Carolina Hurricanes fans can breathe a sigh of relief today, as general manager Don Waddell confirmed the team has agreed on a three-year contract extension with head coach Rod Brind’Amour. Brind’Amour said of the deal, “I’d have a hard time doing this job somewhere else. This is a part of me…we’ve got a special group of players here, too. It never entered my mind that I would leave.”
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The deal is reportedly worth $1.8 million per season and there was talk the coaching fraternity was none-too pleased he would work at what some are calling a significant discount. He said of his extension:
“I want to make a point, here. I feel like the richest coach in the world. I don’t know how many coaches can do their job where they live, where they’re from, where they’ve had a footprint on everything…the commitment we have from Tom: he wants to win.”
With Brind’Amour’s fantastic track record since being named the Hurricanes head coach prior to the 2018-19 season, it is surprising it took this long to get a deal done, but nevertheless they were able to make things work. The 50-year-old has led the Canes to a 120-66-20 record over his three seasons at the charge, and was named a Jack Adams finalist for the 2020-21 season after his team went an incredible 36-12-8 record.
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Prior to being named the Canes head coach, Brind’Amour spent seven years with them as an assistant. While the team struggled in many of those years, they have completely changed since his promotion, as it is very clear he has instilled a winning culture in the group. Though they have yet to hoist the Stanley Cup during this time, they are building a very strong foundation and have established themselves as true contenders.
A big part of the reason Brind’Amour has been so successful as a coach is that he knows what it takes to be great, dating back to his playing days in which he was able to captain the Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup in 2006. Not only was he able to win a Stanley Cup, but he was also one of the better players in the entire league during his prime, and finished his career with very impressive stats of 1484 games played, 452 goals scored and 1184 points. He also won two Selke Trophies in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Big Decisions Loom Ahead
With Brind’Amour now being locked up, the shift changes to what the Hurricanes will do with some of their pending free agents. While the most notable of the bunch is defenceman Dougie Hamilton, they will also have to make decisions on goaltenders James Reimer and Petr Mrazek, as well as one of their leaders in Jordan Martinook. As of now, they have over $27 million in cap space headed into the summer, so they should have room to make these work, but until deals are signed anything is possible.
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