RALEIGH — The Hurricanes have some time off to see who they will face in the Eastern Conference final. It was enough time to take care of some off-the-ice business.
Carolina announced Monday it has signed center Mark Jankowski to a two-year contract extension that will pay him an average of $1.85 million annually through the 2027-28 season.
“Ever since I’ve been here, I feel like it’s been a seamless fit and wanted to stay here,” Jankowski said in a video conference with the media Monday afternoon. “My agent and the team have been talking for a little bit of time, and then for it to get all wrapped up in the middle of the playoffs here, it was nice to get it done. … Super excited to be here for a couple more years.”
Jankowski had 11 goals and 21 points in 68 games while playing just over 11 minutes per night during the regular season, supplanting Jesperi Kotkaniemi as the team’s fourth-line center. In this year’s playoffs, he has one assist in eight games as Carolina swept the first two rounds of the postseason.
The 31-year-old, who was acquired from Nashville at the 2025 trade deadline in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick, has scored twice this postseason only to see both goals taken off the board upon video review in two overtime wins.
In Game 2 of the first round against Ottawa, his overtime goal was wiped out after it was ruled Carolina was offside on the zone entry. Jordan Martinook won the game in double overtime. In Saturday’s Game 4 in Philadelphia, Jankowski appeared to score the go-ahead goal in the second period only to have that overturned on a goaltender interference challenge. Jackson Blake won that game in overtime.
“The big thing is we’re winning these games,” Jankowski said. “So obviously it would feel a lot worse if I score, they take it back, and then we ended up losing. So both those games that I scored in, we ended up winning. So that took away a lot of the hurt, for sure.”
Jankowski did plenty of scoring upon arriving in Raleigh last season, scoring twice in his Hurricanes debut and seven times in his first 10 games with the franchise. On top of providing the occasional secondary scoring, Jankowski has both killed penalties and worked on the power play, and he has won more than 51% of his faceoffs since coming to Carolina.
“Mark has been an excellent fit for our organization throughout his time here,” Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky said in the press release announcing the new contract. “He’s proven he can contribute in different ways, and we are glad he’s chosen to remain with the organization.”
Jankowski’s current contract, a two-year deal worth $800,000 annually signed with the Predators, is set to expire this summer, and his new contract will give him security — and more than twice as much money — for the next two seasons.
“It definitely feels nice,” Jankowski said. “It definitely feels like all my hard work has been rewarded a little bit. But you definitely don’t want to get complacent. That’s something that I’ve been through a lot. I’ve seen a lot, I’ve been to a lot of different organizations. I’ve been up, I’ve been down, and I think that’s something that I can always carry with me is never get complacent, just keep pushing forward, keep working, keep your foot on the gas.
“So it definitely feels nice to get that deal and feel like you were rewarded a little bit. But no, (I’m) not taking anything for granted, not getting complacent, that’s for sure.”
