The Stanley Cup playoffs have long been marked by parity. Perhaps more than any other major professional sports league, the NHL routinely sees teams outperform expectations in the regular season, sneak into the playoffs, make a run to the Stanley Cup Final and often even win it.

Few teams embody the spirit of this better than the 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes, who opened that regular season at 60-1 to win the title -- the longest preseason odds of any Cup winner since at least 1984-85. That squad entered the postseason at +600 and exited with the most famous trophy in North American sports.

Hobey Baker Award finalist and University of North Dakota forward Jackson Blake signed his entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, the club announced Wednesday.

Blake's contract will start this season. He'll make $775,000 at the NHL level this season and earn $832,500 at the NHL level in the 2024-25 and the 2025-26 seasons. He'll earn $80,000 at the AHL level for all three seasons, and his deal also includes a $277,500 signing bonus.

The Carolina Hurricanes signed one of their top prospects Tuesday with University of Massachusetts defenseman Scott Morrow joining the club on a three-year entry-level contract.

Morrow joins the Hurricanes less than a week after UMass was eliminated by nine-time national champions, the University of Denver, in a double-overtime game in the opening round of the Division I men's NCAA tournament.