Carolina Hurricanes

After three seasons of no playoffs and no finishes higher than 12th in the Eastern Conference, Kirk Muller's days as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes may be approaching their end.

Ron Francis is expected to take over the general manager position from Jim Rutherford before the end of April and get the ball rolling on the sweeping generational transition anticipated throughout the Hurricanes organization.

For Muller and fellow assistant coaches John MacLean and Dave Lewis, the coming weeks could spell the end of the road.

But who would replace each of the three—and particularly Muller—behind the bench?

While the current NHL head coach market doesn't boast any household names (like Lindy Ruff in 2013), the selection of prospective coaches is surprisingly intriguing and promising.

Whether Francis and Co. seek an experienced former NHL coach, up-and-coming assistant or perennially successful minor league coach, their choices will be plentiful.

A compilation of seven qualified and intriguing candidates, and an analysis of the experience and success of each, lies below.

Barry Trotz

Barry Trotz said an emotional goodbye to Nashville earlier this month after it was announced that the Predators would not renew his coaching contract this summer. Trotz, 51, had spent all 15 years of his NHL coaching career with the team; likewise, the Preds had employed him as coach for all 15 years of their existence. 

But now, after one final classy move in last Sunday's Tennessean, it is time for Trotz to find a new job.

No one expects it will take long.

Working with another small-market, Southern franchise operating below the salary cap and with some of the poorest offensive talent in the league, Trotz has qualified Nashville for the playoffs in seven of the last 10 seasons and topped 100 points in four of the last nine seasons.

Four Hurricanes forwards made more in 2013-14 than the Predators' top-paid forward, yet Nashville averaged 2.61 goals per game to Carolina's 2.50.

Simply put, Trotz has given a club very similar to the 'Canes the very success that Carolina has longed for ever since the 2006 Stanley Cup title. And despite ranking 14th all time in NHL games coached, Trotz is only 51—the exact same age as his potential future boss Ron Francis.

Brent Sutter

The Hurricanes have formed connections all over the Sutter family in recent years. They could add yet another with former Calgary Flames coach Brent Sutter this offseason.

Sutter made it to the first round but lost in both 2007-08 and 2008-09 with New Jersey, then missed the postseason three straight campaigns with Calgary before parting ways.

Also age 51 and the father of former 'Cane Brandon Sutter, Sutter did, however, hit the 90-point plateau on all three occasions with a Flames roster that overachieved just to get to that milestone.

After coaching the Canadian world junior team in 2013-14, Sutter could be itching for another opportunity behind an NHL bench.

Guy Boucher

Guy Boucher, then just 39, became a sensation of the coaching universe when he led the Tampa Bay Lightning to a dramatic Eastern Conference Final appearance in his first season as an NHL head coach in 2010-11.

After a 2011-12 campaign of just 84 points and a 13-17-1 start to the 2012-13 season, however, Boucher was canned by the Bolts. Plagued by terrible goaltending and an underperforming offense, the Lightning turned toward a new star in Jon Cooper.

In January, Boucher signed a coaching contract through 2015-16 with SC Bern of the Swiss National League; Bern finished the year 23-27 and missed the playoffs. Nonetheless, if an NHL job becomes available, there's little doubt he'll happily leave Switzerland to snatch it.

John Stevens

Current Los Angeles Kings assistant and rising hot name in the coaching market, John Stevens, 47, has orchestrated much of the Kings' defensive steadfastness over the past four seasons. He has a shiny Stanley Cup ring as evidence.

Often conveniently forgotten, however, is Stevens' tenure as Flyers head coach. Philadelphia won just 21 games (the same as the 2013-14 Sabres) under Stevens in 2006-07, then lost in the first round with one of the league's most stacked teams in 2008-09. The New Brunswick native was fired the following autumn.

While Stevens' name is sure to generate plenty of buzz, Carolina should be cautious about promoting directly from an assistant position in a very different organization.

Jeff Blashill

A little-known coach to keep an eye on this summer—whether in Carolina or elsewhere—will be Jeff Blashill. He's only 40, got his first head coaching job at any level as recently as 2008 (in the USHL) and has been a smashing success in his first two seasons coaching at the professional level.

Blashill led the Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL affiliate of the Red Wings, to a Calder Cup title last spring with 42-26-8 regular season and 16-9 postseason records.

Entering the 2014 playoffs, Grand Rapids is coming off an even better campaign (46-23-7, the fourth-most wins in the AHL), and Blashill is enjoying another piece of hardware as the AHL coach of the year. A whopping 13 players from Blashill's 2013 squad (including Gustav Nyquist, who scored 28 goals in 57 NHL games) missed AHL time skating for Detroit this season, yet the Griffins posted another spectacular record.

