Forslund, Hurricanes continue to negotiate as broadcaster’s contract expires
When the Carolina Hurricanes let Chuck Kaiton leave over a contract dispute two summers ago, life went on pretty much as normal because the Hurricanes were able to replace the Hall of Fame radio broadcaster with a simulcast version of John Forslund’s television play-by-play call.
There’s no one standing ready to replace Forslund, whose contract was set to expire Tuesday and could end up leaving the Hurricanes.
While NHL players will have their contracts extended beyond their normal June 30 expiration to complete the 2019-20 season, that remained the deadline for many non-player contracts, including Forslund, assistant coach Dean Chynoweth and hockey operations vice presidents Rick Dudley and Paul Krepelka.
Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said Dudley will depart and one other contract was not renewed: massage therapist Tristan Simmons, who spent three seasons with the team after coming over from the Ottawa Senators. Waddell said negotiations will continue with Forslund, Chynoweth and Krepelka.
“We’re not cutting anybody off,” Waddell said. “It’s one thing if you’re going to let someone go. Some of these, we’re just trying to find if there’s common ground for both of us.”
While some last-minute brinkmanship isn’t uncommon — Forslund’s broadcast partner Tripp Tracy only agreed to his new deal Monday — these negotiations have been unusual because the Hurricanes and owner Tom Dundon have offered substantially altered and reduced deals to the two broadcasters, who appear on Fox Sports Carolinas and are simulcast on WCMC-FM but are both employed by the team.
Forslund and Dundon spoke Monday but did not move any closer to resolution. Forslund referred comment Tuesday to his agent, Peter Cooney, who spoke Tuesday with Waddell.
“Regardless of the ending date of his current contract, we certainly have time to negotiate an extension or a new one beyond June 30,” Cooney said. “It is correct that his current one does conclude today and like a hockey player he’d be an unrestricted free agent starting tomorrow. … Business is business and we have to see if we can negotiate this to a fair market price for John and continue to do business as we have in the past with Carolina.”
Dudley, the veteran scout and peripatetic front-office sage, exits after two seasons, which is not out of character. He typically shows up, makes a team better and moves along a few years later. He and Krepelka both arrived in the summer of 2018 after Ron Francis’ departure as general manager. Krepelka was an agent representing the Staal brothers, among others, before moving into management and has been the Hurricanes’ primary contract negotiator.
As for the broadcasters, their new deals would make them independent contractors paid almost entirely on a per-game basis, and scaled to the amount of revenue the team has coming in — they would make substantially less, for example, if games are played without fans. Given the pandemic and the unlikelihood of full attendance in the 2020-21 season, this could result in considerable pay decreases for the broadcasters, both of whom have been with the team since its first season in Raleigh 21 years ago. Forslund moved with the team from Hartford; Tracy’s first season was the last in Greensboro, 1998-99.
“These are difficult times and we’re all making sacrifices,” Tracy said. “As everybody knows, I’ve always loved the Hurricanes and always will.”
In addition to looking to cut expenses overall, given the lack of revenue coming in with the NHL “paused” by COVID-19, Dundon has said in the past that he prefers to spend money improving the on-ice product and look for savings elsewhere, which is how Kaiton ended up leaving in 2018. But this is a different situation: there is no ready-made replacement for Forslund, who in many ways has become the public face of the franchise not only through his work for FS Carolinas but national broadcasts on NBC.
Forslund would potentially have options if he isn’t re-signed, whether in an expanded role with NBC or with the Tampa Bay Lightning — where play-by-play broadcaster Rick Peckham retired and was just named this year’s Foster Hewitt Award winner by the Hockey Hall of Fame — or Francis’ expansion Seattle team.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 3:49 PM with the headline "Forslund, Hurricanes continue to negotiate as broadcaster’s contract expires."
