With a second-round NHL playoffs series against the Rangers looming, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour’s future with the Hurricanes is suddenly in doubt.
The News & Observer reported Wednesday morning that contract talks between Brind’Amour and the Hurricanes “apparently reach[ed] an impasse and stall,” and that the 53-year-old is “unsure about his future” with the club.
TSN reported later Wednesday that “a deal seemed close” but a contract offer “has been pulled.”
That report added that Brind’Amour, whose contract is up at the end of the season, wants to remain with Carolina.
However, there would likely be a robust market for Brind’Amour — who won the 2006 Stanley Cup with Carolina as a player under current Rangers coach Peter Laviolette — if he becomes a free agent.
In between those reports, Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell addressed the situation with reporters.
“We talk daily about it, and I feel very confident, as I’ve said before, that this deal will get done,” Waddell said. “Rod wants to be a Hurricane for life. To me, when you’re dealing with contracts, there’s always two sides. Rod’s been great to deal with. There’s gonna be a solution here very quickly, I feel.”
Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon told the News & Observer he thinks a contract extension is “all but done.”
“Don and him are working on it. I don’t think there’s anything there,” Dundon told the paper over the phone. “We’re in the playoffs and they haven’t focused on it. They’re doing it together. I said OK to almost everything they’ve asked me for. They’re just getting through the last little stuff.”
Brind’Amour told the N&O in a text, “It’s in Tom’s hands.”
The Hurricanes ousted the Islanders Tuesday night in Game 5 to advance to the second round.
There was some contract drama involving Brind’Amour three years ago also, with an extension not getting done until after the 2020-21 season, a three-year deal that reportedly saw his pay go from $600,000 a year to $1.8 million a season.
Brind’Amour has led Carolina to the NHL playoffs in each of his six seasons behind the bench, including two conference final appearances; they were swept by the Panthers in last year’s conference final.
Now, two years after the 2022 second round in which the Rangers won in seven games, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the Hurricanes for the rematch.