NHL News: Rod Brind'Amour, Hurricanes hand new role for injury-retired veteran to stay in Carolina

Rod Brind’Amour and the Carolina Hurricanes couldn’t help but feel sorry for Jesper Fast, whose career was cut short due to injuries at 33 years of age. Therefore, ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season, the Canes handed the former winger a new job within the organization.

After missing the entire 2024-25 NHL season, Fast announced he’d be hanging up the skates last June. Despite having surgery on his neck, Fast was never able to get back on the ice and has now called it a career. Still, one can take a player out of hockey, but one can never take hockey out of a player.

Ahead of the new campaign, Brind’Amour and the Hurricanes have welcomed Fast to a role within the coaching staff and close to his former teammates in Raleigh. As announced by @PuckReportNHL on X, Carolina signed Jesper Fast as a development coach for the upcoming season.

Calling it a career

As he embarks onto a new chapter of his NHL career, Fast leaves behind a great legacy. Playing only for the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes, the Swedish forward totaled 248 points (91 goals and 157 assists) in 703 games.

Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod brind’Amour looks on during an NHL game.

Hadn’t Fast sustained such a serious neck injury in the final game of the 2023–24 regular season, who knows if his name would someday be on the Stanley Cup. At least as a player. Now, he will chase that feat in a different job position, but in Wake County, nevertheless.

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Short and simple

Former Hurricanes forward Jake Guentzel recently spoke about his brief and forgettable time in Raleigh. Traded to Carolina during the 2024 trade deadline, the Stanley Cup champ was expected to bolster the Canes for a championship run.

However, the Hurricanes fell in the second round to the Rangers, and Guentzel’s camp didn’t make any progress toward working out an extension in North Carolina. Thus, the Hurricanes were left with no choice but to trade him before losing the forward as an unrestricted free agent.

“Yeah, just, there was kind of a lot of back and forth before free agency. Was hoping to get a deal done right after the season, just didn’t kind of come to fruition,” Guentzel admitted, via Cam and Strick Podcast. “And then Tampa came, traded for my rights, and I think that was a no-brainer for me when that happened.”

With some similarities and differences, Guentzel’s case rings some bells with recent drama involving Mikko Rantanen, whom Carolina had to trade away as well shortly after acquiring him. Perhaps it’s time the Canes take a very close look within their franchise.