The offer sheet market was silent around the NHL this offseason.
Many expected the rising salary cap to allow more player movement, especially involving big contracts, though it turned out to be the opposite.
Teams having the necessary cap space to re-sign their own players led to an offseason without even a single offer sheet, much to the chagrin of hockey fans hoping for activity.
The vast majority of the league was simultaneously hesitant to even consider using their 2026 first-round pick on an RFA because of the potential to land Gavin McKenna. However, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman revealed during an appearance on "The FAN Hockey Show" that one team wasn't shying away from the action whatsoever.
According to Friedman, the Carolina Hurricanes were active on the RFA market, which included a threat to offer sheet Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard and former Rangers blueliner K'Andre Miller.
"The offer sheet, even though they didn't happen, they were out there. You know, the one team that didn't seem altogether bothered about McKenna, and there were a lot of teams that were, was Carolina. They threatened to offer sheet Evan Bouchard, and he got signed in Edmonton before July 1st because of it. And they threatened to offer sheet K'Andre Miller, and they got him in a trade," Friedman said.
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The 25-year-old Bouchard wound up signing a four-year, $42 million extension to stay in Edmonton, while the Hurricanes traded prospect Scott Morrow, a first-round pick, and a second-round pick for Miller, 25, who they then signed to an eight-year, $60 million contract.
Carolina will continue to be a threat
While the Carolina Hurricanes didn't actually use an offer sheet, they used it to their advantage to pry K'Andre Miller out of New York and will be threatening to do more of the same moving forward.
General manager Eric Tulsky has proven to be ultra-aggressive since taking over, and with more than $16 million in projected cap space next summer, expect Carolina to continue swinging big. Not to mention, they have five first-round picks over the next four years and a prospect pool that always ranks near the top of the league.
With an already strong core and very competitive team, it's scary to think that the Hurricanes are in a prime position to strike and add a superstar to it whenever they become available.