Last June, Peter Wallner of MLive.com reported that Blashill did have interest in eventually moving on to an NHL job. "But I don’t go out seeking opportunities. I haven’t. If I do the best job I can, and we have success, things will take care of themself," Blashill said.

Blashill could be a brilliant add for a Ron Francis looking to lead the Hurricanes in a fresh direction.

Mike Vellucci

The Hurricanes organization has always had strong ties with the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL—Justin Williams, Brett Bellemore, Justin Peters, Chad LaRose and Michal Jordan all came out of Plymouth at one point.

Mike Vellucci, head coach of the Whalers since 2001, entered 2013-14 with four Western Conference first-place finishes and zero sub-.500 records in his last eight seasons. He had produced five first-round picks, including 2010 No. 2 Tyler Seguin, the past four seasons. But Plymouth posted their worst season ever this year, going 28-33-7 and putting a severe dent in Vellucci's NHL coaching prospects.

Possibility remains, though. Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos raved about Vellucci, 47, to the Detroit Free Press in May 2013 (h/t to Cardiac Cane for the find), and Hockey Night in Canada insider Mark Seidel tweeted this last week:

Vellucci could be among a number of less-publicized, legitimate candidates for the Hurricanes' head coaching job if Muller is indeed fired.

Jeff Daniels

When Paul Maurice was fired in Nov. 2011, creating the vacancy eventually filled by Muller, Jim Rutherford reportedly discussed the opening first with AHL coach Jeff Daniels.

Three years later, Daniels has more experience under his belt and remains a very involved voice in the franchise with prospect development and call-up decisions.

But has the 45-year-old done well enough in the minors to warrant a promotion? The Charlotte Checkers' second-half run in 2013-14 fizzled late, eventually missing the AHL playoffs by six points; Daniels has a respectable but fairly unremarkable 204-147-37 record (52.6 percent winning percentage) the last five years with Albany/Charlotte.

Daniels could be a dark horse for the Hurricanes' potential vacancy this summer, but such a decision would be a risky one regardless.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more or follow him on Twitter.

It's been five years now since Jussi Jokinen launched Raleigh into insanity with his last-second game-winning goal in Game 4 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, but each frame of the "Miracle Finnish" still echoes in the memories of thousands.

Jokinen gains possession of the puck. Thirteen seconds left. Jokinen's stuff attempt blocked away by Martin Brodeur. Seven seconds left. Joni Pitkanen holds the puck in on the line. Three seconds left. Dennis Seidenberg takes a long slap shot. One second left.

The puck glances off Jokinen's skate. Half a second left. The puck hits the net. No time left? End of regulation horn. Goal horn. Sudden roar. Mayhem.

The rest is a blur.

"Carolina has won it!" shouted Fox Sports Carolinas announcer John Forslund. "At the horn! A miracle finish! And this series is dead even!"

The last line became one of the more memorable sentences in Forslund's legacy. The second-to-last line evolved into the popular title of the play, adding a pun based off of Jokinen's Finnish nationality.

But within the excitement and pandemonium was an enraged Brodeur: an enraged Brodeur incensed that referees Eric Furlatt and Wes McCauley did not call incidental goaltender interference on Jokinen for a bump just seconds before, an enraged Brodeur ready to break his stick in half on the then-RBC Center boards. It became one of the more infamous outbursts of his 23-year career.

Indeed, a comparison of the Hurricanes' and Devils' television broadcasts of the play reveals each side's bias in the heat of the moment. 

Post-game comments from that unforgettable night of April 21, 2009, also echo a tremendous disparity in emotion and opinion between the two teams.

For the Hurricanes, the elation was almost tangible, but so was the reality that the series was still just tied with two of three remaining games on the road.

Jokinen told Brendan Prunty of the New Jersey Star-Ledger: "I think maybe for 40 minutes, we played our best game of the whole season. We were all over them. Then they got some momentum, and Brodeur made some great saves. Our fans gave us some urgency, and we were able to find that goal."

For the Devils, the frustration of watching their comeback from a 3-0 deficit nulled by a call they clearly disagreed with strongly was infuriatingly uncontrollable.

Devils coach Brent Sutter said to NHL.com's Brian Compton: "It's playoffs ... strange things happen. We were able to battle back. Obviously a very strange thing happened."

Brodeur, however, soon emerged as the most outspoken and controversial center of the debate.

