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Hurricanes Forward's New Contract Includes Unique Clause

The Carolina Hurricanes took a clever approach to extending one of their newest forwards.

Jon Alfano

Carolina Hurricanes left wing Taylor Hall skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period.
Carolina Hurricanes left wing Taylor Hall skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period. / James Guillory-Imagn Images
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Carolina Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall has bounced around the NHL a lot throughout his career, now on his seventh different team in 15 seasons.

After a midseason trade to Carolina from the Chicago Blackhawks, Hall went on record to say he was "kind of tired of switching teams" and that he and his family "would love to find a spot to settle down." The Hurricanes granted his wish, albeit with a twist.

On Wednesday morning, the Hurricanes signed Hall to a three-year, $9.5 million extension ($3.167 million AAV) to keep him in Raleigh through the 2027-28 campaign. Notably, the deal includes a full no-movement clause, which is relatively rare for contracts this small, but shows how much the Hurricanes value him and his happiness.

However, there is an interesting caveat that hasn't been seen on many other contracts, if any. According to PuckPedia, if Hall scores fewer than 35 points in Year 2 of the deal — the 2026-27 season — then his no-move clause will instead become a 10-team no-trade clause.

This seems like a clever bit of work by Carolina general manager Eric Tulsky to protect his team's cap flexibility while still making Hall happy. After all, Hall is 34 and his scoring has seen a bit of a dip over the past few years, so the Hurricanes hope that he can keep producing at a solid rate. If he starts to decline further, however, this clause could be invaluable.

Hall has been very solid since arriving in Carolina, scoring 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 31 regular-season games. He scored three points (one goal, two assists) in the Hurricanes' five-game series win over the New Jersey Devils, the team Hall won the Hart Trophy with in 2017-18.

"He's come in and just fit in. He's not trying to do too much. He's not trying to say, 'Hey, I'm a former MVP of the league.' He's come in and said, 'I'm just trying to fit in and do my part," Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said earlier this month, per the Hurricanes' website. "I think that's actually been the key to it all."

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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