Hurricanes re-sign Ryan Suzuki, Ronan Seeley to one-year contracts
On Monday, the Carolina Hurricanes brought back a couple of depth pieces to their organization. General manager Eric Tulsky announced the team has re-signed forward Ryan Suzuki and defenseman Ronan Seeley to one-year, two-way contracts for the 2025-26 season.
Adding to the squad 🖊️
The #Canes have signed forward Ryan Suzuki and agreed to terms with defenseman Ronan Seeley on one-year, two-way contracts.
Details » https://t.co/lKN7zB0uPc pic.twitter.com/ByB2yiI60q
Suzuki returns to the franchise on an NHL cap hit of $775,000 and a minor-league salary of $130,000, with a guarantee of $175,000. The younger brother of Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki has been with the Hurricanes since the team took him in the first round, 28th overall, of the 2019 NHL Draft.
However, Suzuki has struggled to meet the expectations he had coming out of junior hockey. He has spent much of the first five seasons of his professional career in the American Hockey League, four of which with Carolina’s primary affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. The London, Ontario native made his NHL debut this past season, jumping into the lineup on Jan. 30 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Suzuki ended up appearing in two games with the Canes, failing to score a point while averaging 6:36 of ice time.
With the Wolves, the 24-year-old had his best season yet, scoring 12 goals while setting career highs in assists (47) and points (59). In 232 AHL games, Suzuki has scored 51 goals and 95 assists for 146 points.
Seeley came to the end of his entry-level contract, which had an NHL AAV of $837,500. His new deal has an NHL salary of $813,750 and an AHL cap hit of $80,000. He was a seventh-round pick, 208th overall, in the 2020 draft.
After a 2023-24 season that saw him split time between the Wolves and the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL, Seeley was in the AHL for the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign. In 69 games, he scored three goals and seven assists for 10 points. It’s a little down from his impressive rookie season in 2022-23, when the former Everett Silvertip scored four goals and 21 assists for 25 points.
In 199 AHL appearances, the Yellowknife, Northwest Territories native has notched nine goals and 40 assists for 49 points.