Hurricanes sign Sebastian Aho to eight-year, $78 million contract

Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

A home-cooked dinner of salmon and vegetables prepared by his mother would have made it an excellent 26th birthday for Sebastian Aho, no matter what.

Even better for Aho: It came with a lucrative contract extension.

The Carolina Hurricanes signed Aho to an eight-year deal worth $78 million on Wednesday, the richest contract handed out in the history of the franchise that used to be the Hartford Whalers. Aho is now under contract through 2032 at an annual salary cap hit of $9.75 million, once the deal kicks in for the 2024-25 NHL season.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes takes the ice prior to Game Three of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena on May 22, 2023 in Sunrise, Florida.  (Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images)

"Birthday and an extension — it could be a lot worse," Aho said on a video call with reporters from his native Finland. "This is the place I want to play. Obviously, starting from the front office, the organization has taken huge steps over the course of the last five years and, obviously, we feel like we’re building every year."

The Hurricanes are building around Aho, their top center who's in his prime and one of the reasons they've made the playoffs each of the past five seasons. He has 468 points in 520 career regular-season games, all with Carolina, and is also nearly a point-a-game player in the playoffs with 58 in 63.

"Five years ago we were just starting to build, and if you look at the pieces we put in place Sebastian is absolutely the No. 1 piece," general manager Don