The 31-year-old forward has been a key leader for the Hurricanes.
Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook has long been one of the vocal leaders inside the Canes’ locker room.
A high-energy, glue guy, Martinook has also been a key depth piece for the team as well providing value on both ends of the ice.
However, Martinook is once again a UFA looking for a new contract and with all the other moving pieces Carolina has, can he find a way to stay?
The Canes held their second round of exit interviews on Sunday following the conclusion of their 2023-24 season which ended after losing in six games to the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs.
Here’s what Martinook had to say:
On the season: I think obviously to be a team consistently at the top of the standings is something that you can, I guess, hang your hat on, but when you’re consistently at the top of the standings, you need to get over that hump. We just haven’t been able to do it. You can talk about regular season success and it’s great, but we’re still standing here today not having done what we wanted to do. It’s hard. You can look back at it more in maybe two months but I can’t be looking back at it right now because all I think about is what happened the other night.
On what Rod Brind’Amour has meant to him and the team: How much time we got? For him to come in and obviously the team was in the position they were in, hadn’t made the playoffs in so long but he came in and just completely changed the outlook of this franchise pretty much. He came in and had a plan. I still remember those first three or four months when we weren’t winning but we were playing good and he kept coming in. A lot of coaches would panic and maybe change the message, but he almost double down on it. It’s been the same ever since. He knows the way he wants his teams to play and what he wants his players to do. For me, just having him be the constant voice throughout my whole time here, I feel like I know what he’s thinking most of the time and my game kind of suits exactly what he wants. He’s been unbelievable.
On potentially losing multiple parts of the core: It’s why I feel like this one hits even harder. I feel like this is one of the best teams I’ve been on here and obviously we don’t get it done and now you look at all the contract situations. It’s the nature of the beast and the business of it. You always want to play with the same guys but it just never happens. I think when you don’t get it done, they think about maybe we don’t have the right mix or whatever it is, but it’s definitely hard for the guys that have been through all these runs for a lot of these years now and still came up empty.
On any concern over how the team looks next year: I know Tom [Dundon] and Don [Waddell] are going to figure it out because every year I’ve been here, they’ve put an unbelievable team together. They’re going to figure it out. Obviously you want to stay with the same guys but it’s in their hands.
On if he’s had any extension negotiations yet: Not really anything yet, but I haven’t really met with Don or anybody yet. So I’ll probably do that today and hopefully we can try and get something going.
On if staying in Carolina is a priority: I want to stay here. I love it here, but it’s… it’s a hard situation. Obviously the salary cap and all that stuff. I think everybody knows around Carolina that this has been a pretty good home for me and I’d like to stay and hopefully keep that going.
On what Carolina has meant to him: Both of my kids were born here and being able to play in the playoffs here has been unbelievable. I feel like we’ve had unbelievable teams. Some of my best memories playing hockey have been right here. There’s so many things that factor into these decisions and looking back on all those are definitely ones that are going to want me to stay even more.
On what it’ll take for this team to get over the hump: I don’t know. I don’t know if you can pinpoint one thing. Obviously, and I’ve said this before, you kind of have to get lucky. Everything has to kind of work out for you. It’s so hard to really describe one or two things. Especially in seven game series, sometimes for us, we probably shouldn’t have been down 3-0 against New York but that’s what happens and you’re up against it. You’re fighting for everything but your margin for error shrinks. We just have to… I don’t know.
On what he’s learned from the team: I think every guy in this room just prepares so well and consistently every night. I think when you’re around guys that want to do it the same way and bring it the same way every night, it rubs off on everybody. Just thank you to everybody in this room that brought it every night because then it demanded you do it too. Love these guys and I love lacing them up with them every night.
On Seth Jarvis: He’s incredible. I was lucky enough to play with him for a lot this year and to be able to watch his game, I don’t even know if you can say steps, it was leaps and bounds and to be able to be first man out on the penalty kill and first power play, he did everything. At 22-years-old now I guess he is and to put your stamp on the league like he has has been phenomenal to watch and I can’t wait to see where he goes from here.
On what the most important thing to him is in a new contract: Obviously winning. I feel like my game in the playoffs, I love playing in the playoffs so that’s definitely probably one of the biggest factors and then I do have a family that I need to think about. That’s probably the number one factor. My wife and kids. I want them to be happy, but I also think my happiness, if I’m grumpy going to a team then it’s going to rub off on them, so there’s a lot of things that play into it, but my wife and my kids are probably number one.