"'I had time to reset myself.' That's always the same answer. It doesn't matter which referee. It's the easy way out for them to say that," No. 30 said in the post-game scrum. "The referee has to do their job. Today was pretty awful."

Prior to Game 5 two days later, Brodeur had cooled down somewhat—but only somewhat. "It was all in French so nobody will know about it," he said of his on-ice debate with referee Furlatt, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

Carolina went on to win the series and produce a few more memorable moments on the road in Game 7, then eliminate the Boston Bruins in the next round in their unexpected run to the conference finals.

Yet half a decade of zero postseason berths since, the 'Canes can only look back on the night with nostalgia and hope for a future return to the drama of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Jokinen's playoff heroism has moved on to Pittsburgh; Seidenberg's to Boston. Pitkanen is a free agent this summer and may never play hockey again, thanks to an injury suffered now more than a year ago. The Hurricanes have changed tremendously—and not for the better.

In the post-Stanley Cup era, that night in April 2009 may well be the high tide of the franchise—a night with optimism at an all-time high and belief in the "Cardiac 'Canes" slogan wholehearted. Surely, no premonitions about the five-plus-year drought that lay ahead existed that evening.

Reminiscing back, the unabated euphoria vibrating throughout the crowd is undeniably nostalgic and bittersweet for today's fans. The "Miracle Finnish" was a moment that may never be matched in 'Canes lore.

But there's always the replay button.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more or follow him on Twitter.

The Carolina Hurricanes are approaching an offseason that may overhaul the franchise's central structure both on and off the ice.

The team's coaching staff could possibly be at the center of the restructuring, and current head coach Kirk Muller may be treading in water that has already boiled.

The resignation of general manager Jim Rutherford, 65, after 20 years on the job is expected to promote former All-Star player and current assistant GM Ron Francis, 51, to the job. 

Little is known about Francis' experience in an executive position and the new mentality he will bring to the job; however, after five consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance, it seems likely that a drastic reimagining of the 'Canes organization may be in the works.

Muller and assistants Dave Lewis and John MacLean have drawn frequent criticism for inconsistent playing time distribution, sluggish first periods and woefully underperforming special teams.

Since taking over as head coach on Nov. 28, 2011, Muller has posted a 78-79-27 record (42.2 winning percentage) and has yet to finish higher than 12th in the Eastern Conference.

Expected to provide a more upbeat, motivational presence to the locker room compared to previous coach Paul Maurice, Muller's initial enthusiasm has faded to somber, redundant, cliche-ridden press conferences and an endless spiel about accountability.

In many ways, the 48-year-old coach has been sacrificed as a bridge between the depth-focused, low-spending "hometown team" Hurricanes of old and the wheeling-and-dealing, cap-pushing Hurricanes of today.

Just two players—Eric Staal and Cam Ward—remain from the 2006 Stanley Cup team; only three—Staal, Ward and Patrick Dwyer—from the 2009 Conference Finals run.

And interestingly enough, it is the names of Staal and Ward that highlight the list of potential chopping block items as Carolina seeks to enter a new, and hopefully more successful, era. 

The team's identity is most certainly changing.

Two years ago, contention for top free-agent and trade-market items was an exciting and novel idea for Rutherford & Co. The brashness of the Jordan Staal trade and Alexander Semin signing reflected his brief, uncharacteristic lack of caution.

Perhaps Muller was unprepared to handle the big money items brought in the offseason following his first partial season in Raleigh.

He was hired as an up-and-coming coaching star to re-energize a young and stardom-lacking 2011-12 squad and managed to exceed expectations during his 57 games. The following offseason, the 'Canes abruptly changed mindsets, and Muller either missed or failed to receive notice about the fork in the road.

A couple of shockingly unsuccessful seasons later, the 'Canes front office must now apply the lessons they've learned from several years of reckless spending and demonstrate an ability to juggle contradictions between cap space and budget space. 

The front office must also, if Muller is indeed shown the door, form a more cohesive tie between the organization's vision and its coaching staff's strengths.

John Tortorella, likely soon-to-be-fired Canucks boss and speculated Carolina coaching candidate, has dealt with more highly paid and star-laden teams than the current 'Canes. Rod Brind'Amour, another possible candidate, has seen Muller's struggles from a secondary role and dealt with his fair share of unmotivated teammates during his playing career. 

