The Carolina Hurricanes made a significant move by signing Jackson Blake to an eight-year, $45 million contract extension.
In his rookie campaign this past season, Blake showed a lot of promise, recording 17 goals, 17 assists, and 34 points in 80 games while averaging 13:51 minutes.
Despite being successful as a rookie, an eight-year contract extension is still a big commitment to give to a fourth-rounder who has only played one full NHL season.
Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky was impressed with Blake’s work ethic and feels he’s a perfect fit for how the Hurricanes play hockey.
“He’s incredibly tenacious on the puck, he has a really high skill level, and that makes him a great fit for the way we want to play,” Tulsky said. “He scored 17 goals as a 21-year-old rookie. He’s a professional. Last offseason, he was one of the players setting the pace on our offseason work ethic.
“That willingness to work, that willingness to build on himself is what made it so he can take big jumps from high school to the USHL, from college to the NHL, and made it look easy at every step. It is hard to say where the ceiling is when you have someone who works that hard and keeps making himself better year after year.”
Eric Tulsky Puts Hurricanes' Playoff Losses Into Perspective
Everything has to be put into perspective, especially when it comes to the Carolina <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes" target="_blank">Hurricanes</a>.
The 22-year-old forward will have a golden opportunity to carve out a top-six role this upcoming season.
Blake joins a long list of Carolina players locked up on long-term contracts, including Sebastian Aho, Nikolaj Ehlers, Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis, Logan Stankoven, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jaccob Slavin, and K’Andre Miller.