Hurricanes Sign Andrej Nestrasil to Two Year Deal

A year after making his NHL debut, Andrej Nestrasil has found a permanent home. The Carolina Hurricanes signed the forward to a two year deal this afternoon. The contract will pay him $875,000 this season and $950,000 in the 2016-2017.

Nestrasil, a 24 year old forward, came up with the Detroit Red Wings. He was placed on waivers in November where the Hurricanes picked him up.

According to Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis via ESPN, Nestrasil is “a good fit for our team and what we’re trying to do.”

In 54 NHL games, Nestrasil scored seven goals. The Prague native bad a decent minor league hockey career. In 2013-2014, he put up 36 points in 70 games with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

Nestrasil’s best professional season came in 2012-2013 when he played in the ECHL with the Toledo Walleye when he scored 41 points in 40 games.

Drafted in 2009 by the Detroit Red Wings, Nestrasil ayed his junior hockey in Quebec with the Victoriaville Tigers and the Point Edward Rocket. In his three seasons of junior hockey, he accumulated 121 points. He was drafted in the third round by Detroit in the middle of his first junior season.

Hockey’s Future had this to say about Nestrasil:

"Nestrasil’s ability to make plays at high speed allows him to surprise his opponents and catch opposing defensemen flat-footed.  At 6’3 and 206lbs pounds, Nestrasil has decent size, but he still has some work to do in adapting to the physical style in North America and playing a more complete game."

Nestrasil was also a member of the Griffins 2012-2013 Calder Cup championship team in the AHL. However, he played in just one game of that playoff run. He was also in the Canadian Hockey League’s top prospects game in 2008-2009 and was an ECHL player of the month in December of 2013.

Nestrasil has been a restricted free agent when the Hurricanes just signed him, and he’ll become one again when his deal is up. What he brings the Hurricanes is versatility and depth. He’s big, at 6’3, and he can play all three forward positions.

According to CanesCountry.com, he averaged 1.50 points per 60 minutes, second on the team, and he had a 57% faceoff percentage.

Nestrasil is a part of an increasing young and promising Hurricanes team. Justin Faulk, Jeff Skinner, and Patrick Dwyer are among this group.

This is not an earth shattering deal for the Hurricanes by any means, but they keep an improving young player on their roster.