Stefan Noesen has bounced around quite a bit in his professional hockey career. Over the past decade, he’s made several stops in both the AHL and NHL before finally finding a home with the Carolina Hurricanes a couple of years ago.
Before the 2022-23 season, the physical winger had never played in more than 72 NHL games in one season, and aside from that 2017-18 campaign with the New Jersey Devils, Noesen never played more than half a season with an NHL squad. However, he’s played in 154 regular-season games for the Canes the past two seasons. Not surprisingly, he’s had his two best years offensively, too. After tallying 13 goals and 23 assists in 22-23, the 31-year-old followed up with 14 goals and 23 helpers this past season. He’s been even better in the playoffs, scoring eight goals and four assists in 26 games over the past two campaigns.
Granted, Noesen’s numbers don’t immediately pop off the stat sheet. You’re not going to hear his name mentioned in any conversations for the Hart Trophy, the annual award given to the NHL’s most valuable player.
But that’s OK. At BetCarolina.com, we wanted to break from North Carolina sports betting coverage to look at value in another way. For this piece, we went to CapFriendly.com to find the top 10 NHL veteran players who generated the most scoring per their salary cap hit. For the purposes of this study, we excluded players still on their entry-level deals.
Most Valuable NHL Scorers In 2023-24
Rank | Player Name | Cap Hit (2023-24) | Points (2023-24) * | $ Per Point* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Avalanche W Jonathan Drouin | $825,000 | 56 | $14,732 |
2 | Predators C Thomas Novak | $800,000 | 45 | $17,777 |
3 | Lightning W Brandon Hagel | $1,500,000 | 75 | $20,000 |
4 | Hurricanes W Stefan Noesen | $762,500 | 37 | $20,608 |
5 | Bruins W Danton Heinen | $775,000 | 36 | $21,527 |
6 | Lightning D Darren Raddysh | $762,500 | 33 | $23,106 |
7 | Canucks W Dakota Joshua | $825,000 | 32 | $25,781 |
8 | Bruins W James van Riemsdyk | $1,000,000 | 38 | $26,315 |
9 | Rangers D Erik Gustafsson | $825,000 | 31 | $26,612 |
10 | Coyotes W Michael Carcone | $775,000 | 29 | $26,724 |
*$ Per Point was rounded up for visual purposes.
As the table above shows, Noesen was the league’s fourth-most valuable scorer based on our metrics this past season. He contributed in both 5-on-5 and power play situations. In addition, he maintained his reputation as a physical player. His 118 hits were third most on the team, but compared to his four teammates who registered at least 115 hits, all four of them averaged at least 3:30 more in ice time per game.
Noesen finished his contract at the end of this season, making him an unrestricted free agent starting on July 1. Several teams are expected to compete for his services if he doesn’t resign with Carolina, which has Teuvo Teravainen, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei and Jake Guentzel, among its other UFAs. So, while he may not make this list next season, it won’t be because teams don’t see him as a valuable piece to their team.
Noesen said he’s looking forward to experiencing free agency, possibly, during his exit interview with reporters last month.
“It’s going to be interesting and fun,” he said. “I never had a chance to be a part of that, go through the process and understand what value people evaluate you at.”
Oddsmakers High On Hurricanes Next Season
Carolina may have several free agents to sign in the offseason, but oddsmakers aren’t ready to write off the Canes for next season.
At Caesars North Carolina Sportsbook, the Hurricanes are one of three teams, the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche are the others, available at +1000. The only teams with shorter odds are the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars, both of which are priced at +900.
The Canes have slightly longer odds at Fanatics North Carolina Sportsbook, where oddsmakers offer them at +1200. However, that’s still the third choice, behind the favorite Oilers at +900 and the New York Rangers at +1000.
USA Today photo by James Guillory.
