Cross Chad LaRose off the list. Carolina's last restricted free agent at the NHL level signed a one-year, $875,000 contract on Wednesday as the Canes avoided arbitration for the eighth straight summer.
"I'm ecstatic. I can't even tell you," LaRose said. "I'm very excited and excited to be a Cane again and to have this off my chest.
"Everyone was patient and when it got done it worked out both ways."
LaRose is one of five NHL players (so far) who are skating in Raleigh this summer, joining Rod Brind'Amour and ex-Canes Aaron Ward, Shane Willis and Jesse Boulerice.
LaRose, who made $500,000 last season, had filed for arbitration last weekend. The Canes haven't gone to arbitration since Jeff O'Neill made it to his hearing in 2000.
That more or less completes Carolina's NHL business for the summer, with one big exception — the salary-dump trade on defense. With LaRose on board, the Canes are at about $49.6 million and need to be closer to $45 million on opening night.
Frantisek Kaberle is the most likely trade possibility. Niclas Wallin said this week in an e-mail he had not been contacted by the Hurricanes about waiving his no-trade clause, and after last summer's shenanigans, you have to figure the Canes wouldn't make that mistake twice.
A Kaberle trade would get the Canes down to about $47.4 million, which might pass muster with Peter Karmanos.
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at (919) 829-8947, @LukeDeCock on Twitter or
Comments
It appears the Hurricanes are going to play you Caniacs again!
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 21:20 — Here Wego Again (not verified)Every year, the same old saga. Sign up some of the old help they had sent down the river a couple of years ago. By design being about $4 or $5 million under the cap so they can just scrape by til the end of the season, then try to buy some more help for the stretch run in the regular season. It worked a couple of years ago, but didn't the last 2 years. And you Caniacs just keep falling for it.
say what ??
Fri, 07/11/2008 - 18:20 — SubwayScoundrelGeeezz do some research. Look at salaries of all teams and look at where the canes are to other teams. The canes spend more than SJ and many other teams. Sounds like if you were GM you would blow cash like the Rangers or the Drunken Sailors down in Tampa. Get real. Go complain on the Caps board (old help) or others for signing all these long term contracts which the canes have not done.
Clearly, you don't really
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 00:54 — JGardner (not verified)Clearly, you don't really pay attention to the team if you believe LaRose is "old help sent down the river a couple years ago". He's been with the team these past two years. Try to keep up. Or better yet, don't comment at all.
This Guy Is From Buffalo
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 23:13 — Anonymous (not verified)Just like last year they are best ignored folks.
Awesome
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 20:04 — caneshockeyfanCan't wait to have him mic'd up for another FSN telecast. But seriously, he's earned his contract. Good for him, and the Canes for doing the right thing.
Yaaa Hoo!
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 19:36 — ClaytonCaniac4life (not verified)Whew, I was getting just a little worried that "Rosie" wouldn't be back. Glad that's over with. Maybe he can take over the music duties, wouldn't that be somethin'?
Can't wait for Training camp!
I am super-stoked that Rosey
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 18:33 — FuquayCaniacI am super-stoked that Rosey will be back. Losing another character player (ie Cole) would have been tough.
As for arbitration, my thoughts are that both Rosey and JR wanted to hammer it our before arbitration,
A must-sign
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 18:10 — hctimo787As others have mentioned, Rosey brings more to this team than just his speed, grit, penalty killing, and the ability to get under the other team's skin. He's a huge fan favorite and he probably brings comic-relief to the locker room in a big way. Those 2nd line minutes he got last season did a lot for his development IMO, and I think it will bear more fruit in 08-09. If he can finish more, he could easily find himself on the 3rd line 24/7 in 09-10 (assuming he stays in Carolina).
I'm just glad Rosey is back for another year. GO CANES
Now, what will JR do about that $5 million over the budget? We can speculate on Kabs all we want, but who really knows what he has up his sleeves.
Wooooo hoooooo!!
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 18:06 — canesgirl (not verified)Wooooo hoooooo!!
What does this signing due
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 17:35 — Charles (not verified)What does this signing due about the Sutter debate?
This just made my day -
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 17:32 — Anonymous (not verified)I'm so glad this got done. Chad deserves every penny. What a relief to know our spark plug will be on RBC Center ice this season.
yes
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 17:27 — cpjuengebest news all.
this is what i have been waiting to hear.
