HABS HELPED MAKE AHO VERY RICH
Carolina didn’t hesitate to match Bergevin’s $42-million offer for young Finnish star
It was already 28 degrees Celsius outside PNC Arena when the Carolina Hurricanes hit the ice for their 10:30 a.m. morning skate on Thursday.
By the time the players headed home after lunch at the rink, it was 36 C. Not exactly hockey weather for the season opener against the Canadiens on Thursday night.
“It’s a lot for a Finn and it’s pretty humid here,” young Hurricanes star Sebastian Aho said after the skate when asked about the weather. “But, I mean, I can’t complain.”
Aho has 42 million reasons not to complain about the weather over the next five seasons in Carolina, and he can thank the Canadiens for that. On July 1, the 22-year-old Finnish centre accepted a five-year offer sheet from Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin worth $42.27 million that the Hurricanes had to match to keep him in Carolina. While the contract has an annual salary cap hit of $8.454 million, Aho will actually earn $12 million this season, including an $11.3 million signing bonus. Over the next four seasons, Aho will receive signing bonuses of $9.87 million, $6.95 million, $5.25 million and $5.25 million.
Merci, Marc.
Bergevin had hoped the signing bonuses would be too much for the Hurricanes and billionaire owner Tom Dundon to handle, but he was wrong.
“That thing happened pretty fast,” Aho said about the offer sheet. “Actually, I went to bed right away when I made the decision because it was night time back home. Next day, I woke up and realized Carolina matched. So that was quick. It wasn’t up to me in that situation, so I tried not to think about it too much.”
Aho’s agent, Gerry Johannson, played the Canadiens perfectly and made his client a very rich young man. Johannson also made sure the deal got done early and Aho didn’t have to wait all summer for a new contract like so many other restricted free agents.
Aho said he never personally spoke with Bergevin, leaving negotiations up to his agent, and that the offer sheet hasn’t created any problems with his Hurricanes teammates.
“Everyone understood pretty well,” Aho said. “I texted a few guys and obviously called Turbo (fellow Finn Teuvo Teravainen) and a couple of other guys. We were all good. They all just said congrats to me and it was good.”
As for playing the Canadiens in the season opener, Aho said: “I knew I’d have to answer all these questions, but other than that, it’s the home opener and it’s an exciting time.”
The Hurricanes selected Aho in the second round (35th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft, nine picks after the Canadiens took defenceman Noah Juulsen in the first round. Aho has quickly developed into one of the best centremen in the NHL, leading the Hurricanes in scoring last season with 30-5383 totals and was a plus-25 while playing all 82 games.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said the offer sheet became a much bigger deal in Montreal than Carolina.
“I didn’t lose one minute of sleep over it,” he said. “I knew what was going to happen ... we weren’t going to lose the player. I’m not the one who had to write the cheque. That’s a better question for (owner Dundon).
“I don’t want to say we laughed that off,” Brind’Amour added. “But I got one text when it originally happened from one of my players. They were like: ‘Is this for real?’ ”
Brind’Amour said he told the player “don’t worry about it” and added “that’s about the extent of it from our end.”
“That stuff was business and that’s between the agents and GMs and how they wield all that to work out,” Brind’Amour said. “At the end of the day, at least whatever that was, we knew he was going to be signed. So I didn’t have to worry about (that), like a lot of these RFAs that coaches were probably freaking out wondering if these guys were going to play. That decision was made early for us.”
Bergevin also gave unrestricted free agent defenceman Jake Gardiner a three-year contract offer this summer reported to have been worth US$15.7 million, but the former Toronto Maple instead signed a four-year, US$16.2-million deal with the Hurricanes. Aho and Gardiner were both in the lineup against the Canadiens on Thursday night.
Last season, the Hurricanes finished three points ahead of the Canadiens, earning the first wildcard playoff spot, and advanced to the Eastern Conference final before getting swept by the Boston Bruins.
They welcomed the “Bunch of Jerks” title they earned after Don Cherry criticized them for their elaborate on-ice celebrations after wins.
“That’s not what I think we are, but if you guys want to call us that it’s OK,” Aho said with a smile.
“We have a great team,” he added. “Really good to be here. Great guys, great organization. We took a step forward last year. We have a great coaching staff, ownership, GM, everything. So it’s been really good to be here, and obviously, it’s a nice place to live.”
If you don’t mind the heat.