John Carlson's Negotiating Rights Traded to Hurricanes Ahead of NHL Free Agency

The Carolina Hurricanes announced Saturday that they acquired the negotiating rights to impending free-agent defenseman John Carlson from the Anaheim Ducks.

Carolina sent the 192nd overall pick in the sixth round of the 2026 NHL draft and restricted free-agent defenseman Kyle Masters to Anaheim in exchange for Carlson's rights.

The Hurricanes can now exclusively negotiate a contract with Carlson before the start of free agency on Wednesday at noon ET.

Carlson had been set to be the top player available in free agency after the Buffalo Sabres traded forward Alex Tuch's rights to the Washington Capitals and the Tampa Bay Lightning traded defenseman Darren Raddysh's rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Both Tuch and Raddysh signed with their new teams rather than test the market, and now the focus will shift toward whether Carlson does the same with Carolina.

Per PuckPedia (h/t B/R Open Ice), the Hurricanes currently have only $11.1 million in salary cap space, and two key players left to sign in restricted free-agent defenseman Alexander Nikishin and impending unrestricted free-agent goalie Frederik Andersen.

Should the reigning Stanley Cup champions manage to sign Carlson, it is fair to wonder if it could lead to Nikishin getting traded.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet estimated that Carlson's contract could come in at around $9 million per year, which would occupy most of Carolina's remaining cap space.

Prior to the NHL draft, Frank Seravalli of Hockey 24/7 reported that the Hurricanes offered Nikishin and a first-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets for superstar goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

Carolina could potentially attempt to revisit the framework of that deal, but other pieces would have to be moved in order for the Hurricanes to afford Hellebuyck's $8.5 million cap hit.

Regardless of what happens on that front, Carlson could prove to be a perfect fit in Carolina.

The 36-year-old veteran is a two-time All-Star who spent 17 seasons with the Washington Capitals before getting traded to the Ducks at the 2025-26 trade deadline.

In 1,159 career regular-season games, Carlson has recorded 170 goals and 615 assists for 785 points to go along with a plus-112 rating.

Carlson also has 84 points in 149 career playoff games, and he won a Stanley Cup with the Caps in 2018.

Even at this stage of his career, Carlson is still a highly productive player, as he registered 14 goals and 46 assists for 60 points in 71 games last season.

If Carlson signs with the Hurricanes, he will join the defending champs and a defense group that includes Jaccob Slavin, K'Andre Miller, Jalen Chatfield, Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker, all of whom are under contract for next season.