On the other hand, Jeff Daniels, coach of the team's AHL affiliate in Charlotte, may not be as experienced with players of that prototype. Peter Laviolette, currently unemployed and hoping for a Lindy Ruff-esque comeback, won the Cup with a very balanced, down-to-earth Carolina squad but failed to do so with a star-laden Philadelphia club.

Every decision made in Raleigh this offseason should be done with a stable outlook of the team's current and future identity. 

The 'Canes cannot afford to make another mistake behind the bench.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more or follow him on Twitter.

With any late playoff run now out of the question, the Carolina Hurricanes are using the final games of their 2013-14 season to evaluate prospects and borderline players looking ahead to 2014-15.

Four games remain in the season, which marks Carolina's fifth straight without a postseason berth.

For youngsters like Zach Boychuk, Chris Terry and Ryan Murphy, along with upcoming free agents such as Andrei Loktionov, Jiri Tlusty and Ron Hainsey, however, the past few weeks and the final one ahead could prove critical to their futures.

Boychuk and Terry were sent back down to the AHL's Charlotte Checkers on Friday after one- and two-game stints, respectively, in the NHL.

After nine consecutive scoreless games, Terry finally picked up his first two points of the season (both assists) on Thursday against Dallas. Boychuk, meanwhile, was held off the scoresheet Thursday, but sports four points in 10 appearances of his own.

Both will play leading roles in the Checkers' final postseason push this month.

Charlotte is currently tied with Rockford (the Chicago Blackhawks' affiliate) for ninth in the AHL's Western Conference, one point behind Rochester (Buffalo Sabres) for the final playoff spot, but has just four games remaining to its fellow bubble competitors' six.

Boychuk leads both the team and the league with 35 goals, while Terry's 28 tallies rank second on the roster.

With patience growing thin for the two longtime AHL stars—now 24 and 25, respectively—a strong and fruitful closeout to the campaign is a near necessity. Both will need to negotiate new contracts this summer. Boychuk is a restricted free agent while Terry is a UFA.

Ryan Murphy, the Hurricanes' 12th overall pick in 2011, was called up to the 'Canes when the aforementioned pair of fellow youngsters was sent in the other direction.

It has been a frustratingly inconsistent and inconclusive rookie campaign for the 185-pound defenseman at the NHL level.

A tremendous offensive contributor throughout his OHL career and during his time in the AHL—where he has 19 points in 19 games—Murphy has recorded just 12 points and a poor on-ice Corsi (shot attempt differential per 60 minutes) of minus-5.02 in 47 big league matches. He's a minus-six with zero points in his last four as well.

With the pressure as low as it will ever get in the NHL, Murphy needs to prove that his struggles with reliability are more a result of inexperience than immaturity or ineptitude in the final week of 2013-14.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Carolina's swath of veterans free agents—almost all of which, interestingly, occupy depth roles—must also take advantage of their last opportunities to impress expected incoming general manager Ron Francis.

Acquired in early March from New Jersey, newcomer Andrei Loktionov has played well in his 16-game tenure in Raleigh. He's racked up three goals and eight points in his last 11 appearances, showing versatility and flexibility on three different lines.

But is the undersized, 23-year-old center who The News & Observer reports has drawn interest from the KHL part of Ron Francis' vision for the future 'Canes? If he wants to stay, he needs to make his presence stand out.

Fellow RFAs Drayson Bowman, Jiri Tlusty and Nathan Gerbe face similar predicaments.

The latter has already demonstrated his underrated offensive ability with a career-high 31 points, but his 5'5" frame will always be a question mark.

Meanwhile, Bowman and Tlusty, while still fairly young, have both failed to develop long-term identities in Carolina. That could ultimately lead to their departure as the team searches for a more developed bottom six.

After ranking in the top 10 in the league in goals last season, Tlusty needs to show more of the opportunism that led to that breakout performance a year ago. Bowman may have to produce an eruption of passion and points in the week ahead to remain in Carolina.

Aging veteran Manny Malhotra, regardless of his mastery in the faceoff dot (second-best in the league at 59.0 percent), is a pending UFA and has points in two of his last 36 games. He needs to end that streak this week.

On the defensive side, Ron Hainsey and Brett Bellemore are also both set to be UFAs.

While I recently raved about Bellemore's unheralded impact, he has just seven points in 60 games.

Hainsey's advanced stats (plus-1.12 Corsi rating despite starting only 47.7 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone) look good, but he could be a victim of Francis' rebuild of the back end beneath the top pairing.

Cam Ward should receive several starts over the Hurricanes' last four games of 2013-14. They could be his last.

