Hurricanes sign Michael Bunting to three-year contract with $4.5M AAV

The Carolina Hurricanes continued their extremely busy day to open NHL free agency July 1. After retaining goaltenders Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen and landing top-rated UFA defenseman Dmitry Orlov, the Canes made another splash Saturday afternoon, landing left winger Michael Bunting on a three-year contract at a $4.5 million AAV, per multiple reports.

Bunting, 27, will fill the void left by free-agency departure Max Pacioretty, who was limited to five games this past season anyway after retearing his Achilles tendon. Bunting should slot right into a scoring-line role on a Canes team that played league-best defense this past season but ranked 15^th in goals per game. Bunting posted back-to-back 23-goal seasons as a Toronto Maple Leaf, playing the majority of his minutes alongside top stars such as Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Including his 21-game sample with the Arizona Coyotes the previous season, Bunting is one of the most efficient 5-on-5 scorers in the league over the past three years. Among 515 forwards who played at least 500 minutes over that span, he sits 55^th in goals per 60.

Bunting is perhaps best known for the other elements of his game, however. He has developed into an all-world agitator, for better or worse, drawing the ire of opponents but also of officials. Case in point: Across the past three years, looking at all players with 500-plus minutes played, Bunting sits 14^th in penalties drawn per 60 but also 35^th in penalties taken per 60 out of 793 players. He’s a zebra magnet, one way or another.

During the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Bunting earned himself a three-game suspension for an illegal check to the head and interference on Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak, who did not return in the series, which the Leafs ended up winning in six games, ending a 19-year playoff series win drought.