2024-25
Record: 47-30-5, 2nd in Metropolitan Division
Playoffs: Lost in Eastern Conference Final
Key Losses
Brent Burns (D – Signed with COL), Dmitry Orlov (D – Signed with SJ), Jack Roslovic (F – UFA), and Scott Morrow (D – Trade with NYR)
Key Additions
Nikolaj Ehlers (F – Signed via FA), K’Andre Miller (D – Trade with NYR), and Cayden Primeau (G – Trade with MON)
2025-26 Preview
Eyeing the Cup
The last 7 seasons the Carolina Hurricanes have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs, featuring 3 appearances in the Eastern Conference Final, however, for the Hurricanes, they have been ineffective in the third round as they’ve only won one game in the 13 games they’ve played in the Conference Final. One has to wonder what it will take for the Hurricanes to finally break through and make it back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006.
One move the Hurricanes did was re-sign 22 year old forward Logan Stankoven, who the Hurricanes acquired from the Dallas Stars at the Trade Deadline last season, to an eight-year deal that’ll begin with the 2026-27 season.
The Hurricanes also made a pair of trades before Free Agency began. First they acquired goaltender Cayden Primeau from the Montreal Canadiens to bolster their goaltending depth. The Hurricanes also engineered a sign-and-trade with the New York Rangers for defenseman K’Andre Miller.
“He’s a really powerful skater who can close out really effectively, and take away time and space. The aggressive way we play is going to suit him very well,” general manager Eric Tulsky said. “He’s also very strong in front of the net, and good at defending and protecting the front of the net, which is always helpful and important, and something that we can always get better at.”
“Everybody’s looking for big defensemen who have that mobility, and he certainly has the potential, as we’ve seen,” head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “[He’ll] maybe even keep getting better. I think it’s a really good move for us.”
“I think his skating and recovery speed is going to be really effective for us. When we want guys to get up the ice, they need to be able to get back, too,” Tulsky continued. “His natural ability in his skating is going to make him really effective for us.”
“They have such a fast team. They get up and down the ice in a fast motion, and they do everything as a team. It’s a fun group to watch, and they’ve had a lot of success recently, so I’m excited to join that style of game,” Miller said.
For Miller, it’s also an opportunity to play with new teammate Jaccob Slavin.
“He’s definitely one of the guys I’ve tried to model my game after the last couple of years,” Miller said. “He’s obviously a generational player in this league and on this team. I think it’s going to be great sharing ideas and sharing the ice with him.”
Adding Some Punch
During Free Agency, the Hurricanes landed top free agent forward Nikolaj Ehlers signing him to a six-year deal with an $8.5 million AAV.
“Nikolaj was the top free agent available on July 1, and we are proud that he’s chosen to make Carolina his home,” said Tulsky. “He’s a highly-skilled winger who can really skate and will fit very well with our forward group.”
“He had a lot of teams interested in him. He’s a great player,” Tulsky said as he walked through the process of landing the team’s newest prize. “I think, in the end, for him, if he just wanted the most money he could’ve gotten, he could’ve gotten more, for sure. My understanding is that he was looking for the place that felt like the right fit, where he’d be happy, and where he’d have a chance to win.”
“With my speed, I can create a lot of room for the other guys,” Ehlers described in his media availability after signing with the team. “I believe I will fit in very nicely, and that’s obviously something you look at as well when you try to make a decision. I talked to Rod and we had kind of the same vision about how things are going to go.”
“They’ve always been hard to play against. When you come to Carolina, you know that they’re going to be ready to play,” Ehlers continued. “They’re going to come out hard, and they’re going to keep stressing you out until they get the puck back. To now be on the other side of that will be pretty fun.”
“He is incredibly fast and dynamic with the puck. He’ll bring creativity to our game,” Tulsky reviewed. “We have the puck as much as any team in the league, and the more we can turn that into premium scoring chances, the better off we’ll be. Nikolaj is the kind of player who can create scoring chances out of nothing. That’s the sort of thing that you layer onto what we’ve already built, and it can help take us to the next level.”
Projected Lineup
Offense
Nikolaj Ehlers — Sebastian Aho — Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov — Jesperi Kotkaniemi — Jackson Blake
Taylor Hall — Jordan Staal — Logan Stankoven
Jordan Martinook — William Carrier — Eric Robinson
Defense
Jaccob Slavin – K’Andre Miller
Alexander Nikishin — Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere — Sean Walker
Goalies
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
Resources
- Ruff, Walt. Canes Bolster Blue Line With Big Addition Of Miller, July 2, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/canes-bolster-blue-line-with-big-addition-of-miller.
- Hurricanes, PR. Canes Agree To Terms With Nikolaj Ehlers On Six-Year Contract, July 3, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/canes-agree-to-terms-with-nikolaj-ehlers-on-six-year-contract.
- Ruff, Walt. Ehlers To Bring A Layer Of Creativity, Speed To Canes, July 5, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/ehlers-to-bring-a-layer-of-creativity-speed-to-canes
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