Staal
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 17:19 — Anonymous (not verified)That and the d-man trade might not be all for the Canes Lets not forget that Rutherford would also like to get Staal signed before the season starts.
Resigning Staal
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 20:39 — fizzbeeStaal is under contract for this year. Any resigning would take effect next year so it wouldn't affect this year's salary picture.
what they are saying...
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 08:55 — johnnyg (not verified)what they are saying is JR would like to make sure staal sticks around, so he would like to get him signed to a contract extension for many more years. after this past july 1st JR is now able to openly negotiate the terms of that extension, and would like to get that done sooner than later and ensure staal is here for quite a while.
Resigning Staal? Staalsy's
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 23:43 — Blue Liner (not verified)Resigning Staal? Staalsy's going to quit? I hadn't heard that!
resign= to quit, to give up
re-sign = to sign again
That little hyphen make a world of difference. Learn it.
Yeah, Chad!
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 17:09 — OctoberDreamin' (not verified)Glad that deal was done. Chad's salary is now on par w/Sutter, who is yet unproven in the NHL, while Chad had a great year despite his broken leg. Looking forward to seeing his grit and energy on the ice again this season. Let's Go Canes!
Great News
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 17:03 — Chris (not verified)Chad's a great energy guy and is worth every penny. While $875,000 may strike some as being a little expensive for a 4th line guy, we have to keep in mind that Chad kills penalties as good as anyone in the NHL, which is huge. Special teams wins games.
Whew!
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 16:52 — McFish (not verified)It was pretty obvious Rosey deserved a raise, but why go to arbitration for so little? I was affraid he was pushing for $2M or something crazy like some of these other younger guys are getting through their offer sheets and RFA signings.
I'm not sure I would call
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 19:32 — Anonymous (not verified)I'm not sure I would call $325,000 little.. Remember that his qualifying offer was $550,000. The canes were probably offering him $600-700k. So I would not call $175k-$275k additional $$ small..
Don't get me wrong, I
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 09:07 — McFish (not verified)Don't get me wrong, I could pay off my house twice with his raise alone. It's just not that much when you compare it to some of the raises RFA's & UFA's have received this summer.
Chad Earns His Way
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 16:45 — Gene (not verified)There is something about a character guy in the locker room that is worth his weight in gold. Chad is that guy. He has also pushed his performance higher each year on the ice. I have no problems with this signing and expect he will have a permanent spot on the 4th and sometimes will be placed on the 3rd line. It will be up to the others to take it away from him and I don't think that will be easy.
That's Good...
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 16:31 — penaltykiller74Now we just need to see which D-Man is going to leave, and we'll be all set.
As much as I like Kaberle, and hate trading within conference, it would be nice to see him play with his brother in Toronto.
Chad
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 16:16 — Anonymous (not verified)AWESOME!!! I'm ecstatic!
It's great that now all this LaRose talk can be stopped. Chad brings so much energy to the team and it's great to have him back for another year!
GO CANES
AWESOME.
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 16:14 — M Swimm (not verified)Man I am glad this got done.
I can completely understand spending that much on the 4th line is not something the Canes were excited to do, but LaRose contributes so much to the spirit of the team he deserves more than the league minimum.
I am very excited for next season!
A little expensive but I like it!
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 16:12 — Chris (not verified)I really like LaRose; he's a huge spark for this team. However, I'm not sure where he's going to fit--not a lot room on the 3rd and 4th lines.
Welcome back Chad!
Chad should have been making that money all along!
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 21:25 — Here Wego Again (not verified)What happened in his case is a case of someone finally getting what they were worth all along. Like the Adams guys...... they made very key contributions to the Canes for years and were paid rather paltry sums in comparison so their contributions. Also, I can't believe the Canes turned their backs on Erik Cole as they did. When he was taken out by that hit by Orpik, management indicated Erik would be there for the long hall. Ya gotta watch the management of the Hurricanes!
you don't follow hockey much
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 08:49 — Anonymous (not verified)you don't follow hockey much do you?
Dude, you are a
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 08:41 — Big Daddy (not verified)Dude, you are a knucklehead.....
Sometime you gotta give, so
Wed, 07/09/2008 - 23:39 — Blueliner (not verified)Sometime you gotta give, so you can get. Cole wasn't traded because of not being talented. He has a high-value. The most affordable way for the Hurricanes to get a good puck-moving defender was thru trade, and the 'Canes simply had to part with a high-value player. It speaks volumes about how much the organization values Erik to offer him to Edmonton.