Ward needs to be spectacular to show why he's worth keeping with Anton Khudobin around. If his goal is an outright starting job elsewhere, spectacular would still be helpful—his trade value is at an all-time low.

The 'Canes have just one home game remaining, a Thursday date against bitter rival Washington. They visit the Rangers on Tuesday, then travel to take on the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers on Friday and Sunday to close out the campaign.

The four games themselves may matter little, but the Hurricanes' individual performances within each could become highly telling of the storylines of the summer offseason ahead.

Advanced statistics courtesy of Behind the Net. Contract information from CapGeek.com.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more or follow him on Twitter.

After six months of frustratingly slow development, Elias Lindholm is finally growing into the well-rounded playmaker that the Carolina Hurricanes envisioned when drafting him fifth overall last June.

The 19-year-old is looking less burdened by expectations, more comfortable on the ice and more like the natural offensive weapon he was touted as last spring.

For now, Lindholm's coming of age is mostly limited to visual perception only. His adaptations and improvements still aren't translating into tangible, box score results at a rapid pace.

But they're starting to, and the 'Canes are taking notice.

No. 16 recorded his first career multi-goal game in the NHL on Tuesday night, scoring the Hurricanes' second and third goals after two slick setups from Jeff Skinner in Carolina's 4-1 win over Pittsburgh.

The performance brought Lindholm's season total to eight goals, 11 assists and 19 points in 52 games. It's a stat line hardly equivalent to the rookie campaign of the team's last top-10 draft pick, Skinner, who ripped off 31 goals and 63 points back in his 2010-11 debut.

Nevertheless, since a six-game drought with zero points from March 15 to 27, Lindholm now has three points and 10 shots in his last three appearances. The latter is particularly impressive considering he averaged just 1.0 shots per game through his first 49 appearances (Skinner, meanwhile, averages 3.9 per game).

Lindholm's growth in confidence over recent months may indeed be best reflected in his shooting patterns. The youngster is finding himself not only more capable of finding shooting space in the offensive zone but also more poised to personally take advantage of such opportunities. 

Consider a chart of his five-game moving average of shots on goal below:

Since bottoming out on March 8 in New Jersey—a time when both Lindholm and the Hurricanes found themselves in a difficult-to-swallow spiral out of the playoff race—his moving average has skyrocketed dramatically.

The Hurricanes' coaching staff also restricted Lindholm with playing time earlier in the season. As the postseason has transformed into a pipe dream, they've been giving their top rookie increasingly unconstrained ice time.

A chart of his five-game moving average of ice time by game is below:

No. 16 still has a long way to go. He's still sporting an average 1.75 shot attempt (Corsi) differential despite a highly favorable 62.5 offensive zone start differential, per Behind the Net statistics.

The scrappy, physical side of the NHL game is still a challenge for him, as it is for many 192-pound rookies from overseas.

However, Lindholm's body language—as well as in-game play—reveal the growth he's experienced as a player this spring.

It's only a matter of time before his maturation begins to translate into red flashing lamps and other tangible results.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.

Eric Staal's worst spring of his career continued with another costly, lackluster effort in the Carolina Hurricanes' 3-2 overtime loss Saturday night.

Staal failed to find the back of the net for the 14th time in his last 15 appearances as the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in Raleigh.

No. 12 has just one goal, eight assists and a minus-five rating since the beginning of March. The team he captains, meanwhile, is 6-8-1 over that time span and has fallen almost assuredly out of the playoff hunt.

March has devolved Staal's already unimpressive campaign into arguably the worst of his career. For a player who has historically struggled in autumn but improved over the course of each season, three consecutive calendar seasons of ineffectiveness is more than worrisome.

Through 71 games played, the former second overall pick has just 17 goals, on pace for his lowest total since his 11-goal rookie year of 2003-04.

Worse yet, Staal's production has declined not just in 2013-14 but steadily since 2011. His 24 tallies in 2011-12 were then the lowest of his career since 2003-04; his hot start to the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign quickly faded to a mere six goals over the season's last 28 matches.

While supporters can point to his 8.5 shooting percentage this season (compared to a career average of 11.0) as a sign of his poor luck, it's also worth noting that Staal is producing less even on the shot clock than ever before.

His 2.83 shots per game this season is his lowest rate since 2003-04; his shots-per-game rate has actually declined from one season to the next for the last six seasons (down from a whopping 4.54 in 2008-09).

Discipline is also emerging as a perennial issue in his performance, as Staal is also on pace for the most penalties of his career.

