NHL: Carolina Hurricanes – 2025/2026 recap
Carolina finished the season atop the league with 113 points, then cruised through the playoffs: 16 wins, 3 losses, the best title run by a champion since 1987-88. Ottawa got swept, Philadelphia got swept, Montreal went down in five, and Vegas was beaten in six for the Cup. It was the franchise’s second championship, and Rod Brind’Amour also became the fourth man to win the Cup as both player and coach with the same team.
Key data
2025-2026 record: 53-22-7 (296 goals for, 240 against)
2025-2026 NHL standing: 1st in the Metropolitan Division
2025-2026 top scorer: Seth Jarvis (32)
2025-2026 top playmaker: Sebastian Aho (53)
2025-2026 leading point scorer: Sebastian Aho (80)
Average age of roster (2026-2027): 29.6 years
Available cap space (2026-2027): 8.18M$
Recent moves (off-season)
Arrivals:
Departures:
- Frederik Andersen (G)
- John Carlson (D)
Franchise outlook
Carolina Hurricanes – Future contracts and draft picks
After winning the Cup, Carolina made a rare call: keep almost everything as it is. The core that drove the league is still there, with Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Nikolaj Ehlers and Jordan Staal, who signed on for another year as captain, along with a defence group that stays intact, led by Jaccob Slavin and K’Andre Miller, both tied up through 2032-33.
The only major change is in net. Frederik Andersen, the 36-year-old hero of the run, has left for Edmonton in free agency, leaving Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov to split the load. Eric Tulsky also tried to add help on the blue line, getting an exclusive negotiating window with John Carlson before watching him head to Tampa Bay, but the club still believes its current group has enough to go again.
Carolina’s draft stock is still in good shape, with a first-round pick in every year through 2029. Tulsky’s message is plain enough: winning once is not the finish line. You still have to keep finding ways to get better, even when the roster is already packed.
Champions, no need to start over
There is something unusual about a title team coming back almost unchanged, but Carolina showed last season that it has a level of depth not often seen in this league. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov saw their playoff production drop sharply after regular seasons of 80 and 70 points, but the team still lifted the Cup thanks to unexpected contributions from Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven, all of whom finished in the top four on the team in playoff scoring.
That kind of shared depth, the sort that can cover for a dip from the usual stars, is what separates real champions from near-misses. Jaccob Slavin also had a remarkable year, becoming only the ninth player in history to win Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year. Seth Jarvis, the team’s goal leader, starts the season on the sidelines after shoulder surgery, which is a proper early test for that depth.
Jordan Staal, at 37, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the oldest player ever to do it, showing that an experienced veteran can still drag a team through the biggest moments. The question this season is not whether Carolina has the talent to repeat, because last year settled that. It is whether this group can handle the grind of another long season without getting comfortable after the title.
Player to watch: Seth Jarvis (F)
Jarvis had been carrying that shoulder problem since 2023-24, playing two full seasons with a torn labrum and rotator cuff rather than missing time, which goes some way to explaining why he only finally had surgery this summer. “
At some point, you have to do it. You can’t stay limited for the rest of your career,” Eric Tulsky said. The recovery window, four to six months, will keep him out for at least the first month of the season, maybe longer. The good news is that by the start of training camp, Jarvis said he felt ahead of schedule and was already taking part in non-contact work.
Last season’s team goal leader with 32, his absence opens a real chance for a young player to grab a roster spot, in Tulsky’s own words. Carolina’s first real test will be staying in the fight without him before, they hope, getting back a fully fit version of their most explosive winger.
2026-2027 goal
Projected Carolina Hurricanes lines 2026-2027
For Carolina, the aim goes beyond defending the title: it is about going back to back. Eric Tulsky was clear about the mindset: “Our goal is to build a team that can win the Cup even when we’re not at our best, even with injuries.”
In practical terms, that means a better situation in goal despite Andersen’s exit, almost total continuity in the core that carried the team last season, and the hope that a full year of a healthy Slavin makes a defence that, oddly enough, was not even the league’s best when the Cup was won, even sharper.
Rod Brind’Amour remains convinced his group now knows exactly what it takes to win, priceless shared experience in a league where repeating is brutally hard. Lifting the Cup again would confirm Carolina as a genuine modern dynasty. Falling short early, in any round, would be a reminder of just how rare it is to stay on top in this league.
My prediction
Almost no changes for Carolina this season. The team is highly competitive and should not be troubled too much in the Metropolitan Division.
Photo credit: wallpapersafari.com | jjacobson
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