto Maple Leafs completed a sign-and-trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, the Hurricanes pivoted to Bouchard.
“Carolina did a lot of things that are now coming to the surface to show that they were willing to be aggressive,” Friedman said. “The reason Evan Bouchard’s extension got done in Edmonton so quickly was because they threatened the Oilers with an offer sheet.”
Bouchard and the Oilers eventually agreed to terms on a four-year, $42 million contract extension that will keep him with the club through the 2028-29 season. Friedman reported that he believed Bouchard’s number would have been closer to $9.5 million per season, but once the Hurricanes applied pressure, that number increased to $10.5 million.
For Carolina, once it became clear they couldn’t get Bouchard, they pivoted to K’Andre Miller from the New York Rangers, acquiring him for a conditional first-round pick, a second-round pick and defenseman Scott Morrow. They also signed him on an eight-year, $60 million contract extension.
Bouchard scored 14 goals and added 53 assists for 67 points in 82 games with the Oilers in 2024-25. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he recorded seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points in 22 games, helping Edmonton reach the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight season.
Through six NHL seasons, Bouchard, taken No. 10 overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, has 55 goals and 183 assists for 238 points in 347 regular-season games with the Oilers. In 75 career playoff contests, he’s scored 20 goals and added 61 assists for 81 points.