As Carolina Hurricanes add another player, Jordan Martinook says team’s focus the same

The Carolina Hurricanes continue to retool their roster after a turbulent first few days of NHL free agency — even the July 4 holiday wasn’t immune to news of another signing — but with all of the roster changes that have already happened, the Canes also retained a handful of players who have been instrumental in the team’s success the past six seasons.

Chief among those returning players who had the option to leave: Jordan Martinook, a “glue guy” in the Carolina locker room and a fan favorite for his grit and determination.

“I think when it came down to it, I didn’t want to leave,” Martinook said Wednesday, “and if there was a chance to stay, I was going to do everything I could to stay.”

He didn’t want to leave, but it almost happened anyway. The Hurricanes came through with a deal “at the last minute.”

And he’s happy they did.

“It’s hard to think about leaving a place you’re so comfortable and loved so much,” he said.

When Martinook finally did re-sign with the club, it was just in time to see many of the players he’s skated with the past six years sign elsewhere. That, he said, was a bittersweet feeling.

“The hardest part about our business and our game is that your friends that you create over a long time period can go play in other places,” Martinook said. “As a teammate, you’re disappointed they’re gone, but as a friend, you’re happy because they went somewhere they think they’re going to enjoy.”

Among those departures are defensemen Brett Pesce (New Jersey) and Brady Skjei (Nashville), and forwards Teuvo Teravainen (Chicago) and Stefan Noesen (New Jersey). But Martinook isn’t buying into the “sky is falling” hysteria sweeping some of the team’s supporters.

“We’ve lost some guys, but the standard of our team isn’t going to change,” Martinook said. “We’re chasing the Stanley Cup, and I think if you ask anybody on our team right now, that’s the goal. As much as the fans are probably worried that we lost some guys, we have guys that are coming in who wouldn’t have signed here if they didn’t think that they had a chance to win.”

Holiday dealing

To that end, in a signing that first started making its rounds on social media late Wednesday, the Hurricanes confirmed the latest addition to their roster Thursday morning, announcing the team has agreed to a one-year deal with forward Jack Roslovic worth $2.8 million.

Roslovic, a 27-year-old forward, played the end of last season with the New York Rangers after they’d acquired him from Columbus at the trade deadline.

“Jack is a dynamic player who has been an offensive contributor for his entire career,” Canes GM Eric Tulsky said in a news release. “Adding another right-handed playmaker capable of injecting speed and skill into the lineup will provide a boost to our forward group.”

Roslovic has 221 points in 445 NHL games across six full seasons and parts of two others. He was originally drafted in the first round, 25th overall, by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2015 NHL Draft. He played his first three seasons with the Jets before signing in Columbus. His best offensive season came with the Blue Jackets in 2021-22, when he had 22 goals and 23 assists, though he was on pace for even better than that the year before, during the COVID-19-shortened season.

In 16 playoff games for the Rangers this season, he posted eight points.