He's accumulated 72 penalty minutes in 71 games, including 22 over the last 16 games. Only six players around the NHL have taken more minors than No. 12's 35 this season; only seven players around the NHL took more minors than No. 12's 22 last season.

Simply put, Staal's play over the last few seasons should do more than jeopardize his captaincy status.

It should attract the scrutiny of expected future general manager Ron Francis regarding the final two seasons of his contract carrying a team-high $8.25 million salary-cap hit.

It should cue the motivational fire and anger out of wobbly head coach Kirk Muller, if such fire does exist within his placid personality.

And it should call his future as a franchise cornerstone of the Carolina Hurricanes into rational, if not feasible, question.

Indeed, brother Jordan Staal's presence—and nine remaining seasons under contract at $6 million per—all but ensures that Eric will remain glued in Carolina for the next two years, barring a shocking blockbuster move from Francis.

If Cam Ward is shipped out this summer, however, the floodgates might open. Such a blockbuster move might be remotely possible—and the Marc Staal-led New York Rangers would eagerly come calling. 

If Francis brings the clean slate, sans-Jim Rutherford loyalties mindset many 'Canes fans have dreamt of for so long, Staal could feel his seat warm at least a few degrees.

Nonetheless, no matter how the coming offseason goes down in Raleigh, Eric Staal is undoubtedly approaching a 2014-15 season that could define the remainder of his career.

He'll turn 30 on October 29, a major milestone for superstars in sports and a sign that the prime years are coming to a close.

Coming to a close without a single postseason appearance since age 24.

For Staal to remain an integral part of the Carolina franchise, he not only needs an encouraging eight-game run to finish this current season but also an explosive, confidence-renewing campaign from day one next fall. 

His team is on the verge of complete deflation. His leadership position is increasingly threatened by a 22-year-old young defenseman and 33-year-old fourth-line center. His impact and ability has never been doubted more. His enormous contract is nearing an unfortunately timed end.

The seas around Eric Staal have never been more turbulent.

And for both his and the Carolina Hurricanes' sakes, he must revive his career regardless.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.

The most promising player on the Carolina Hurricanes' roster will remain in Raleigh for the next six seasons.

Justin Faulk, just one week removed from his 22nd birthday, signed an extension with the 'Canes on Monday for next half-dozen years. Per Michael Smith via Twitter:

Said current general manager Jim Rutherford via the team's official press release:

Justin has proven to be among the best young defensemen in the league as confirmed by his selection to the U.S. Olympic team. He has been and will continue to be the anchor of the Hurricanes’ defense for years to come.

Faulk has 24 points in 65 games in 2013-14, his third NHL season. He also ranks third on the team with 95 blocked shots, second in average ice time (23:21 per game) and first among team defenseman in Corsi rating.

Season	GP	Goals	Assists	Blocks	Takeaways
2011-12	66	8	14	85	32
2012-13	38	5	10	47	24
2013-14	65	3	21	95	32

But often, the statistics fail to capture the true stabilizing impact of No. 27. Despite his youth, Faulk has emerged as a true cornerstone of the defensive unit and a legitimate top-pairing blueliner who will only continue to improve.

The former second-round draft pick is much more of an offensive threat than his yearly stat line implies—he's suffered through a 2.5 shooting percentage, tallying only three goals on 119 shots.

It's in his own zone, however, where Faulk's reliability is most evident. Disregarding a few uncharacteristically weak performances since the Olympic break, Faulk has the speed to contain the fastest wingers, the positioning to shut down the most dynamic power forward and the stick placement to break up the most pinpoint passes.

With frustration growing around current captain Eric Staal and the Hurricanes generally underperforming offense, Faulk should soon grow into one of the club's leadership positions. He could be a strong candidate for the captaincy as he approaches his later 20s.

Not only does Monday's extension solidify the 'Canes inexperienced back end tremendously over the long term, it also resolves a monetary uncertainty that will allow the new management team make bolder, more decisive decisions this coming offseason. Rutherford is expected to step down from his position this summer.

The 'Canes now have approximately $18.4 million in projected salary cap space next season, according to CapGeek, with six forwards, five defensemen and two goalies under contract.

With Faulk and fellow first-pairing star Andrej Sekera along with 2011 seventh overall pick Ryan Murphy among those five, the 'Canes can focus more on defensive depth. The majority of that cap space, now that Faulk's chunk has been determined, will likely go toward a more well-rounded cast of forwards.

Monday, the 'Canes locked up a developing franchise cornerstone at a convenient time for a surprisingly affordable price.

The situation couldn't have worked out any better.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes featured columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.